ANAHEIM, Calif. — Mike Scioscia was saved by his Smurfs.
Scioscia, outdoing the Alfredo Aceves move by manager Joe Girardi in Game 3, pulled out his bulldog starter John Lackey with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh inning last night and his Angels leading 4-0.
In the blink of an eye the Yankees put up six runs. At that point most teams would have quit but these Angels have some toughness to them.
The Angels came back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh against A.J. Burnett and Phil Hughes to stay alive in the ALCS with a stunning 7-6 victory at the Big A that sends the series back to Yankee Stadium.
PHOTOS: ANGELS BEAT YANKEES, FORCE GAME 6
There is a lesson here; the Yankees cannot let down their guard for a second against these Angels. After watching them for two weeks now, they are not as talented as the Yankees, but they sure are gritty and, in the end, they survived to play another day.
“Those guys are King Kong over there,” Torii Hunter said of the Yankees. Hunter was 2-for-2 as the Angels bats finally came alive against A.J. Burnett. “We’re the Smurfs.”
The Smurfs survived and now they have a chance to play again.
With that three-run seventh they seemed to break through an emotional barrier against the Yankees, saying, “We’re tired of getting kicked around.”
In the end, the Angels survived a bases-loaded, 3-2 situation when closer Brian Fuentes got Nick Swisher to pop to short. “My kids at home were getting gray hair watching that inning,” Hunter said jokingly.
Fuentes said it was not the way he wanted to draw it up but in the end, “I made my pitch.”
If not for a Fuentes 0-2 fastball to Alex Rodriguez in Game 2 the Angels would be leading the ALCS, 3-2.
The Yankees have to hope they don’t have another epic collapse in them, but that would be hard to imagine because the Angels have to come back to Yankee Stadium. Hoping that Joe Saunders and all hands on deck with Scott Kazmir, if there is a Game 7, can carry the playoff weight like Lackey did last night until he was pulled. If nothing else the Angels earned themselves some serious respect with this victory. The Yankees still lead the ALCS but at least the Angels are making them work for the big cash.
As it is, the Yankees still are playing with house money and the Angels have not shown the kind of fortitude in New York it takes to beat the Yankees. That’s still part of the mountain they have to climb.
They’re still climbing because of from Vladamir Guerrero and Kendry Morales, who picked up RBI singles in that seventh. If the Angels can somehow pull out a victory tomorrow in Game 6 the Yankees are in big trouble because CC Sabathia would have to make like Bob Gibson and come up with three wins in one series and then get ready for the Fightin’ Phils in the World Series.
Fuentes came on in the ninth after Jered Weaver did a fine job in the eighth. He got the first two outs, then Rodriguez was intentionally walked. That brought Hideki Matsui to the plate. Win or lose, Scioscia was going to do it his way. A-Rod is Barry Bonds. Freddy Guzman came on to run for A-Rod. Matsui waked, bringing Robinson Cano to the plate. Fuentes hit Cano to load the bases.
Fuentes went to a full count on Nick Swisher before Swisher popped to short. Scioscia was saved and so were the Angels.
Fuentes said he wasn’t about to give him, the team had responded to the challenge and he was not about to let them down. “I was really proud of the way the guys played,” he said.
“We know what we’re up against,” Scioscia said.
It’s King Kong vs. the Smurfs.