Whatever it takes

Angels play smallball, longball to earn split with Yankees

NEW YORK -- They are gnatty, that's what they are. They are that piece of pepper stuck under your gum, the toilet paper on the heel of your shoe. They are a classic scrape-out-a-run National League team playing in an American League town. When they're not being a classic AL team in an AL town, that is.

The Anaheim Angels are, when you get right down to it, one big pain in the neck. And right now, that neck belongs to the New York Yankees.

Wednesday night, in just their second postseason game since 1986, the Angels took out the Yankees, their magic, a couple of hangers on named Mystique and Aura and a lot of frustrations in Game 2 of their AL Division Series. With an 8-6 win, the Angels tied the series at one game apiece and sent it west to Anaheim with a whole different look.

"We've found ways to win all year long," said third baseman Troy Glaus, who has three home runs in the two nights. "If it comes down to playing a little small-ball … well, we can do that, too."

The Angels scrapped to get a 4-0 lead Wednesday, gave it up, blasted a couple of home runs to climb back on top then threatened to give it all back in the bottom of the ninth.

But they didn't. Mystique and Aura took a hike -- along with thousands of die-hard Yankee fans before the ninth inning started. The Yankee magic tagged along. And the Angels left Yankee Stadium with their much-needed split.

"It's no surprise. We played them a number of times during the season. We saw the same type of ballclub. They're scrappy," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "We knew when we went into this series what they were all about. It's gonna be a helluva series. Down to two out of three now."

Baseball is all about the little things. The big ones win games once in a while, for sure. But when the pressure mounts, when October rolls around, baseball is all about getting good at-bats and making the right pitch at the right time. It's about not giving in. Or giving up.

The Angels didn't do everything right on Wednesday, not by a long shot. A critical error in the sixth inning almost cost them the game.

But the Angels are the rare club that can score in a lot of ways. They had the longball, first from Tim Salmon and Scott Spiezio. Then Garret Anderson and Glaus smacked back-to-back shots in the eighth off Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez to give them the lead for good.

They had the short stuff, too. They went from first to third whenever they had the chance. Pinch runner Chone Figgins stole a base and scored. Anderson took second on a fly out to left, sliding in safely when Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano seemed to take his eye off the throw and it got past him. Spiezio knocked in Anderson with a two-out hit.

"That's the package these guys bring to the game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I think our baserunning was a huge influence on our offense.

"It's not going to be commonplace we bang out 17 hits. But when you do, and you combine that with aggressive running, you come up with eight runs."

Plus, of course, the Angels had the pitching. Starter Kevin Appier struck out Robin Ventura with men on first and third with one out and the Angels holding a 4-3 lead. Reliever Brendan Donnelly struck out pinch hitter John Vander Wal with men on first and second and one out in the eighth.

Closer Troy Percival caught Derek Jeter looking at an outside strike to end the eighth, then pitched around some trouble in the bottom of the ninth for the save.

"It's just the way we've played the game all year long," Percival said.

"It takes a lot out of you mentally," said Spiezio, "but if that's what it takes …"

There was a lot of jabber before this series about the Angels' lack of postseason experience and whether they could hang with the always-clutch Yankees. The Angels showed in Game 1 -- when they came back three times and actually took a lead in the eighth -- that they weren't big believers in the Yankee Stadium magic. In Game 2, they proved it.

Friday night, they'll play in Anaheim in front of their home crowd with Mystique and Aura nowhere in sight. And you know what?

They'll play the same way there, going deep if they can, playing base-to-base if given any chance at all.

They'll fight, these Angels. The Yankees know it.

Oh, boy, do the Yankees know.

John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

Comments? To e-mail Donovan, click here.

 

Related information

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video