The Angels staggered into Yankee Stadium this week with their cup of magic dust empty and their wings slumped. Anaheim was already 1-5 on the road trip and there appeared to be no hope in sight.
However, in a shocking span of 72 hours, the Angels fluttered out of town after last night’s 2-0 win riding a stunning three-game sweep of the defending world champions and believing their season has been resurrected.
Making matters even more bizarre, the Angels held the Yankees scoreless in the final two games of the series en route to becoming the first team to sweep the Yankees at home since 1997.
“They’re a great team with some of the top players in the game,” said Mo Vaughn, who blasted his second homer of the series in the sixth inning to give Anaheim all it would need for victory. “It’s tough to come into Yankee Stadium and win period, let alone shut this team out.”
Angel manager Terry Collins was so juiced after the game he looked as if his team had just clinched a World Series berth.
“Coming in playing the way we were, under the circumstances, I’ve never been more proud of a group of guys as I am of these,” Collins said. “We had every reason in the world to let down. The Yankees face this every night. They’re the world champions, the best team in baseball. Everyone gets up to face them. For us, this is huge.”
Collins conceded his hope entering the series was “to win one game,” believing his Angels had a decent shot to beat the Yankees with Yankee-mesmerizer Chuck Finley on the mound Wednesday.
Finley shut out the Yanks out 1-0. Last night, it was a combined effort from starter Omar Olivares (62/3 innings), Scott Schoeneweis (two-thirds), Shigetoshi Hasegawa (two-thirds) and closer Troy Percival, who pitched the ninth for his third save of the series.
“You don’t shut the Yankees out two times in a season, let alone twice in a series,” Collins gushed.
Amazing stat of the night: Olivares walked six and still didn’t allow a run.
“Sounds kind of unreal doesn’t it?” Olivares said. “But I never gave in.”
Vaughn warned his teammates not to “stick our chests out” based on this series.
“This team has been notorious for playing the Yankees well and playing everyone else like (bleep),” Vaughn said, sending a warning out.
But Collins said: “We’ve got to enjoy this. One thing we get out of this is we know if we do the little things and pitch well we can beat anyone.”