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Morales hits homer in eighth, Angels beats Yanks

Apr 24, 2010 - 7:00 AM ANAHEIM, Calif.(AP) -- Kendry Morales' big hit put the Angels ahead for good. Mark Teixeira's shot sent catcher Bobby Wilson to the hospital.

Morales hit a tiebreaking two-run homer off Joba Chamberlain in the eighth inning, and the Angels beat the defending World Series champions 6-4 on Friday night. But the victory was overshadowed by the collision at home plate that gave Wilson a concussion and injured left leg.

"Bobby's a great kid," said Teixeira, who was Wilson's teammate briefly in 2008 after the Angels called him up that September. "Before the game I told him `Best of luck and good luck this year.' I feel terrible that he got hurt. As soon as I got in the clubhouse, I wanted to call over there and make sure he's OK.

"You never want to hurt anybody. You just want to knock the ball loose," Teixeira said. "I've run into a dozen catchers in my career, and unfortunately, this is the first one who's ever gotten hurt."

The Angels announced after the game that they will put Wilson on the 15-day DL and call up Ryan Budde from Triple-A Salt Lake before Saturday's game. Budde played in 23 games with the Halos over the previous three seasons and was 3 for 23.

"It was a clean play. No doubt about it," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Mark is trying to score. The ball beat him by a little bit, Bobby did his best to try to get the tag down, and Mark just reacted. It's a tough play and Bobby is very good at it and stays in there well but unfortunately he was hurt tonight."

The collision no doubt conjured up memories for Scioscia and Yankees skipper Joe Girardi, both former big league catchers.

"It's usually the guys who have a lot of speed and can fly that really tear you apart," said Girardi, who once broke his nose in a collision with John Kruk. "But it's all part of it. There's a toughness that's required to be a catcher, and you're going to get beat up on a daily basis. The guy's blocking the plate and Tex slid hard. I mean, you don't want your runner going in gingerly, because that's how they get hurt."

The collision took place during the third inning, when each team scored three runs. Teixeira was hit in the right arm by Ervin Santana's 1-1 fastball as he turned to avoid the pitch, then took second on an RBI single by Alex Rodriguez that put the defending World Series champs ahead 2-1.

Robinson Cano followed with a single to right field and Teixeira never broke stride rounding third. The two-hop throw from former Yankee outfielder Bobby Abreu struck the crouching Wilson in the mask a split-second before Teixeira bowled him over with his left shoulder.

"As soon as I came around third, I picked up Georgie (on-deck hitter Jorge Posada) and he was telling me to slide," Teixeira said. "I saw he was on the plate, but he didn't have the ball yet, so I started to get down and make my slide. As soon as he turned toward me, I figured he had the ball. So the only choice I had really was to lower my shoulder and try to knock the ball loose."

Wilson remained on the ground for several moments while trainer Ned Bergert and Scioscia rushed to his aid. He limped off the field with assistance, but had to be lifted down the dugout steps by Bergert before he was taken to a hospital for X-rays and a CT scan.

Hideki Matsui, last year's World Series MVP with the Yankees, led off the eighth with a single. Reggie Willits pinch ran before Morales drove a 1-1 pitch from Chamberlain (0-1) to right field for his fifth homer.

Fernando Rodney (2-0), back in the setup role since closer Brian Fuentes returned from the disabled list, pitched a hitless eighth for the victory. Fuentes set down the Yanks 1-2-3 in the ninth for his second save in three chances.

Nick Swisher hit a solo homer in the fourth for the Yankees, who took two of three from the Angels last week in the Bronx.

Mike Napoli, the only healthy catcher on the roster, finished the game. Jeff Mathis was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday because of a broken right wrist. Their emergency catcher is reserve infielder Robb Quinlan, who returned from the minors to replace Mathis on the 25-man roster.

NOTES: Napoli led off the fifth and was plunked by Burnett, who got the third out of the inning with a Rickey Henderson-like "snatch-catch" of Torii Hunter's line drive - drawing boos from the sellout crowd of 44,002. ... The Yankees are scheduled to visit the White House on Monday, an off-day preceding their three-game series at Baltimore. It will be their first visit as World Series champs since May 4, 2001. On Wednesday, they will bring the championship trophy to the Pentagon and Bethesda Naval Hospital before heading back to the Bronx.