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Aceves picks up first career win as Yankees down Angels

Sep 10, 2008 - 6:30 AM ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- With their own postseason hopes on life support, rookie Alfredo Aceves and the New York Yankees helped postpone the celebration for the Los Angels Angels of Anaheim.

Aceves hurled seven solid innings in his first major league start as the Yankees posted a 7-1 victory over the Angels on Tuesday.

Derek Jeter stroked two hits to give him 2,520 for his career, surpassing Babe Ruth for second place on New York's all-time list. Lou Gehrig is the team's all-time leader with 2,721.

"That's a great man to pass, and it just says a lot about (Jeter)," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Johnny Damon homered twice and Alex Rodriguez added a three-run blast, a sixth-inning shot that made it 4-0, to help stymie the Angels, who entered the contest with a magic number of two to clinch the American League West.

To earn the division crown, Anaheim (87-57) needed any combination of its own wins and losses from the second-place Texas Rangers (71-74) to add up to two. The Rangers did not cooperate either, posting a 7-3 triumph over the Seattle Mariners.

"We have a chance to get one step closer to the postseason and just hope we can win the game (Wednesday)," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter said.

En route to his first career win, Aceves (1-0) allowed one run and five hits while striking out two and walking no one as New York bounced back from a 12-1 loss on Monday that was marred by a bench-clearing brawl.

"It feels good, and we played good defense and scored runs," Aceves said with the help of teammate Ivan Rodriguez, who served as the rookie's interpreter. "I just try to make my pitches, and just follow the catcher and throw strikes.

" ... Very important getting a win, and it's a good feeling, and to me it's just another game. It's a big step but I'm not thinking about the past or future, just playing baseball. My job is to hold the other team down and help the Yankees win games."

The righthander had hurled seven innings of relief prior to the start. Despite it being his first career start, he did not seem intimidated against the first-place Angels. Aceves worked quickly and forced Anaheim to put the ball in play, tossing 89 pitches before giving way to Brian Bruney and Damaso Marte, who combined to hurl the final two frames.

"(Aceves) told me he was going to give me seven innings," Girardi said. "He threw a lot of strikes and got ahead of their good lineup. The kid has a lot of heart and goes right after hitters."

On Monday, the fireworks came in the form of a fracas between the clubs, which was started when Hunter responded to a sly elbow from Ivan Rodriguez by pushing him in the back. The elbow most likely was in response to Hunter stealing two bases with the game's outcome already in hand.

Hunter, for his part, went 0-for-2 in this one before leaving with tightness in his left quadriceps.

"I feel fine. There was just no reason to go out with the chance of hurting myself more," Hunter said. "I want to be ready to play as soon as I can and to be ready for the postseason."

With 17 games remaining and their playoff hopes strictly mathematical, the Yankees (77-68) are 8 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox (85-59) in the AL wild-card race.

Angels starter Ervin Santana (15-6) allowed six runs - five earned - and eight hits while striking six and walking one.