Catcher Bengie Molina had four hits, including a three-run home run, Kelvim Escobar provided seven innings of three-hit, two-run ball and Troy Percival recorded a four-pitch save in Sunday’s 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees, completing the Angels’ first three-game Yankee Stadium sweep in five years.
“Definitely,” Percival said, when asked if there’s added meaning to a sweep in the Bronx.
“This is a playoff team. You want to show you can play with any of these teams and step on the teams that are not playing well. We ran into a Yankee team that is not playing that well.”
The Angels, who moved within a half-game of the Oakland Athletics in the American League West, extended their winning streak to five and have won 13 of 17 games.
Angels starters have been competitive and gone deep into games, and the bullpen has been effective for the most part, dominant at times. The Angels have added some pop to a somewhat punchless attack, hitting 14 home runs in the last eight games. They’ve hit better in the clutch, and they’ve run the bases with aggression. Their defense has been solid.
“That’s a great team over there,” Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez said. “They’re playing with a lot of urgency right now.”
After a soggy Saturday, when a 3-hour-42-minute rain delay marred the Angels’ victory, the storm clouds cleared and the humidity disappeared Sunday.
Escobar showed almost no ill effects from a blister that hampered him in his last start. He bounced back from a two-run third inning, which featured run-scoring doubles by Bernie Williams and Gary Sheffield, with four hitless innings, in which he struck out eight.
Down 2-0, the Angels rallied in the fifth when Jose Guillen reached on an infield single and Jeff DaVanon bunted for a single against starter Kevin Brown.
Adam Kennedy flied to right, but Molina, who sat out the first three weeks of August because of a broken index finger on his right hand, lofted a 1-and-2 slider over the wall in left field for his ninth home run this season and a 3-2 Anaheim lead.
Molina, a two-time Gold Glove Award winner known more for his defense than his offense, is batting .295 with 45 RBIs in 67 games. He’s hitting .333 with runners in scoring position, and six of his nine homers have either tied the score or put the Angels ahead.
“Every time we’re in a tight situation and need a big hit, he seems to get it,” Escobar said of Molina.
