Yankees 5, Angels 3: New York Finishes West Coast Swing With Series Win

Mark Teixeira smashed a two-run homer and added a solo shot to power the New York Yankees to a 5-3 win over Los Angeles in the rubber match of a three-game series at Angel Stadium.

Nick Swisher also homered for the Yankees, who finished their road trip with a 6-3 record. New York starter Bartolo Colon (4-3) gave up three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings to earn the win.

Mark Trumbo belted a solo home run for Los Angeles, which has dropped four of its last five games. Joel Pineiro (2-3) absorbed the loss after yielding four runs, nine hits and three walks over 6 2/3 innings.

The Yankees schedule features a day off, Monday, before they host division rival the Boston Red Sox for a three-game series at Yankee Stadium. Currently, the AL East standings have New York one game ahead of Boston, and three and half ahead of second-place Tampa Bay Rays.

-- Sports Network contributed to this report.

Yankees 3, Angels 2: CC Sabathia Pitches Gem Helps New York Tie Series

(Sports Network) - CC Sabathia pitched into the ninth inning and Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run homer, as the New York Yankees downed the LA Angels of Anaheim, 3-2, in the second test of a three-game series.

Sabathia (7-3) was finally pulled after allowing an RBI single from Maicer Izturis with two down in the ninth, which cut New York's edge to 3-2. The lefty ended up charged with eight hits and two runs -- one earned -- with three strikeouts.

"I felt pretty good. My change is what kept me in the game. They did help me out a lot by swinging early," Sabathia said of his outing.

Mariano Rivera retired Erick Aybar on a pop out to notch his 15th save.

Robinson Cano added a solo shot for the Yankees, who have won five of their last six and recovered from dropping Friday's series opener.

Jeff Mathis knocked in the other run for the Angels, who have lost three of four.

Subbing for Dan Haren, who was scratched with a back injury, Ervin Santana (3- 5) was tagged in defeat for three runs on seven hits in seven full frames.

Sabathia appeared to be headed for his second complete game of the season after retiring Mark Trumbo and Mathis to begin the ninth. But Peter Bourjos singled, then advanced on defensive indifference before scoring on the Izturis base hit.

Rivera was called on, and got Aybar on one pitch. His appearance was the 1,003rd of his storied career, moving him past Goose Gossage into 14th place on the all-time games-pitched list.

"CC had good command and a great changeup. He kept the hitters off-balance. He threw the ball great and our defense was outstanding," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi.

Cano snapped a scoreless tie with his solo homer in the fourth. Angels right fielder Torii Hunter made a leaping attempt at the ball, but ultimately came up empty.

"I got close enough to getting it," Hunter said. "I just tried to make a play for Santana. He pitched his butt off. I thought I had a chance, and I ended up catching a fan."

Mathis hit a sacrifice fly to center in the home half to tie the game. Alberto Callaspo, who hit a leadoff double, came in on the fly to center.

Curtis Granderson worked a leadoff walk in the sixth and two batters later, Rodriguez cleared the wall in left-center for a 3-1 New York lead.

The home run from Rodriguez tied him with Mel Ott on the all-time RBI list at 1,864...Sabathia improved to 6-7 lifetime against the Halos, while Santana fell to 5-4 against the Yankees.

Angels 3, Yankees 2: Weaver Holds, LA Hold Off Yankees

Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - It took more than a month, but the Angels finally got a win for Jered Weaver.

Peter Bourjos singled in the go-ahead run in the fourth inning and Los Angeles held on for a 3-2 win over the New York Yankees to open a three-game series.

Beleaguered by poor run support, Weaver (7-4) had lost his previous four decisions over six appearances. But on Friday, the Angels scored just enough to hand the righty his first victory since April 25 against Oakland. Weaver, who threw nine shutout innings in a no-decision at Minnesota last Saturday, fanned eight batters and gave up two runs on three hits over seven innings pitched.

"I'm glad May is over and it's now June," Weaver said. "My fastball wasn't very strong early. I battled and got out of a couple of situations. I was hoping to get through five innings, then I found my fastball command in the sixth and seventh."

The LA bullpen did the rest, as Scott Downs and Jordan Walden combined for three strikeouts over the final two innings. Walden picked up his 13th save.

Ivan Nova (4-4) was charged with eight hits and three runs -- two earned -- over six-plus innings for the Yankees, who had their four-game win streak broken.

"Jared had good stuff, he was stingy," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We did a good job of making him work, but we didn't get the hits."

Erick Aybar singled to start the bottom of the first, went to second on a wild pitch and came home on Bobby Abreu's double to center. Abreu went to third on a passed ball and Torii Hunter walked leading up to Alberto Callaspo's RBI groundout.

Alex Rodriguez doubled to lead off the second and scored on Russell Martin's base hit, and the Yankees tied the game in the fourth on Jorge Posada's ground-rule double to right that scored A-Rod. However, with men on second and third Brett Gardner struck out to end the inning.

Russell Branyan and Mark Trumbo singled and Jeff Mathis walked, all with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Bourjos then singled to left to put the Angels on top again, but they couldn't add on as Maicer Izturis fanned and Aybar flied out.

The Yankees didn't get a runner past first base the rest of the game. The only baserunner they had came courtesy of walks to Derek Jeter in the fifth and to Mark Teixeira in the eighth.

Jorge Posada: How Long Do The Yankees Stay With Him?

The question is a simple one, really. How long do the New York Yankees keep Jorge Posada on the roster if he continues to hit so poorly? It is the answer to that question that is complicated.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was on the Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio 1050 in New York recently, and Kay asked him is Posada had "more of a leash" because of the long, successful career he has had with the organization. Posada, of course, has been a proud and important Yankee for 17 seasons and a key contributor to four World Series championships. Cashman admitted the Yankees will go longer with Posada than they might with someone else.

"Yes. Jorgie, I won't say earned the right to hold us back, that's not what we feel he's doing. He's earned because of positional change that we've asked him to make and because of the fact that we know for so long he has been one of the strong hitters in this championship run he's earned the right, the benefit of the doubt that this is a transition to DH rather than someone who basically lost his ability to hit. He's earned that right," Cashman said.

"I have no problem admitting with someone like him you go a little longer, or a lot longer, than you would with someone that basically doesn't have a track record."

Certainly, that leash cannot last forever. Posada is hitting .189 and is now strictly a left-handed designated hitter. He has no hits this season in 27 at-bats right-handed and pretty much no longer plays against lefty pitching. As  a left-handed hitter he is hitting .211 with six home runs and 16 RBI.

It's hard to imagine Posada's leash lasting much longer than another month, or whenever left-handed hitting reserve infielder Eric Chavez is ready to return from the disabled list.

"Certainly at some point with anybody if he can't you're forced to do something that's best for the team. We're not at that point," Cashman said. ""At some point if we're convinced it's other stuff ... age, ability being lost, it's not going to work then we'll have some tough decisions to make with a great player. But, he's earned the right for us to wait and work through it."

He has not, however, earned the right to have the Yankees wait forever.

From Pinstripe Alley

-- The Future Goodbye

-- Two Templates For Posada

Yankees At Angels: Yankees Enter House Of Horrors

The New York Yankees finish a nine-game West Coast swing in Anaheim against the Angels this weekend. It's a place where the Yankees have had a devil of a time winning in recent seasons.

New York hasn't won a road series in Anaheim since 2004 and has lost 20 of its last 28 trips there. The Yankees have also split their season series with the Angels in each of the previous two seasons after losing five straight season sets between 2004-08.

In fact, New York's 45-54 record against Anaheim since 2000 is its only losing record versus an American League club in that span, though the Yankees did oust the Angels in six games during the 2009 ALCS.

The Angels are only 29-29 this season, 2.5 games behind Texas in the American League West. Anaheim wil send Jered Weaver (6-4, 2.10 ERA) to the mound Friday night. Weaver hasn't won since he was 6-0 on April 25, but has allowed just one run over 16 innings in consecutive no-decisions.

Ivan Nova will pitch for the Yankees, who lead the American League by two games over Boston. New York has a 31-23 record. Nova is 4-3 with a 4.67 ERA, but the young right-hander has not made it through four innings in two of his last four starts.