Angels' rally gives them second life

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The night was already overstuffed with raw nerves and jangly emotions. And Angels manager Mike Scioscia still went ahead and replaced hot new set-up man Jered Weaver with closer Brian Fuentes to start the ninth.

Why not just signal the ushers to pass out Maalox to the 45,113 screaming themselves hoarse in Angels Stadium?

Why not just motion the Yankees to start the inning with two runners aboard?

Why not just have Torii Hunter fire his glove into a dugout wall in utter disgust while they're at it?

Oh, wait. That last one already had happened. Not because of Fuentes, but because of events leading up to Fuentes as the Angels scored a 7-6 reprieve in Game 5 of this AL Championship Series, sending this thing back to New York for Game 6 on Saturday on a night in which they're already calling for, you guessed it, heavy rain.

Ninety percent chance, one guy said.

"Well, then, we'll play in the 10 percent that is dry," Scioscia quipped.

Beats zero percent. Which the Angels were perilously close to a couple of times on this night as elimination came looking for them, wearing Yankees pinstripes.

"It's been a roller-coaster, man," catcher Jeff Mathis said.

"We're just kicking, punching, scratching, doing whatever we've got to do to get off that wall," Hunter said.

Thwack! said Hunter's glove as it bounced off of the wall.

One loss away from watching the Yankees dance on their grass, the Angels mugged New York starter A.J. Burnett with four first-inning runs. Four of the first six strikes Burnett threw went for a double (Bobby Abreu), single (Hunter), double (Vladimir Guerrero) and single (Kendry Morales). Bing, bam, boom!

But after that, Burnett pulled it together and didn't allow another run over the next five innings.

Meanwhile, Angels ace John Lackey had scattered five hits over six gutsy innings when the Yankees popped for a six-run seventh that set the events in motion, turning this from another run-of-the-mill read into a whodunit thriller.

Lackey surrendered a one-out double to Melky Cabrera and then lost Jorge Posada on a full-count walk. Ball four was close to grazing the inside corner, but plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth didn't see it that way.

"I'm sure you all saw the replay," Lackey said. "It is what it is."

He spread his arms and hollered as Posada jogged to first, and Culbreth spread his arms and hollered right back.

With the Angels still ahead 4-0, pitching coach Mike Butcher jogged to the mound to calm Lackey and make sure things didn't get out of control. Culbreth joined the conference, and he soon was doing as much talking as anyone.

"It was a big pitch," Butcher said. "It was a 3-and-2 count, an emotional game. There was a lot on the line. John felt like he made a good pitch.

"Fieldin was very professional. He talked and John talked, and both handled themselves very well."

Problem was, Lackey, appearing rattled and with a history of periodically losing his composure for spells on the mound, proceeded to walk Jeter on four pitches to load the bases.

Brian Fuentes puts the finishing touches on an anxiety-filled Game 5. (Getty Images)

"I definitely threw a couple of pitches out of the zone early," Lackey said. "This time of year, you can't give in. And once it's 2 and 0, you're already down the road."

Was the Jeter walk related to his anger over losing Posada on what he thought was a good pitch?

"Obviously, I wasn't happy about it," Lackey said. "I'm going to get fired up out there. That's what I do. It doesn't affect my pitches."

He induced a pop fly to left from Johnny Damon after that for the second out. But with the bases loaded and Mark Teixeira up next, Scioscia came calling for lefty reliever Darren Oliver.

That didn't make Lackey happy, either.

He said several words to the manager. Lots more words that he used later.

Asked if he wanted to elaborate on what he told Scioscia, the big right-hander said, "No."

Scioscia was OK with elaborating, grinning as he relayed what Lackey told him: "This is my game, man! I want to stay in!"

Had Scioscia removed him following the back-to-back walks, it would have been much more understandable. But having allowed him to pitch to Damon ... Lackey was only at 104 pitches, had been terrific all night and was one out from escaping the inning.

"My decision was based on turning Teixeira around and letting him hit to the bigger part of our ballpark," Scioscia said. "If I listened to my heart, I would have left John in until we won or lost. My head said go with D.O. [Darren Oliver]."

Indeed, Teixeira slugged 30 home runs batting left-handed this season and only nine hitting right-handed. But next time, Scioscia might want to say screw it and listen to his heart. Oliver kept Teixeira in the park, but barely. Tex rifled a shot into the left-center gap that cleared the bases. Then Oliver intentionally walked Alex Rodriguez and surrendered a game-tying single to Hideki Matsui.

In trudged reliever Kevin Jepsen, who immediately yielded a two-run triple to Robinson Cano.

Inside the Yankees' clubhouse, with a 6-4 lead, the champagne was on ice and the clubhouse attendants were preparing for the celebration.

Inside the Angels' dugout when the inning ended, well, that's when Hunter fired his glove.

"I was out there deflated, you know, and pissed off," he said.

"Torii is one of our leaders," Guerrero said through a translator. "Maybe it was good."

Now it was survival time. Forget the "of the fittest" part. That'll come later in New York. This was just survival, period. And darned if a team that has looked overwhelmed and overmatched all series didn't pop for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to jump back ahead 7-6.

As Jeter was saying the other night, "They get a couple of guys on, the Rally Monkey comes out, you never know what's going to happen."

Uh-huh.

It was here that Scioscia made like Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel, who has used J.A. Happ expertly this postseason as a swingman between the rotation and the bullpen, and summoned Weaver.

"Going into the game, it was kind of a 'just in case' thing," said Weaver, who had thrown 95 pitches as a starter in Monday's 11-inning classic Game 3 here. "They told me after [the Yankees] started scoring runs in the seventh to get ready."

So he stretched. And stretched. And stretched. ...

"It was a 45-minute inning," he said, grinning, following only his second career relief appearance. "There was definitely enough time to get loose. Then the nerves started to kick in. And then once you get out there, you try to locate and throw everything for strikes."

Which he did, impressively. Cabrera whiffed. Posada tapped back to the mound. Jeter whiffed. Eleven pitches, and dominating enough to clearly become the people's choice around Angel Stadium to stick around for the ninth as well.

"They told me if we scored a couple of runs, I'd go back out there, but if it stayed the same, Tito [Fuentes] would pitch," Weaver said.

Ah, yes. Fuentes.

He led the majors with 48 saves this year and blew only seven save opportunities. But between picking at the strike zone and walking hitters, he's more wobbly in the ninth inning than a drunk making his way around a kitchen table.

"I don't think genius has ever been used in a situation with me," Scioscia joked, acknowledging that every move in the postseason is scrutinized to Empire State Building heights. "You have to make moves and live with them. There are a lot of discussions that go on."

In a two-run game, he intended to leave Weaver in. But with the lead at 7-6, he wanted the lefty Fuentes to face Damon, who was leading off the ninth, and Teixeira, because his home run threat is not as great when he bats right-handed.

That part worked -- Fuentes retired each of them. But then after another intentional walk to A-Rod, he walked Hideki Matsui and then hit Robinson Cano with a pitch that loaded the bases.

But then, something else nearly inexplicable happened: Yankees skipper Joe Girardi allowed Nick Swisher (2 for 17 in this ALCS) to hit for himself. Handed his Get Out of Jail Free card, Fuentes used it: He induced a weak, game-ending popup to shortstop from Swisher.

And so the Angels live another day, and the Yankees have to show up for work again this weekend instead of heading straight toward a World Series matchup with the Phillies.

Scioscia promised last weekend that the Angels would be back in New York, going so far as to say he was leaving his briefcase there.

Now look.

"These games are killing me," Hunter moaned. "They're stressful. I've got a headache again. I'm going to go home, get in the sauna and have myself a hot toddy. And then go to New York tomorrow."

He wouldn't have had it any other way, either.