Brown Runs Out of Gas as Angels Sweep Slumping Yanks
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Bengie Molina went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer, Kelvim Escobar out pitched Kevin Brown, and the Anaheim Angels completed a three-game sweep of the slumping Yankees with a 4-3 victory yesterday.
Gary Sheffield homered and had two RBI for the Yankees, who scored only four runs in the series and were booed by a sellout crowd of 53,885.
The Yankees lost for the sixth time in seven games and have been outscored 37-11 in the defeats. Their lead in the AL East has shrunk from 10 games last week to 6 1 /2 going into last night’s game between Boston and Chicago.
Molina tied his career high for hits in his second start since returning from a broken finger, leading the Angels to their fifth straight win and 13th in 17 games.
Anaheim has won 10 of its last 11 road games and is 18-6 in its last 24 away from home.
Brown (9-3) lost for the first time in 10 starts at home this season. He allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings, his fifth start since coming off the disabled list.
Escobar (8-9) allowed just three hits and struck out eight in seven stellar innings, winning for the third time in four starts.
Kenny Lofton singled leading off the third and scored on Bernie Williams’s hit-and-run double into the right-field corner. Sheffield added an RBI double to left for a 2-0 Yankees lead.
Brown cruised into the fifth with the help of two double plays, but then he ran into trouble.
Jose Guillen led off with a hard-hit infield single and Jeff DaVanon bunted for a hit. One out later, Molina surprised everybody by hitting over the left-field fence for his ninth homer and a 3-2 lead.
Darin Erstad opened the sixth with a single and scored on Guillen’s sacrifice fly, making it 4-2.
Escobar took it from there, using a nasty splitter to record all of his strikeouts in his final four innings. Overcoming a blister on his right middle finger, he gave up just two runs and four walks.
Brendan Donnelly gave up Sheffield’s 31st homer in the eighth, cutting it to 4-3, but Troy Percival pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save in 29 chances. He threw only four pitches.
