Yanks on brink of title, and baseball's natural order returns
Perhaps as soon as tonight, the New York Yankees could clinch their 27th World Series championship and bring relief to their fans who have endured the horror of doing without a title since 2000.
I mean, seriously, what do Chicago Cubs fans know about suffering compared with that?
But the Yankees are on the brink, ahead of the Phillies three games to one following Sunday's 7-4 victory in a Series that seems to be restoring the natural order of things. TV ratings are way up, for one thing, and that's because of the Yankees.
The Tampa Bay Rays were a grand story last year, but sporting America didn't tune in when they played the Phillies in the World Series -- ratings were at historically low levels. Repeated weather delays had a lot to do with that, but there's just no getting around it: America loves to watch the Yankees.
They are the closest thing we have to a national team.
I picked the Yankees to be in just this spot when we published our predictions for the season (as the man once said, you can look it up -- or you could just trust me). I also picked the Rays as a wild card, but that's not important right now.
Truth is, I didn't feel all that good about picking the Yankees. People were already predicting manager Joe Girardi would get fired by Memorial Day, for one thing. That's never good. Alex Rodriguez had the truth come out about his steroid use and then missed most of the spring and start of the season because of a hip injury.
I also wasn't sure how free agent pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett would react to the kind of scrutiny that is part of daily life with the Yankees. And when the team got off to a slow start, it really did seem like things could implode.
You have to credit Girardi, though, with holding things together. Remember when the Yankees lost the first eight games they played against Boston, and the Red Sox seemed to be running away with the American League East? Seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?
The captain, Derek Jeter, was simply magnificent all season long. He won't win the MVP award, but he has to at least be in the conversation. He'll also be in the Hall of Fame after he retires to the compound he is building on Davis Islands.
But something else stood out to me as the season ground along. When the Yankees were dominating in mid- to late 1990s -- winning four World Series titles in five years -- they were quiet, focused and ruthless professionals. The 1998 team that won 114 regular-season games and 125 overall was the best collection of talent since Cincinnati's legendary Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s.
This group had a lot of that same stuff.
After all the A-Rod stuff in the spring, you really didn't hear that much about the Yankees -- beyond the fact they seemed to be winning every night. Once the playoffs began, they simply continued to roll.
And now, here they are.
One win to go.
And, I suspect, it's just the start. These Yankees probably have another two or three championships in them, at least. Next time you run into a TV executive, tell them that. They'll thank you for it.
(c) Tampa Tribune.
Angels pack up, clear out after early exit
ANAHEIM, Calif. --- On the day before the World Series was to start in the Bronx, the Los Angeles Angels gathered in their clubhouse for the final time in 2009 and cleaned out their lockers.
"There's always an amount of disappointment and emptiness when you don't reach that final level with a team you had very high expectations for," manager Mike Scioscia said on Tuesday. "We had enough to compete with any team that was out there."
The epilogue to a long, tearstained season for the three-peat AL West champs seemed even more stark with Nick Adenhart's jersey still hanging at his cubicle.
"We'd like to keep it there, but I have no idea what they're going to do," center fielder Torii Hunter said. "That's up to the front office, but I'm pretty sure we'll plead with them to keep it there. That would be awesome. But we'll always keep him in our hearts and our memories."
Adenhart's locker has remained undisturbed for more than 6 1/2 months as a shrine to the 22-year-old pitcher, killed along with two friends in early April when their car was broadsided by an alleged drunken driver.
"I would say the only thing I'll remember from the season is the death of a teammate and how close it brought us together as a team -- and the chemistry is brought," Hunter said. "You realize how close you are with your teammates when you lose one. I think we had a little extra fire for him and we dedicated this season to him."
Adenhart's locker and makeshift memorial remained Tuesday. The team will wait until it has spoken to his parents before making any decision.
"When they were here in April we talked about them coming through here at the end of the season and going through the locker, so we'll kind of see what their wishes are a little bit and talk about it internally," Angels vice president of communications Tim Mead said. "But like everything we've done, we'll do the right thing by the Adenhart family.
"I guess the best way for me to say it is that Nick will be part of this clubhouse forever," he said. "How we choose to signify that will be the appropriate thing to do. The memorial outside will be a discussion point, too. That was fan created, and we basically became caretakers of something that they created. So we're going to gauge that moving forward as well."
What the Angels accomplished on the field -- a fifth division title in six seasons, the second-best record in baseball, a major league-best .285 batting average and a franchise record 883 runs -- was a testament to Scioscia's stoic leadership and a team of undaunted players who used Adenhart's memory as a motivational tool.
They were able to maintain their focus until last week. After sweeping Boston in the first round of the playoffs, they faced the best team in baseball and completely fell apart against the New York Yankees in the AL championship series with eight errors and a couple of glaring basepath blunders.
"I've been here numerous times, and every time it's worse," Hunter said while gathering up his belongings. "It's difficult to come back and clean your locker out. You sit there and think about every piece of equipment you grabbed this season -- shoes, batting gloves -- and you think about something that happened with it. It's like a little slide show in your head."
Pitcher Scott Kazmir, acquired on Aug. 28 from Tampa Bay, went through the same end-of-season ritual he did last year, after the Rays were beaten in the World Series by the Philadelphia Phillies. But it wasn't any easier.
"This one definitely hurt," Kazmir said. "I think we had everything it took. I mean, I didn't think there were any piece that were missing at all. We just didn't get it done. It's tough, because we weren't settling for anything less than a World Series title. And it will be tough watching it on TV. I said I wasn't, but I'm probably going to end up catching some of it."
Now the speculation begins in earnest regarding how much turnover the Angels' roster will undergo in the coming months, with cornerstones John Lackey, Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu and Chone Figgins all heading into the free agent market, along with reliever Darren Oliver, utilityman Robb Quinlan and perennially injured right-hander Kelvim Escobar.
"Every year there's always going to be a little bit of change in any clubhouse. We had our share of it last year. But this is obviously a group that we want to keep together and keep moving forward with," Scioscia said.
"There's guys in that room whose names I know this organization wants to see in this uniform for a long time, and there's guys that we feel want to come back. But that doesn't always lead to guys coming back. We'll have to see how things unfold."
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Mathis' double in 11th leads Angels past Yanks 5-4
ANAHEIM, Calif. --- Jeff Mathis hit a two-out double in the 11th inning to drive home the winning run and the Los Angeles Angels survived a second straight thriller, beating the Yankees 5-4 Monday and trimming New York's lead in the AL championship series to 2-1. In a game full of missed chances for both sides, the Angels eventually rallied to hand the Yankees their first loss of this postseason.
Howie Kendrick homered, tripled and then singled with two outs in the 11th. Mathis followed with his drive up against the left-field wall, and Kendrick slid home well ahead of a desperate throw.
Mathis, the Angels' backup catcher, came up with his third late-inning, extra-base hit of this crazy series.
"It's been up and down the last couple games," Mathis said. "Luckily we came out on top in this one."
Vladimir Guerrero also homered as the Angels overcame a midgame 3-0 deficit and four solo homers by the Yankees' stars, including Jorge Posada's tying shot in the eighth.
Game 4 is Tuesday night, with CC Sabathia pitching on three days' rest against Angels newcomer Scott Kazmir. Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is Thursday.
For the second straight game, the Angels and Yankees played into tense extra innings, stretching nerves and bullpens still frayed from Saturday's 13-inning, 310-minute Yankees' victory in New York.
Los Angeles wasted a golden opportunity in the 10th after putting runners at the corners with nobody out against Mariano Rivera, but the ace closer came through yet again, getting Torii Hunter and Guerrero with the bases loaded.
Fans gathered across the country at Yankee Stadium erupted in cheers when Rivera retired the side -- but the Angels came through in the 11th after Ervin Santana pitched the 11th for Los Angeles.
The winning run came quickly after David Robertson retired the first two Angels in the 11th. He got pulled, and Alfredo Aceves became the Yankees' eighth pitcher. Kendrick singled and Mathis followed with a drive to left-center, hit far too hard to allow a play on the speedy Kendrick.
Mathis, a .211 hitter in the regular season, entered Game 3 in the eighth inning and hit a leadoff double in the 10th.
The Angels ended their six-game ALCS losing streak. The Yankees had been 5-0 in this postseason, starting with a sweep over Minnesota.
Playing in balmy Orange County temperatures after a frigid weekend in the Bronx, the Yankees had a 3-0 lead midway through the fifth inning on homers by Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Johnny Damon. Andy Pettitte also appeared to be cruising toward his record 16th career postseason victory, which would have put New York one win away from its first World Series in six years.
Instead, Kendrick hit a fifth-inning homer, Guerrero tied it with a two-run shot in the sixth, and Kendrick tripled off Joba Chamberlain before scoring on Maicer Izturis' sacrifice fly in the seventh to put the Angels ahead 4-3.
But Posada tied it again in the eighth, connecting to deep center field off Kevin Jepsen. Jeter stranded two runners to end New York's eighth, and Los Angeles' Bobby Abreu was tagged out moments later while retreating to second base after his long drive to center.
Only three teams have ever blown a 2-0 lead in a league championship series, but the 2004 Yankees are in that trio. After taking a 3-0 lead against Boston that infamous fall, the Yankees lost 13 of their next 17 postseason games before winning their first five this year.
Many fans hadn't even settled into their Angel Stadium seats for Game 3 when Jeter ripped Jered Weaver's third pitch into the bullpen beyond the left-field fence. It was the New York captain's third career postseason leadoff homer and his 20th playoff homer, third on baseball's career list behind Manny Ramirez and Bernie Williams.
Rodriguez connected in the fourth for his 11th career playoff homer. He already has nine RBIs in this postseason, a career best.
Damon then found the short right field porch in the fifth for his first homer since Aug. 30 and his fifth hit in three games since a 1-for-12 effort in the division series. The veteran outfielder hadn't homered in his previous 120 at-bats, and hadn't connected away from homer-haven Yankee Stadium since Aug. 5.
The 37-year-old Pettitte, a mainstay of New York's playoff efforts since 1996, already has made the most postseason starts (37) and pitched the most innings (231) in baseball history. He yielded seven hits and one walk, but Los Angeles' two mid-game homers made him the first Yankees starter to allow more than two runs in this postseason.
Weaver gave up five hits and three walks in five innings, failing to recapture the dominance of his two-hit start against Boston nine days earlier. He hadn't allowed more than two homers in a game since Aug. 2, 2008.
Guerrero, the Angels' long-feared cleanup hitter, had struggled in every big situation during the series, stranding eight runners in Game 2, but his long shot to left was his first playoff homer in five years.
Abreu nearly started trouble for his former team in the eighth, but he inexplicably went nearly halfway to third base on his long double before trying to retreat to second, where first baseman Mark Teixeira alertly waited to make the tag.
The Yankees also benefited from two baserunning blunders in the division series. The Twins lost a run in Game 2 when Carlos Gomez was caught off second before Delmon Young could score on Matt Tolbert's two-out single. Nick Punto also was cut down trying to retreat to third in New York's clinching victory in its first-round sweep.
Angels closer Brian Fuentes pitched a hitless ninth inning, showing no effects from Rodriguez's 11th-inning, game-tying homer in Game 2. Manager Mike Scioscia ordered an intentional walk for Rodriguez with nobody on base and two outs, a move that paid off when pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. struck out.
NOTES: Posada apparently asked Angel Stadium officials to turn on the lights midway through the game, played under partly cloudy skies. ... Abreu was 0 for 11 against his former team before his sixth-inning single.
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Halos, Yanks flex their might with sweeps
AL powers join Dodgers as third team to blow through DS.
The Angels and Yankees open the American League Championship Series Friday at Yankee Stadium, and the Dodgers are just waiting for the winner of the Phillies-Rockies series to come visit for the start of the National League Championship Series on Thursday.
They are the final five survivors of 30 clubs that started this Major League Baseball season, and they are further proof that this is a Powerhouse Postseason.
Three of the four Division Series were sweeps -- the second time it has happened in history -- and in this case every winner held its home-field advantage. If the Phillies eliminate the Rockies -- it is now a 2-1 series lead for the defending world champs thanks to their 6-5 victory Sunday night in Denver -- then that means the two teams with the best marks in each league would advance to the League Championship Series.
That has happened only once in the Wild Card era (since 1995), and that also was in 2007. The Yankees (103) and Angels (97) led the American League in victories during this season, and they open the ALCS on Friday at Yankee Stadium. The Dodgers (95), Phillies (93) and Rockies (92) finished with the National League's three best records in that order, and the Dodgers are just waiting to host the NLCS on Thursday against that other NLDS survivor.
Two years ago, the D-backs led the NL with a 90-72 record and the Rockies were 90-73; the Red Sox and Indians finished with identical 96-66 records and met in a seven-game ALCS. Under normal circumstances, the meek tend to inherit the Earth.
This is not the postseason of the meek.
The best teams are moving forward on the way to the 105th World Series that will start Oct. 27 in either New York or Anaheim. Just consider what the Angels and Yankees did in clinching back-to-back on Sunday. The Angels never had beaten the Red Sox in postseason play -- but they rallied for three runs in the ninth at Boston off Jonathan Papelbon, who never had given up a postseason run. The Yankees had lost three consecutive Division Series -- 2005, 2006 and 2007 -- but Alex Rodriguez, clutch hitter, is leading them now.
So now the Yankees and Angels meet for the first time in a best-of-seven series, and Andy Pettitte -- following his brilliant clinch start that tied him with John Smoltz for most postseason wins (15) -- already has predicted "a nasty series. It's going to be a war with us and the Angels, but we are looking forward to it."
Veteran closer Mariano Rivera summed up the sentiment in the Yankees' clubhouse: "It feels good, (but) we haven't done anything yet. We have to keep going, keep fighting."
The Yankees' CC Sabathia allowed two runs in Game 1 against Minnesota, and A.J. Burnett and Pettitte allowed just one apiece in the next two, respectively. There wasn't a lot for the Twins to work with, and it wasn't just pitching. The Yankees are running full-throttle in every area, and seeing A-Rod -- whose past postseason struggles are well-documented -- thrive this October makes you wonder if they can be stopped.
"It's a great baseball team," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of the Yankees. "They deserve all the accolades, they have got a great bullpen. Those guys come out there firing, bench, the whole package, they've got the whole deal, and they have got some of the classiest players in the league out in the field, guys that I really enjoyed watching play. I hate it when I play against them because they kill us but I enjoy watching Derek Jeter and A-Rod and those guys play. Those guys are very talented and classy people out in the field."
The Angels got commanding performances from starters John Lackey in Game 1 and Jered Weaver in Game 2, and then they finally broke that Boston first-round hex by plating three runs in the top of the ninth off Papelbon. The Angels actually were down to their last strike, as Erick Aybar had an 0-2 count, but Papelbon was vulnerable and Aybar singled to start what became a clinch rally.
The Angels are far too good offensively to get by with that in 2009. The Bobby Abreu at-bat in the ninth, when he smoked an RBI double off the Green Monster, was a full series of nearly identical pitches. He and the Angels will make you pay. Vlad Guerrero delivered what proved to be the game-winner, a two-run, bases-loaded single, and one of the enticing parts of an Angels-Yankees matchup is the prospect that either he or A-Rod is going to the Fall Classic with a chance to win a first ring and prove something big.
The Angels have power, speed, a .300-stacked lineup, good starting pitching and the Major League saves leader in Brian Fuentes. They are well-managed, and their skipper is eager to get them back into what would be only their second Fall Classic in club history.
"We talked earlier in the series, I felt really good that we were playing good baseball," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We felt if we played good baseball that everyone could not only see the talent on this team, because we haven't shown it in the playoffs. Last year we played better. But outside of '02 and '05, we've had a rough go. Part of it is Boston; they're a deep club. We didn't match up well with them a couple of years. They took it to us. And last year we played better."
These Angels are better. These Yankees are better.
These Dodgers are better, too. They just did something many people thought impossible: Win games started consecutively by Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, the top NL Cy Young Award candidates. Even more impressive, perhaps, was seeing the Dodgers keep that twosome on the shelf by refusing to allow more than a Game 3.
The Dodgers scuffled late in the season but have regained their form by all accounts in this postseason. Either the Phillies or the Rockies would be the visitor in the NLCS opener Thursday at Chavez Ravine.
It will be another amazing finish in this postseason, without question. Five strong clubs are still alive, two in the AL that finished with their league's top records, and three in the NL that finished with the best in theirs. If you like summerlong powers going head-to-head, then this is your postseason.
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Yankees choose to start AL playoffs Wednesday
NEW YORK --- The New York Yankees knew when they'd be playing before they knew who. Then after 12 innings of an AL Central tiebreaker, they learned it would be the Minnesota Twins.
The Yankees could have waited until one hour after that game to pick when they wanted to begin, but made the call about an hour before the first pitch. Now they'll face the Twins and start catcher Joe Mauer for a shot at the ALCS.
"The Twins offensively have left-handed power in (Jason) Kubel and Mauer, and everything really focuses around Mauer," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "He's so dangerous in their lineup. One thing that has happened to this club is Kubel has really matured into a dangerous hitter behind Mauer, and (Michael) Cuddyer has really stepped up in the months of September and October. Delmon Young has turned his season around as well. They also play small ball and you have to be ready for that."
The Yankees, who went 7-0 against Minnesota this year, have home-field advantage throughout the postseason. They picked to get going right away in the first postseason game at the new Yankee Stadium, meaning the Twins would have about 21 hours between the final out and the first pitch.
They also used closer Joe Nathan during Tuesday night's epic.
"The only advantage it gives you is that they probably wouldn't ask him to get more than three outs on Wednesday," Girardi said.
With the schedule they chose, the Yankees will get a day off between Games 1 and 2.
The other AL playoff series between Boston and the Los Angeles Angels will now start Thursday night in Anaheim, a development that surprised neither team. New York was expected to choose the earlier schedule, forcing the Twins into a quick turnaround from Tuesday's tiebreaker.
"We thought we would do this all along," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who planned his rotation in anticipation of a Thursday start. "We'll go through our workout. We'll talk to our players. We'll check on some guys' health, and we'll put our roster together."
Boston and Los Angeles both are waiting to set their final playoff rosters while evaluating players with minor injuries during Tuesday's workouts, including Red Sox reliever Manny Delcarmen and Angels reliever Jason Bulger.
The clubs will play back-to-back night games on Thursday and Friday before the series shifts to Fenway Park.
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Yanks' Bruney doesn't want his tumultuous season to end
NEW YORK - The cavernous home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium still smelled faintly of the champagne spilled in celebration the day before when Brian Bruney arrived early Monday afternoon.
The 27-year-old relief pitcher contributed significantly to the victory that clinched the American League East, entering the game at the start of the seventh inning and retiring all five batters he faced as the Yankees beat the Red Sox.
Bruney's unshaven face still wore a smile a day later.
"The thing that was special for me was the crowd reaction," said the right-hander, referring to the standing ovation the fans gave him when he left the mound in the eighth inning. "I've been through a lot all year, fighting a lot of injuries, mechanics and pitching like garbage. I would have loved to look up and give a thank-you, but honestly I had tears in my eyes and I couldn't do it. That's been my moment in baseball. It was an awesome feeling.
"New York fans aren't like any other fans. They feel baseball, and they feel it with you."
Bruney did not pitch in Monday night's 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals. But there are five games remaining in the regular season for him to try to convince the team's decision makers that he belongs on the roster for the AL Division Series next week.
The primary setup man when the season started, Bruney pitched well in the opening weeks before going on the disabled list April 25 with a sore elbow.
After missing nearly a month, Bruney returned and pitched in only one game before going back on the DL. He admitted to misleading the team about how he felt, which drew the ire of manager Joe Girardi.
Bruney caused more problems on June 13 when - unprompted - he criticized Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, saying he had a "tired act."
Rodriguez tried to confront Bruney during batting practice a day later, sparking a brief fray that CC Sabathia helped quell. Bruney was called into the manager's office again, this time told to keep inflammatory opinions private.
Bruney has pitched in 35 games since with varying results, putting 53 runners on base over 27 2/3 innings and posting a 4.55 ERA. Bruney was so desperate to change his fortunes earlier this month that he changed his uniform number, dropping 38 to become only the second player in team history to wear 99.
The last was outfielder Charlie "King Kong" Keller, who wore 99 in the two games he played with the Yankees in 1952.
Keller did not make the postseason roster that year. Will Bruney? Girardi and coaches will meet with general manager Brian Cashman and members of his staff before the game on Tuesday to discuss the roster. Bruney's status will be one of the prime subjects of debate.
The Yankees are planning to bring 10 pitchers to the best-of-five Division Series. With only three starters needed, Joba Chamberlain will work out of the bullpen. That figures to bump Bruney, Chad Gaudin or Damaso Marte off the roster.
Bruney believes he deserves a spot, saying his performance Sunday was a sign of what is to come.
''I've been feeling better. My mechanics, right now, I feel like myself when I go out there,'' he said. ''You can build off of that. I feel good right now and it's the right time to feel good.''
Girardi was noncommittal.
"He had such a good April for us, and then he got hurt and it was a long road with his rehab and getting back, and (he) had some setbacks," the manager said. "We're going to have a lot of tough decisions. But I believe that Brian Bruney has a ton of talent."
Bruney's fate could be determined based on how he pitches in the final five games of the regular season. Though meaningless for the Yankees, Bruney can bolster his resume.
"I think I'll be there," he said. "I hope they feel that way."
Notes: Jorge Posada, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera were the only regulars in the lineup. Cano hit a grand slam. ... The Steinbrenner family invited the players and coaches to a reception at the Stadium's steakhouse after the game on Tuesday. ... Right-handed reliever Dave Robertson, whose status could impact Bruney, has been cleared to pitch after missing 24 days with a sore elbow. ... A.J. Burnett will rejoin the team on Tuesday and is scheduled to face the Royals. He was excused from Monday's game to be with his father, Bill, who underwent triple-bypass surgery in Arkansas. "Everything went well," Girardi said.
(c) Lower Hudson Journal News.
Texas Rangers snap scoring funk, beat Los Angeles Angels 3-2
ARLINGTON, Texas --- Starting for the first time in nearly two weeks, Hank Blalock gave his scuffling offence a much-needed spark.
Blalock hit the go-ahead home run, Scott Feldman picked up his 17th victory and the Rangers kept their slim playoff hopes alive, beating the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 Saturday night.
The Rangers had been shutout in four of their previous five games, the first time in club history that happened.
Manager Ron Washington said before the game his lineup needed a veteran presence, so he gave Blalock his first start since Sept. 6 in hopes of jump starting the unit.
Blalock took advantage of the rare playing time. He lined a 2-1 pitch from Weaver into the grassy area just beyond the wall in centre, putting the Rangers ahead 3-2 in the sixth.
"The baseball gods blessed us by Hank hitting a home run," Washington said. "I'm glad he came through. That's what he's capable of doing."
Texas ended a 25-inning scoreless drought with a run in the third, three shy of the club record set in 1972. Texas had scored once in 48 innings before that run.
"The streak we've been on, not scoring runs, has been really hard on us," Blalock said. "We've got to stay positive and grind through it."
The Rangers, who snapped a five-game losing streak, moved within 6 1/2 games of the division-leading Angels in the AL West. Texas remained seven games behind Boston in the wild-card chase after the Red Sox beat Baltimore on Saturday night.
Texas and Los Angeles have five games remaining against each other, including a four-game set in the final week of the season.
If the Angels (88-60) go 7-7 the rest of the way, the Rangers (81-66) would still have to win 14 of their final 15 just to force a tie.
"It was as much of a must-win game as we've had all year," Blalock said. "We really had our backs against the wall so it was nice to get that win."
Blalock almost went from hero to goat as his fielding error contributed to Los Angeles loading the bases with one out in the ninth.
Closer Frank Francisco fell behind Howie Kendrick 3-0 in the count. He followed with two called strikes before the Angels second baseman grounded into a double play to give Francisco his 23rd save in 26 chances.
"The pitch jammed (Kendrick) a bit," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. "They got the ground ball they needed there."
Feldman (17-5) allowed two runs and four hits in 6 2-3 innings to tie for the AL lead in victories with CC Sabathia, who pitched Saturday night for the New York Yankees against the Seattle Mariners.
Los Angeles starter Jered Weaver (15-7) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings, including Blalock's 24th home run.
"Blalock put good wood on a change up and it hurt us," Weaver said.
The Rangers got their first run when Nelson Cruz walked, stole second and Chris Davis hit a slow roller toward shortstop.
Maicer Izturis charged the ball, but it rolled under his bare hand and a few feet past the infield dirt. Cruz scored and Davis made it to second for a double, breaking an 0 for 27 funk with runners in scoring position and drawing a standing ovation from the fans.
"It was good to have one of those go our way and build some momentum for the rest of the game," Davis said.
Torii Hunter hit a two-out, RBI single that tied it at 1 in the fourth, and Mike Napoli homered in the fifth to put the Angels on top 2-1.
Elvis Andrus singled off of Chone Figgins' glove at third to score Ivan Rodriguez and tie the game 2-2.
Notes: Rangers 3B Michael Young, who has had only one at-bat since straining his left hamstring Sept. 1, was out of the lineup. Young did not take any swings Saturday after he hit in a simulated game Friday. ... Napoli came into the game in a 3-for-45 slump. ... Texas' scoreless streak was the most since going 25 innings without a run Sept. 1-4, 2004.
(c) 2009 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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