NEW YORK -- The Angels waited 16 years to play a postseason game. They lost that game on a decision their fans might spend the next 16 years debating.

Clinging to a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, Anaheim manager Mike Scioscia twice declined to bring in his veteran closer, Troy Percival. The first time, Scott Schoeneweis gave up a single to Jason Giambi that tied the score. Then Scioscia relieved Schoeneweis in favor of rookie Brendan Donnelly, who promptly served up a three-run home run to Bernie Williams that gave the Yankees an 8-5 victory.

Scioscia, in an era when managers bristle at bringing in their closer before the ninth (in part, some theorize, to avoid second-guessing) opened himself up to tons of it with his decision, which was based on how he had used his bullpen -- whose 2.98 ERA was the best in the American League -- all season. He and pitching coach Bud Black even implied that given the same situation in Game 2 they would do the same thing.

Their approach is supported by both Percival and Jarrod Washburn, the Angels starter whose possible win was blown in the collapse.

"That's how we've been doing it all year long, and most of the time the guys get it done," Washburn said. Percival, taking a break from his postgame turkey dinner and perhaps biting his tongue instead, said, "You can't question bringing in any of those guys. ... They gave me a situation where I was coming in and that situation didn't come up -- if we had the lead and Bernie came up. Brendan was getting loose to face him if it was tied."

It was tied, all right, but not for long, as Williams sent Donnelly's 2-2 pitch screaming over the right-center field fence and the Angels' Game 1 hopes with it.

The fateful bottom of the eighth began with the Angels leading thanks to two Troy Glaus solo home runs, which followed five innings of maddeningly long at-bats and stolen-base threats that clearly frustrated Yankee starter Roger Clemens, who was chased in the sixth after 113 pitches. In the fifth inning alone the Angels induced 37 pitches from Clemens 37, about 10 pickoff attempts and one awkward fake-to-third, fake-to-first maneuver that made him look almost helpless.

Angels reliever Ben Weber kept the momentum going in the eighth by retiring the first two Yankee batters and mounting an 0-2 count on Alfonso Soriano, but wound up somehow walking the free-swinger who had taken just 23 free passes all season. The Angels liked the upcoming Weber-Derek Jeter matchup enough to keep Weber in the game, but he issued another walk and was removed as Giambi strode to the plate.

At this crucial juncture, Scioscia said, he did not consider bringing in Percival. For one, Percival rarely comes in before the ninth inning -- just two of his 40 saves comprised as many as four outs -- and second, Scioscia liked the left-handed Schoeneweis' career performance against left-hitting Giambi (5-for-20 with two walks and no homers). Then again, Giambi has struck in each of his career at-bats against Percival (he also walked once).

Giambi smoked a hard groundball that hit off first baseman Scott Spiezio's glove and ricocheted away from second baseman Adam Kennedy, allowing Soriano to tie the score 5-5. Scioscia came out of the dugout to remove Schoeneweis but again passed over Percival in favor of Donnelly -- a 31-year-old journeyman who did post a 2.17 ERA in his first 50 major league innings this year -- because the score was then tied.

"When we're on the road and we're tied we don't bring Percival in in the eighth inning," Black explained. "We think we're gonna go on to win and we're gonna need Percy either in the ninth or the 10th or the 11th or whenever it is."

They didn't get that chance after Donnelly gave up Williams' three-run homer. Williams acknowledged that the move almost worked, though.

"I think Mike was just taking a chance on the fact that I haven't faced Donnelly," he said. "It really affected my at-bat in the beginning because I didn't know what to expect. You get the scouting reports on the pitcher, but it's not until you face them that you can formulate a plan on how you're going to approach them. After I saw those two pitches, I had a better idea of his velocity and the stuff that he had."

Said Donnelly, "(Scioscia) called down and told me the situation, and my situation arose as opposed to Percy's. I've been coming in with guys on base all year long, and for the most part getting it done. And tonight, that didn't happen. ... I think we should stick with the game plan that we've been going with all year."

Yankees manager Joe Torre often has succeeding in using his closer, Mariano Rivera, in long save situations -- 18 of Rivera's record 23 straight postseason saves before Game 7 of last year's World Series lasted more than one inning -- but he understood Scioscia's rationale.

"We talked about Percival yesterday," Torre said. "It was a tie game by the time Bernie came up. To use your closer on the road in a tie game is not out of the question, but it doesn't happen very often.

"Schoeneweis did a good job on Jason. The ball went off Scott's glove. Not much you can do about that. I think once it got tied, when you're on the road, that's sort of a little bit of a disadvantage."

Perhaps, but having a pitcher in your bullpen as dominant as Percival -- holder of a 1.92 ERA and often called the best closer in the league when Rivera isn't healthy -- is supposed to be an advantage, too. The 33-year-old has saved 250 games over eight seasons waiting for his first shot at the postseason, and he sat as pitchers with considerably fewer credentials came in for the most important at-bats of the game.

If people are second-guessing Scioscia's decision, though, Percival claimed he wasn't one of them.

"Mike's done such a great job using our bullpen all year," he said. "Those guys, you're talking about the best bullpen in the American League, by the numbers.

"I get loose, and when Mike calls me into the game, I do my job. He knows what my capabilities are. I'm not a manager. I'm not a coach. I'm the guy who gets loose and I come into the game when they ask me to."