New York – Randy Johnson was a big bust when the New York Yankees needed him most, and Chone Figgins’ clutch plays Friday night pushed the Los Angeles Angels within one win of the American League Championship Series.
Figgins made another sparkling grab on defense and hit a tiebreaking single, and Garret Anderson had four hits and five RBIs to lead the Angels to an 11-7 victory over the Yankees for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five playoff series.
The Angels, who roughed up Johnson and set their postseason record with 19 hits, recovered after wasting a five-run lead. They can close out the series Saturday and earn a spot against the Chicago White Sox in the ALCS. Los Angeles lefty Jarrod Washburn is scheduled to face New York’s Shawn Chacon in Game 4.
“Our team has always been able to come back against any team,” Bengie Molina said. “That’s just the kind of team we are.”
Molina homered for the third straight game and Anderson hit a three-run shot through the raindrops as Los Angeles went ahead 5-0 and chased Johnson in the fourth. His playoff debut for the Yankees lasted only three-plus innings, the shortest of his 15 postseason starts.
“I pitch and my teammates expect us to win and for me to put us in a position to win, and I didn’t do that,” Johnson said. “My slider found too much of the middle of the plate. I didn’t have a sharp one going down and away. Unfortunately my pitches were elevated today, and I paid the price.”
Sparked by Hideki Matsui’s leadoff homer in the fourth, New York came back against Paul Byrd and the Angels’ bullpen to go ahead 6-5 in the fifth only to quickly fall behind again as Aaron Small and Tom Gordon failed to come through.
“If you don’t make quality pitches, you can’t expect good results,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “We didn’t pitch very well.”
Small, 10-0 during the regular season, entered with runners at the corners in the fourth and got a strikeout and double-play grounder, then threw a 1-2-3 fifth. But he wound up losing for the first time since New York brought him up in mid-July.
Darin Erstad and Figgins, who had been 0-for-11 in the series, had run-scoring hits for a 6-5 lead. Figgins saved two runs when he made a diving catch of Gary Sheffield’s sinking liner to center for the final out of the fourth, especially impressive given the wet field.
“It’s almost like you’re running in a marsh or a swamp,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
The versatile Figgins also made a key play in Game 2, when he robbed Matsui with a diving grab at third base.
His defense was extremely important again Friday night.
“I just had to take a chance, kill their momentum,” Figgins said.
Scot Shields struck out four in two innings for the win, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the sixth when Robinson Cano flied out.
Kelvin Escobar allowed Derek Jeter’s leadoff homer in the eighth, and Francisco Rodriguez finished a game that lasted exactly four hours.
While rain fell intermittently, the game was never halted.
