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Guerrero, Angels pound Yankees in series opener

May 26, 2007 - 4:04 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim rediscovered their offense at the expense of the New York Yankees' beleaguered pitching staff.

Vladimir Guerrero and Casey Kotchman each had three hits and two RBI as the Angels rolled to a 10-6 victory over the Yankees on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

Anaheim was held scoreless for the third time this season in a 12-0 loss at Detroit on Wednesday, managing just four singles.

But the Angels bounced back against the Yankees, tying a season high with 14 hits, including a season-high eight for extra bases.

"We were just trying to rebound from Detroit and get a W," Kotchman said.

Los Angeles did not trail after Guerrero hit an RBI double in the first inning. He added an RBI single in a three-run fifth and doubled and scored in the sixth, when the Angels added four more runs for a 10-3 bulge.

Kotchman, who matched his career high in hits, blasted a solo homer in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth and made a number of stellar defensive plays at first base.

Kotchman robbed Johnny Damon of a hit with a diving grab in the first inning, stole a potential double from Hideki Matsui with another diving play in the fifth and started an inning-ending double play in the seventh.

"Sometimes you just leave your feet and are fortunate to come up with the baseball," Kotchman said of the diving plays. "It was more gratifying than the offense, being able to save pitches for the pitchers and take runs off the board."

"(Kotchman) dove to both sides, started a double play and saved some throws in the dirt," Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia said. "He saved as many runs with his glove as he knocked in."

Light-hitting Chone Figgins belted a two-run homer - his first of the season - and Orlando Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 15 games and scored three times for the Angels.

The offense supported a workmanlike performance from Anaheim starter Jered Weaver (4-3), who threw 103 pitches in just five innings. He won his third consecutive start, allowing three runs, seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

"Jered had to use every pitch he had to get through five innings," Scioscia said. "He just couldn't settle in. It's a tough lineup, there aren't any easy outs. Usually it's tough to get through that lineup. He was out of gas after the fifth."

"Everybody in that lineup can hurt you," Weaver said. "Any time you can get some early runs in here with the way they swing the bat, it's always nice to get an early lead."

Alex Rodriguez hit his major league-leading 19th homer to start the second inning but the Yankees stranded runners in each of the next four innings as Weaver continually worked out of trouble.

Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to 19 games and Robinson Cano hit a three-run double off Scot Shields in the eighth as a rally fell short for the Yankees, who had won three of their previous four games.

New York climbed within 3-2 on an RBI single by Doug Mientkiewicz in the fourth inning, but manager Joe Torre decided to remove rookie starter Tyler Clippard (1-1), who gave up three runs and six hits his second career start, at the start of the fifth.

"(Clippard's) location was all over the place, he couldn't get the ball down," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He just didn't look like he could find one release point. He had to work hard the whole time."

It proved to be an unwise move as the Yankees' bullpen imploded, allowing seven runs, five hits and six walks over the next two innings. Rookie Matt DeSalvo was charged with three runs without recording an out and Luis Vizcaino yielded four runs while retiring just three batters.

DeSalvo started the fifth by walking the first two batters he faced, and Guerrero laced a single to right field to give the Angels a 4-2 lead. Gary Matthews Jr. followed with an RBI double to chase DeSalvo and Vizcaino issued a bases-loaded walk to Mike Napoli three batters later.

Vizcaino escaped further damage and Jorge Posada closed the gap with an RBI double in the bottom half but was thrown out by left fielder Tommy Murphy trying to score on a single by Jason Giambi to end the fifth.

"If it wasn't for those (defensive) plays, the game could have gone a different way," Weaver said. "Obviously the defense was on point."

Murphy followed his strong throw with a leadoff single in the sixth and Figgins drove a 2-0 pitch over the wall in right-center field.

Vizcaino allowed the next two runners to reach base, and Kotchman added an RBI single off Ron Villone with one out. Napoli hit a run-scoring base hit two batters later as the Angels finished one run shy of their highest-scoring game of the season.