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Yankees withstand late charge to top Angels

Jun 6, 2015 - 4:04 AM Bronx, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Stephen Drew's two home runs helped stake the Yankees to a big lead, and New York survived a near-implosion from its bullpen in the ninth inning to hold on for an 8-7 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Yankees had built an 8-1 advantage behind Drew's three RBI, a two-run homer from Mark Teixeira and a four-hit night from Alex Rodriguez, then nearly squandered it as the Angels scored six times in the ninth prior to Dellin Betances finally getting the elusive final out.

One of Rodriguez's hits was a run-scoring single for his 1,997th career RBI, which moved the star slugger past Barry Bonds and into sole possession of second place on baseball's all-time list.

The Angels mustered just one run in 5 1/3 innings against Nathan Eovaldi (5-1), but roared back in their final at-bat before the rally came up just short.

"Unfortunately, we just couldn't push it across a little more," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

David Freese delivered a two-run single and Kole Calhoun knocked in one run, part of a 3-for-4 effort in the Angels' third consecutive loss.

All three New York homers were served up by Jered Weaver (4-5) in another rough Yankee Stadium start for the right-hander, battered for seven runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings.

The Yankees had been cruising towards a fourth straight win until the Angels' bats came to life while down by seven in the ninth. Johnny Giavotella began the inning with a single and Taylor Featherston doubled in front of Grant Green's RBI single to second base. After both runners advanced on a wild pitch from Esmil Rogers and Efren Navarro drew a walk to load the bases, Calhoun singled in one to trim the deficit to 8-3 with still no one out.

On came Betances, who was greeted by Freese's sharp single to center that brought in two more. The ace reliever then walked the next two hitters to force in another run and bring the Angels within two.

Betances bounced back to notch a key strikeout of Kirk Niewenhuis, though, and got Giavotella to bounce into a run-scoring fielder's choice before fanning pinch-hitter Carlos Perez with the tying run at third.

"We just had a hard time getting that first out," Yankees manager Joe Girardi remarked. "It got a little dicey there for a while."

Drew, who entered the game mired in a 5-for-47 slump, had sent the Yankees ahead by depositing a Weaver curveball over the short porch in right after Garrett Jones singled in the second inning. Teixeira put another into nearly an identical spot with Brett Gardner aboard a frame later, staking New York to a 4-0 lead.

Rodriguez's milestone hit further extended the margin in the fifth, with the two-out single plating Gardner after the Yankee leadoff hitter scorched a triple off Weaver.

Eovaldi was able to work out of a couple of trouble spots to keep the Angels scoreless until the sixth, when three walks in a four-batter stretch prompted his exit and led to Anaheim's initial run when Nieuwenheis brought in Calhoun with a groundout.

Reliever Chasen Shreve averted further damage, however, by striking out Erick Aybar with the bases again loaded, and the Yankees added to their lead in their half of the sixth.

Brian McCann led off with a double and later came around on Didi Gregorius' sac fly for a 6-1 advantage. Drew then drilled his second homer of the night on Weaver's final pitch.

"He's hit some balls hard and really hasn't had a lot of luck," Girardi said of Drew. "He worked really hard in Oakland (last week), made some just really minor adjustments, but it's paying off."

Rodriguez doubled off Edgar Ibarra in the seventh and crossed the plate on Chris Young's pinch-hit single to increase the lead to 8-1.

Game Notes

Betances was charged with one of Anaheim's six runs in the ninth, the first he has allowed in 30 1/3 innings this season. The righty had set a Yankees record with 26 straight scoreless outings to begin 2015 ... Weaver now owns an 8.71 ERA along with a 1-3 record in five starts at the current Yankee Stadium ... Drew recorded his third career multi-homer game and first since July 27, 2013 at Baltimore, while then with Boston ... Rodriguez's run was the 1,950th of his career, moving him ahead of Hall of Famer Stan Musial and into sole possession of eighth place in MLB history ... Freese's single extended his hitting streak to nine games ... Eovaldi improved to 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA in four 2015 starts when pitching on five days' rest.