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Angels pound out win over Yankees

Sep 9, 2008 - 6:50 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- Vladimir Guerrero and Brandon Wood each drove in three runs to lead the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to a 12-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday.

Guerrero hit a two-run home run in a six-run sixth inning as the Angels broke open a close game to take an 8-1 lead.

Wood added a pair of homers, a solo shot in the third to put the Angels up 2-1 and another solo homer in the eighth to cap the scoring.

"I'm just trying to see the ball and go after good pitches right now," Wood said. "It was pretty exciting to play well in front of guys I grew up watching in high school that are on the Yankees."

Jon Garland (13-8) allowed a run and six hits in seven innings to pick up the win. He walked two and struck out four.

"I got myself into some trouble in the first inning, and managed to only give up a run," Garland said. "I settled down and got into a good groove out there."

Yankees catcher Ivan Rodriguez and Angels center fielder Torii Hunter were both ejected following a bench-clearing scuffle between the teams in the sixth inning.

"It happened so fast, he pushed and then I pushed," Hunter said. "Pudge has been my buddy and we meet for dinner a lot. I got frustrated like you do in a pickup basketball game. We talked and both apologized, it wasn't intentional."

"He came in hard and high on me. I'm disappointed by him pushing me in the back, I'm not a fighter, I just

compete hard," Rodriguez Said. "He's a nice guy and I respect him and we both apologized to each other."

Sean Rodriguez also homered for the Angels, who reduced their magic number for clinching the AL West title to two while improving to 87-56 for the best record in baseball.

"We are one step closer to reaching a goal, and just have to come out tomorrow and try to get another win against a good team," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

The Angels could clinch their fourth division title in the last five years on Tuesday night with a win over the Yankees and a Texas loss at Seattle. Last season, Anaheim clinched on September 23.

After opening things up in the sixth, the Angels added three runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Guerrero and a two-run double by Hunter's replacement, Gary Matthews Jr.

"It was a big inning for us and it ended up being enough for us to hold on for the win," Wood said.

The Yankees jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Alex Rodriguez. Anaheim responded in the bottom of the frame on a sacrifice fly by Mark Teixeira that scored Chone Figgins.

"They have a good team, and they took advantage of our mistakes in that sixth inning," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Just have to come out and be ready to play again tomorrow night."