Percival, Angels even series with Yankees

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Posted 7:18AM on Thursday, October 3, 2002

NEW YORK - Having watched how comebacks are created in the Bronx, the Anaheim Angels put together one of their own. Garret Anderson hit a tying home run off Orlando Hernandez in the eighth inning, Troy Glaus followed with a go-ahead shot and the Angels evened their best-of-five AL playoff series by beating the New York Yankees 8-6 in Game 2 Wednesday night. ``I know crazy things happen here,'' said Troy Percival, who escaped jams in the eighth and ninth innings, ``but not tonight.'' After the Yankees had clawed back from a 4-0 deficit to take a 5-4 lead, the crowd was stunned. It was the first time New York has ever lost a postseason game at Yankee Stadium when leading after the seventh inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ``We do what it takes to win, no matter the circumstances, no matter whatever,'' Glaus said. A night after failing to bring in Percival in the eighth and watching his bullpen squander a lead in the opener, Angels manager Mike Scioscia called for his closer with Anaheim trying to protect a 7-5 edge in the eighth. Percival got out of the jam, throwing a called third strike past Derek Jeter, who questioned the call, with the bases loaded. Scott Spiezio then hit a run-scoring double in the ninth off Jeff Weaver, his third hit and RBI. The Yankees tried for one more comeback in the bottom of the ninth, with Jorge Posada blooping an RBI single with one out. But with two runners on, Percival struck out Nick Johnson and retired Raul Mondesi on a popup. Anaheim, which set a team postseason record with 17 hits, then closed out the 4-hour, 11-minute marathon and headed home to California with its first playoff win since 1986, one that gives the Angels hope they can knock off the four-time defending American League champions. The series resumes Friday with the Angels' Ramon Ortiz facing Mike Mussina. ``We really feel we're in this series,'' Scioscia said. ``We've got a big challenge ahead of us. We've got to go out there and continue to press these guys. Early homers by Tim Salmon and Spiezio helped Anaheim put together a 4-0 lead and knock out Andy Pettitte after three innings. ``He made some bad pitches,'' Yankees manager Joe Torre said. But the Yankees closed to 4-3 against Kevin Appier and went ahead when Alfonso Soriano finally got that elusive 40th homer - a two-run shot in the sixth off Francisco Rodriguez, a 20-year-old right-hander who made his major league debut on Sept. 18. El Duque, relegated to the bullpen because of the Yankees' pitching depth, replaced Pettitte in the fourth and showed the poise under pressure he's known for in the postseason, where he was 9-2. He retired his first 11 batters and 12 of 13, but Anderson tied it when he led off the eighth with a drive into the right-field bleachers. Torre elected to stay with El Duque rather than go to his regular relievers, and Glaus followed with his third homer of the series. The shot center shocked the crowd of 56,697 at Yankee Stadium, where New York had won six straight postseason games, including a come-from-behind 8-5 thriller in Tuesday's opener. Adam Kennedy added a sacrifice fly later in the eighth off Mike Stanton. Unlike Tuesday, Anaheim's bullpen held on. Ben Weber got in trouble in the eighth, when Johnson singled with one out and Mondesi hit a hard comebacker that the pitcher tried to grab, only to watch it ricochet to shortstop for a single. Weber, who sprained his right index finger, angrily shook his hands in disgust. Once again, Scioscia was in a spot. In the opener, he didn't bring in Percival to protect a 4-3 lead in the eighth, saving his closer for a bottom of the ninth that never came. Scioscia went again to Brendan Donnelly, who gave up Bernie Williams' tiebreaking eighth-inning homer in the opener. As Percival watched in disbelief from the bullpen, holding out his arms as if to say ``I don't know'' and shrugging his shoulders, Donnelly was cheered by New York fans as he warmed up. He nearly gave up a hit down the first-base line to pinch-hitter John Vander Wal, but then came back to throw a called third strike by him. ``It's important for us to keep Percy in a controlled situation,'' Scioscia said. ``Four outs for him is the max.'' Scioscia finally brought in Percival, who had 40 saves in 44 chances during the regular-season, to face Soriano. His first pitch hit him in the left shoulder blade, loading the bases. With the crowd on its feet, Percival faced Jeter, who had reached in his first seven plate appearances of the series - homering twice - before grounding out in the sixth. Jeter, 1-for-11 against Percival in his career, was tied up as he missed a 96-mph fastball, then took a ball and fouled off a pitch. Percival then threw a pitch over the outside corner and Jeter was called out by plate umpire Doug Eddings, who was giving pitchers the outside corner all night. ``He thought the pitch was outside,'' Torre said. Rodriguez got the win for Anaheim, which allowed runners all night, but Yankees' batters to 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Anaheim, which stopped a four-game postseason losing streak, built its early lead as Pettitte struggled with his control, going to three balls on four of his first 12 batters. Solo homers by Salmon in the first and Spiezio in the second put the Angels ahead, and Benji Gil's RBI single later in the second made it 3-0. Spiezio added RBI single in the third, and Pettitte was gone after the inning, having labored through 66 pitches. Jeter got the Yankees going in the third by homering deep over the left-field wall for the second straight night. Appier, the only Anaheim player with postseason experience coming in, was effectively wild - just 51 of 91 pitches were strikes. He nearly escaped a jam in the fourth, but rookie Juan Rivera's blooper to short center glanced just off the tip of the glove of a sliding Darin Erstad in center field. Two runs scored, including Johnson, who sped home all the way from first. NOTES: Percival got a save and Hernandez was the loser. ... Jeter's homer was his 12th in postseason play. ... Anaheim has six homers in the first two games of the series.