ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Vladimir Guerrero has only two hits in

the Los Angeles Angels' last three games against the New York

Yankees -- booming hits.

His three-run homer sparked the Angels to an 8-6 victory

Saturday night, their third come-from-behind win in a row over the

Yankees.

Two nights earlier, Guerrero's grand slam in the seventh brought

Los Angeles from behind in a 6-5 victory.

"Even when he's struggling, he's not slumping," said Los

Angeles teammate Darin Erstad, who had three hits Saturday. "He

has that ability to get it done."

After Guerrero drove Kevin Brown's pitch over the center-field

fence to give Los Angeles a 4-3 lead in the third inning, the

Angels added four more runs to chase Brown in the fourth.

"I don't know if it was that bad a pitch, but he's a really

good hitter and he hit that ball a long way," Brown said of

Guerrero's shot. "I didn't want to go out there and pitch like

that. I didn't give the team a chance."

Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer -- his 16th of the season and

11th in 16 games -- off Esteban Yan in the seventh inning to bring

New York within 8-6. But Scot Shields pitched a scoreless eighth

and Francisco Rodriguez set the Yankees down in order in the ninth

for his 24th save in 26 chances -- and third in three nights.

The AL West-leading Angels won for the fifth time in six games

this season against the Yankees, who fell 2½ games behind Boston in

the AL East.

Rookie Ervin Santana (5-4) went five innings and allowed four

runs -- three earned -- and seven hits. Included were consecutive

homers by Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano leading off the third

inning as New York built a 3-1 lead.

Brown (4-7) lasted only 3 1/3 innings in his second rocky start

since coming off the disabled list earlier in the week. The

40-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs on six hits and four

walks against the Angels in his shortest stint in 13 starts this

season.

He allowed six runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings of New York's

11-10 comeback victory at Texas on Monday night after being

activated earlier that day.

Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Torre said he rushed Brown

back because of an injury to Chien-Ming Wang, adding that seemed

his only choice.

"It's not so much being rushed back, it was just the

circumstances, and I know what they were," Brown said. "They

asked me if I felt like I could try and throw, and I told them I

was willing to try.

"No one has a crystal ball. I knew it was going to be a roll of

the dice. We had a situation where the team was asking if I could

do it, so what are you going to do? The team was in a tight spot. I

felt like I had a chance to do it."

The injury-prone Brown had missed 26 games with a strained lower

back, his second time on the DL this year and ninth since the start

of the 2000 season.

Asked if he believed it would be better to take time off rather

than try to work through the injury, Brown said: "That's a

question I think is going to be a combination of what's best for

the team and what is best for me ultimately, too.

"I've probably got about the least to lose as anybody. It's a

situation where I'm old and I'm not going to destroy my career if I

rush back out there too early. It's not like a guy who's 25 years

old and doing that and risking 10 years or whatever of his career.

So that was part of the decision. I was willing to risk it and give

it a shot."

Jeter, who came into the game in a 4-for-35 slump, had four

hits, including his 11th home run. Cano's homer was his eighth.

Guerrero hit his 18th homer after Brown walked Adam Kennedy and

Chone Figgins to open the third inning, then retired Darin Erstad

on a fly to center.

The Angels opened an 8-3 lead in the fourth after Brown again

walked the leadoff batter, this time Jeff DaVanon. Orlando Cabrera

struck out, but Kennedy singled, Figgins chased Brown with an RBI

double, then Erstad greeted Alex Graman with a two-run double.

Steve Finley's RBI single capped the inning.Game notes
Giambi's homer snapped a 30-inning scoreless streak by the

Angels' bullpen. ... New York OF/DH Ruben Sierra, on the DL since

July 19 because of a strained left hamstring, took 40 swings on

Saturday. ... The Angels signed RHP Trevor Bell, an 18-year-old

they took with their first choice (37th overall) in this year's

free agent amateur draft, to a minor league contract. Bell was 8-3

with a 1.13 ERA and two saves in 16 games for Crescenta Valley

(Calif.) High this year. ... Cano's homer extended his hitting

streak to 12 games, tying Hideki Matsui for the Yankees' longest

this season.