Teams sit out two rain delays

NEW YORK (AP) -- In a kooky game, the New York Yankees won on a

crazy carom.

Gary Sheffield lined an RBI double with two outs in the 10th

inning, and the Yankees ended Anaheim's nine-game winning streak by

beating the Angels 8-7 on wild, wet Tuesday night.

The game included two rain delays totaling nearly 2{ hours, plus

a brief, bizarre halt when the Yankees' radio broadcast began

echoing from the scoreboard in the 10th.

"I don't remember many like that," Angels closer Troy Percival

said.

On a night when ace relievers Mariano Rivera, Francisco

Rodriguez and Percival all squandered late leads, Sheffield's hit

ended it at 1:23 a.m.

Alex Rodriguez singled with one out in the 10th off Ben Weber

(0-1). An out later, Sheffield hit a drive over leaping left

fielder Jeff DaVanon.

When the ball ricocheted off the wall and past DaVanon,

Rodriguez had enough time score from first. DaVanon's throw sailed

home, wide and well after Rodriguez crossed the plate.

"I said I better score because we all want to go home," A-Rod

said.

Before he batted, Sheffield got some advice from Bernie Williams

on how to hit the herky-jerky Weber. Williams told him to look for

a ball out over the plate because Weber's pitches tended to tail in

on right-handed hitters.

"A special moment for me, especially since I didn't play that

well early," said Sheffield, 0-for-4 before that at-bat.

Tom Gordon (1-1) got the victory as New York won its third in a

row.

Bengie Molina's surprise, two-run shot off Rivera put the Angels

ahead 7-6 in the ninth. Casey Kotchman singled for his first major

league hit and Molina connected, stopping Rivera's streak of 12

straight saves this year and 27 overall.

But Percival couldn't hold a lead, either. Jorge Posada singled

with one out, pinch-runner Homer Bush stole second, Hideki Matsui

walked and Ruben Sierra lined a tying single.

Rivera and Percival, who both began the big league careers in

1995 and blossomed into All-Star closers, never had blown save

chances on the same day, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"You don't ever expect Mo to blow one. But I was fully ready to

go," Percival said. "It was plain and simple: I had a one-run

lead in the ninth and didn't get the job done."

About 3,000 fans from the announced attendance of 36,706 were

still in the stands for the final out. Yankees management rewarded

them, offering to redeem their ticket stubs for one of three games

in September.

Anaheim stars Jose Guillen, Garret Anderson, Tim Salmon and

Darin Erstad all were hurt and did not play. Still, the Angels

nearly managed to pull within one victory of the longest winning

streak in team history, set in 1964.

Vladimir Guerrero and Troy Glaus also homered for the Angels.

Rodriguez entered in the eighth with a 0.00 ERA through 17

innings this season, trying to protect a 5-4 edge. Sierra, Kenny

Lofton and Derek Jeter singled, tying the score.

Alex Rodriguez followed with a two-out, routine grounder that

fill-in third baseman Shane Halter bobbled. His throw was just a

shade late, and Rodriguez threw up his arms after being called

safe.

Halter played third while Glaus served as the DH for the ninth

straight game as he recovered from a sore shoulder.

Rodriguez and Jeter each had three hits. Rodriguez stole two

bases and Jeter swiped one.

Both rain delays came in the fourth, one for 30 minutes and the

other for 1:48.

Glaus hit his AL-leading 11th home run as Anaheim took a 3-0

lead in the first. Yankees starter Kevin Brown stayed in through

the two delays, but gave up Guerrero's tiebreaking homer leading

off the sixth.

Brown wanted to weather the rain.

"I wasn't very good before it, so I figured I couldn't get any

worse," Brown said.

Angels starter Kelvim Escobar left after the rain delays.

Game notes
David Eckstein struck out to start the game. He had not

fanned in his previous 40 plate appearances, the longest active

streak in the AL. ... Angels relievers had been 5-0. ... Anaheim

was the first team to start a series at Yankee Stadium with a

nine-game winning streak since Boston in 1949, Elias said. ...

Matsui fell to 0-for-9 with the bases loaded this season. He was

10-for-23 (.435) with two grand slams last year in those

situations. ... Angels reliever Kevin Gregg's streak of 13 straight

scoreless innings came to an end. ... Yankees 1B Travis Lee had

season-ending surgery on his left shoulder. Signed as a free agent

in March, he hit .105 with two RBI. He was put on the 15-day

disabled list in spring training with an inflamed shoulder.