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A pair of bases-loaded walks lead Angels to sweep of Yanks

May 27, 2007 - 10:00 PM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim had seen enough of Mike Mussina. Then they patiently waited out Scott Proctor.

Pinch hitter Erick Aybar tied the game with a bases-loaded walk in top of the seventh and Chone Figgins drove in the go-ahead run with another free pass as the Angels rallied for a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

The Yankees appeared to be on their way to salvaging the finale of the three-game series, taking a 2-0 lead behind two RBI from backup catcher Wil Nieves and solid pitching from Mussina.

Mussina stranded runners at the corners when he fanned Figgins and needed just six pitches to get through the sixth. He recorded the first out of the seventh but left after allowing a walk to Casey Kotchman.

The 53,508 fans at Yankee Stadium gave Mussina a standing ovation but would not have a similar reaction to Proctor, who had not allowed a run in his previous 10 outings.

Proctor (0-2) began his 26th outing by allowing a double to Howie Kendrick and walking Napoli. The righthander got ahead of Aybar with two fastballs but Aybar saw 11 pitches and worked out a walk that tied the game.

"I just wanted to make contact," Aybar said through an interpreter. "I was able to take full hacks on those first two pitches and it helped me to not swing at bad pitches. This is a good thing, a walk with the winning run."

"The first swing and second swing, I thought I'm getting ahead out on his fastball," acting Angels manager Ron Roenicke said. "Then all of a sudden, he threw a curveball and he took it well and you could see he was a lot more quiet in the box and he was really concentrating and he really stayed back better on the next eight pitches."

Aybar batted for right fielder Robb Quinlan to decrease the likelihood off a double play. While Roenicke expected Aybar to possibly make contact, he might not have been anticipating a walk.

"Great at-bat," Roenicke said. "After those first two, walking was the last thing I thought he was going to do. He came out swinging, which he does. He's a good fastball hitter, a good contact hitter. I don't think he's going to ground into a double play because he's fast, so there was a lot of plusses with putting Erick up there."

"Great at-bat," Lackey added. "He came out swinging at the first two pitches, looking like he was going to swing at everything and then he really settled down and took some tough pitches and had a great at-bat and tied the game for us."

Figgins would not have to wait as long as Aybar. Proctor walked him on five pitches and Kendrick scored.

"I couldn't put a finger out it," Proctor said. "If I could have figured it out I probably would have made better pitches."

"He had a great at-bat," Nieves added. "We got under and we made pitches and he just kept fouling it off. So it was a combination, he had a great at-bat and we didn't get the ball where he wanted to."

Yankees manager Joe Torre brought in Brian Bruney and Proctor exited to a chorus of boos. Bruney gave up a sacrifice fly to leadoff hitter Reggie Willits but wisely cut off center fielder Melky Cabrera's relay throw and tagged Aybar at third base.

The Angels were only down 2-0 because John Lackey (8-3) was equally as effective as Mussina. They got a run in the fifth when Mike Napoli extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games with an RBI single.

Lackey allowed RBI singles to Nieves in the second and fourth among his five hits but became the first eight-game winner in the majors.

He ran into trouble with two outs in the seventh, when Derek Jeter doubled to right field but with runners on second and third, he retired Hideki Matsui on a weak groundout to first and then retired the heart of New York's lineup in order in the eighth.

After Lackey turned in his third outing of at least eight innings, closer Francisco Rodriguez struggled in the ninth but notched his 16th save in 17 opportunities.

Rodriguez opened the ninth by walking Bobby Abreu and allowing a single to pinch hitter Jorge Posada. Following a visit from pitching coach Mike Butcher, he retired pinch hitter Johnny Damon on a broken-bat groundout to first, which moved runners to second and third.

Cabrera lifted a sacrifice fly to right that scored Abreu. But Rodriguez finished the game by getting Jeter on a flyout to center.

Lackey matched a career best with his fourth straight victory. He also won for the sixth time in his last seven starts and has allowed runs in four of his last 30 innings.

The Angels won for the ninth time in 11 games and continued to play well against the Yankees. They swept the Yankees for the first time since August 20-22, 2004 and have won 11 of their last 16 games at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees lost for the 11th time in 16 games and are a season-worst 12 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL East. During this slump, the Yankees have scored three runs or fewer nine times.

"We're certainly capable of hitting better than we're hitting and we're going to have to find that magic potion," Torre said.

After going losing six of nine to the Mets, Red Sox and Angels, the Yankees will go on an 11-game road trip through Toronto, Boston and Chicago. They visit Boston next weekend and could be as many as 15 games out

"We got to win," general manager Brian Cashman said. "It's frustrating, simple as that."

"I don't know what word to use," Jeter said. "Really I don't think it really makes a difference what word you use, frustrated worried. The bottom line is that we have to win.

"I don't sit around and worry about it because every day you come in feeling you can win a game. If you go into a game worried, I think that's when you're in trouble

After being shelled for 12 runs and 18 hits in 12 innings during losses to Chicago and Boston, Mussina pitched as effectively as he did during his two victories against Texas following his stint on the disabled list. He struck out the first four hitters and allowed one hit through four innings.