ANAHEIM, Calif. — This is really a simple game. The Angels were facing elimination last night in Game 5 of the ALCS because of what the Yankees have accomplished on the field.
The Yankees have been the far better team, mainly because of three players — CC Sabathia, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez.
But the Angels know they don’t have to see Sabathia again unless they force a Game 7, so they felt like they had a fighting chance last night at Angel Stadium. Mike Scioscia’s club had to beat Barry Bonds to win the World Series in 2002. But that was basically all they had to beat.
PHOTOS: ANGELS BEAT YANKEES, FORCE GAME 6
Scioscia knows these Yankees are a much better team than those Giants.
“There’s a huge difference in what we’re doing right now and the lineup we were facing in ’02 with Barry Bonds in it,” Scioscia said before last night’s game. “I think the Giants had a terrific club, but their offensive lineup then was nowhere near the depth that we’re facing now with the Yankees.
“So it’s not about controlling one guy,” Scioscia said. “We have to make pitches, and all the way through the lineup.”
The Angels can be hurt by so many different Yankees. When they don’t make pitches, the Yankees have destroyed the Angels. The Yankee talent level is much higher.
“When we’ve made mistakes,” Scioscia said, “these guys have hit them. When we’ve made good pitches, we’ve gotten them out. So we have the capabilities to do that, and it’s not about controlling one guy.”
Still, A-Rod gives the Yankees such an advantage at third base, it tilts the series in the Yankees’ favor. Throw in Sabathia, who has been dominant, and Rivera, who has been magnificent as usual, and you have the Big Three carrying the Yankees.
Last night’s starter John Lackey is considered to be the Angels’ Sabathia. “He’s our bulldog,” center fielder Torii Hunter said.
They needed their bulldog to come through, “and we have to play better defense behind Lackey than we did in Game 1,” Hunter said of a 4-1 loss at Yankee Stadium.
Opposing teams know the Yankees are good, but they really don’t know how good until they face them over a series. The Yankees wear you out. You have to be tough physically and mentally to match up against them.
The Twins couldn’t. The Angels have not been able to match up over the first four games, and if the Yankees move on, the Phillies will have to find a way to match up. The Phillies are a solid bunch mentally and physically. They have the same kind of grit as the Yankees.
The Angels have to show that kind of grit for three straight games or they are done. “Our guys are ready,” Scioscia said.
They weren’t ready in Game 4 and were humiliated 10-1 at home. “Our margin of error is nil,” the manager said.
That should have been the Angels approach from Game 1. There is no room for error against the Yankees. If the Angels had done that, Game 2 might not have slipped away when Brian Fuentes dropped an 0-2 fastball into A-Rod’s lap in the 11th inning. Rodriguez put it in the right-field seats.
“With A-Rod turning it up a notch, plus you have a champion over there in Derek Jeter, you got [Andy] Pettitte, who has pitched in so many postseason games, CC is the richest pitcher in the game, you got [Mark] Teixeira, who is the highest paid first baseman, Gold Glover, in the game. Any ball that is hit over there is caught. He’s made their defense better. Now Jeter and all those guys just throw it and he’ll catch it. They are totally different from past Yankee teams.
“Usually they can hit, but their defense is not that good,” Hunter said. “Teixeira has made their defense A-1.”
That sums it up. These Yankees are at the head of the class in so many ways.