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Angels outlast mistake-prone Yankees

Jul 8, 2007 - 2:43 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim took advantage of some spotty fielding by the New York Yankees on Saturday.

Howie Kendrick scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by first baseman Miguel Cairo in the 13th inning as the Angels defeated the Yankees, 2-1.

With the win, Anaheim improved to 4-1 against New York his season.

Cairo was charged with two errors on the decisive play and committed three of the Yankees' five errors. New York last made five errors in a game on August 9, 2002 during a 16-inning loss to the Oakland Athletics.

"I didn't do my job. I've got to make that play," Cairo said. "I didn't give a good throw. It's as simple as that."

After Kendrick doubled off Luis Vizcaino (4-2) to open the frame, Jose Molina followed with hard grounder to the right side on which Cairo made a diving stop at first base.

However, Cairo lost control of the ball during the transfer and, when he corralled it again, threw beyond the reach of Vizcaino, who was covering first.

With the ball loose in foul territory near the first base dugout, Kendrick rounded third and raced home with the lead run.

The Yankees threatened to tie the game against Francisco Rodriguez (2-2) in the bottom of the inning, putting runners on the corners with one out. But Rodriguez got out of the jam by striking out Melky Cabrera and getting Derek Jeter to ground into a game-ending forceout.

"It was frustrating," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "We had a couple of opportunities, but we couldn't do anything with it."

It was the second time this season Rodriguez retired Jeter to end a game at Yankee Stadium. On May 27, the righthander finished off a 4-3 victory by getting the All-Star shortstop on a flyout to center field.

"He's probably the guy in that situation you just hate to see," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He's going to put the ball in play, and most of the time, he puts the ball in play hard. Frankie made a great pitch ... But you hate to face Derek too many times in that situation."

The matchup between starters Roger Clemens and John Lackey lived up to its billing, though neither pitcher was around when the game was decided.

"You could tell it was going to be a tight game and you think that runs are going to be few today just the way their guy was working," Clemens said. "He was working extremely fast and it was just a good ballgame. We made a couple of miscues that cost us at the end."

Clemens, who turns 45 on August 4, allowed one run, six hits and one walk while striking out three in eight innings. Working with a 1-0 lead in the third, he allowed a leadoff double by Garret Anderson, who later scored on Jeff Mathis' groundout.

After that, Clemens settled in and kept the Angels' lineup in check. He ended the fifth with a 1-4-3 double play hit into by the speedy Kendrick and got help in the sixth from catcher Jorge Posada, who threw out Reggie Willits on an attempted steal of second base.

"Clemens was as pitch-efficient as you could be," Scioscia said. "He pitched a terrific game and he just pitched very well, and John Lackey matched him pitch for pitch. Every pitcher out there for both teams pitched well. We were fortunate that we came away with that run late."

Lackey allowed one run and five hits without a walk and tied a career high with 11 strikeouts in eight innings.

The 6-6 righthander continued the best season of his career with a dominant performance during a nationally televised game. After allowing an RBI double by Bobby Abreu in the second inning, Lackey retired 18 of the next 21 hitters.

Exactly one year after throwing a one-hitter in Oakland in which he retired the final 27 hitters, Lackey matched up well with Clemens, who had picked up his 350th career victory Monday against Minnesota.

"It was fun," Lackey said. "It was kind of toe-to-toe. (Clemens) pitched good and had it going on a little bit."