Hunter helps Angels bag Yankees 10-5

[August 09, 2008]  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Torii Hunter had four hits with a home run and four RBIs, Howie Kendrick tied a career high with four hits and the Los Angeles Angels beat the New York Yankees 10-5 on Friday night.

Vladimir Guerrero had three hits and scored three runs for the Angels, who increased their AL West lead to a season-high 13 games after Texas' 9-1 loss at Baltimore. Everyone in the starting lineup contributed to the 17-hit attack except leadoff batter Chone Figgins, who was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.

Jered Weaver (10-9) allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings, including solo homers by Xavier Nady and Alex Rodriguez, who played in his 2,000th regular-season game.

The Yankees, who are trying to tie Atlanta's major league record of 14 consecutive postseason appearances, remain three games behind Boston in the Wild Card race. They are 5-8 following their eight-game winning streak coming out of the All-Star break.

Trailing 6-3 entering the sixth, New York got a run closer on Nady's 18th homer and fifth in 13 games since joining the Yankees in a trade with Pittsburgh. Robinson Cano followed with a triple off the right field wall and scored on Melky Cabrera's groundout.

But the Angels broke it open with four in the ninth. Hunter led off with his 19th homer, Jeff Mathis doubled home a run, pinch-runner Reggie Willits scored on Brian Bruney's wild pitch and Mark Teixeira capped the rally with an RBI single. Willits left the game with a concussion following his collision at home plate with Jose Molina.

Ian Kennedy (0-4) retired only six of the 16 batters he faced, giving up five runs and nine hits in two-plus innings. The right-hander, beginning his third stint with the Yankees this season, was recalled from Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre on Thursday when right-hander Joba Chamberlain went on the disabled list with tendinitis in his rotator cuff.

Kennedy came out with a 5-3 deficit after giving up hits to the first five Angels batters in the third, including RBI singles by Guerrero, Garret Anderson and Kendrick. Anderson extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

The Yankees had taken a 3-2 lead in the top half on a bases-loaded walk to Jason Giambi, an RBI single by Nady and Bobby Abreu's 445th career double, which broke a tie with Andres Galarraga for the most among Venezuelan-born major leaguers.

Rodriguez, 0-for-14 in the Yankees' four-game split at Texas, drove Weaver's 3-2 pitch over the double-decker bullpen leading off the second to trim the Angels' lead to 2-1. Last Saturday at Yankee Stadium, Rodriguez hit one of four home runs Weaver surrendered in New York's 8-2 win.

A-Rod's 544th home run put the three-time AL MVP within four of tying Mike Schmidt for 12th place on the career list. But his major league-record streak of 10 consecutive seasons with at least 35 home runs, 100 RBIs and 100 runs scored is in serious jeopardy.

Rodriguez has 26 homers, 68 RBIs and 71 runs scored with 46 games remaining.

Hunter opened the scoring in the first with a two-run double to left-center that sent left fielder Johnny Damon crashing into the fence, causing one of the padded panels to swing open. Damon was shaken up, but stayed in the game.

Notes:@ Yankees 1B coach Tony Pena filled in for 3B coach Bobby Meacham, who was attending his daughter Alexandra's wedding. Coaching 1B was Mitch Seone, the team's batting practice pitcher. ... The Yankees played their first game in Anaheim with someone other than Joe Torre as their manager since Aug. 20, 1995. ... The Angels were the only team to have a winning record against the Yankees during Torre's 12 seasons as manager (61-55). They were 6-3 against New York in the playoffs during that time, winning the AL division series in 2002 and 2005. ... Abreu leads the Yankees with 76 RBIs, eight more than Rodriguez, who has missed 20 games because of injuries. The last time the Yankees did not have any players with 100 or more RBIs in a non-strike season was 1992, when Don Mattingly led them with 86.

[Associated Press]

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