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NEW YORK (AP) -- Denny Neagle got back on track, with some help from the Anaheim Angels.
Neagle scattered nine hits in 6 2/3 shutout innings, and
Glenallen Hill, David Justice and Luis Sojo homered Thursday night,
leading the New York Yankees over the Angels 6-1.
Neagle (3-3) stopped his three-game losing streak as he
rebounded from his shortest outing in over a year, when he allowed
six earned runs in 1 2/3 innings of the Yankees' 9-6 loss at
Anaheim last Saturday.
"I was happy to get this one under my belt and get on a roll
again," Neagle said. "I feel I accomplished something because I
was able to iron out and smooth out what I was doing wrong."
Yankees manager Joe Torre agreed with Neagle.
"I thought he threw the ball real well and he had movement,"
Torre said. "He had good movements on his pitches and didn't get
into trouble with the counts. This is a pretty good hitting
ballclub ... they did a good job on us last week."
Hill became the 15th player to hit a homer into the black area in center field, with a solo shot in the second inning. It was his seventh homer in 38 at-bats since being acquired from the Chicago Cubs on July 20.
Derek Jeter reached base four times with a double and three walks, and Jorge Posada went 2-for-4 with a walk for the Yankees,
who have won seven of 10.
Neagle, helped out by a pair baserunning mistakes by the Angels,
struck out three and walked one as he improved to 11-5 overall this
season. He worked out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the second
inning when he got Darin Erstad to fly out into a double play.
Ben Molina doubled with one out and Adam Kennedy was hit by a
pitch. Benji Gil then reached safely when third baseman Scott
Brosius couldn't make a play after fielding his bunt.
When Erstad flied out to right, Molina tagged up but retreated
when Justice threw home. Posada took the throw several steps toward
first base and ran toward the mound when he saw Gil near second,
with Kennedy standing on the base. As Gil retreated toward first,
Posada threw to Tino Martinez, who chased Gil down near second.
"We had some guys who were a little too aggressive (on the
bases)," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Neagle said he didn't feel "in sync" in the first couple of
innings.
"After the second inning,I got into a groove," he said.
Kent Mercker (0-2), making his second start since a cerebral hemorrhage on May 11, allowed two runs on three hits in five innings. His first start was last Saturday against the Yankees in
Anaheim, when he gave up three runs in 3 2/3 innings in the Angels'
victory.
Mercker thought he pitched better Thursday night.
"In my first start five days ago, I was erratic," he said. "I
was behind everybody. Tonight, I was much better. Overall, we lost
and that's not good, but on a personal note, I felt good about my
performance.
"I felt I had everything working, but I can't pitch the innings
that I want. I don't have the endurance to do that."
Troy Glaus, Mo Vaughn, Erstad, Molina and Gil all had two hits
for Anaheim.
The Yankees made it 2-0 in the third inning when Jeter doubled
with one out, moved to third on Posada's single and scored on
Bernie Williams' sacrifice fly to center.
New York added three runs in the sixth on Justice's two-run
homer off Juan Alvarez, and Sojo's solo shot off Eric Weaver.
"Pitching back-to-back against these guys, I thought he was much improved," Scioscia said. "We looked to Merk to get us into the sixth or seventh inning. He just ran out of gas."
The Angels ran themselves out of another scoring chance in the
seventh. Gil singled with one out and moved to third on Erstad's
single.
Glaus then hit a grounder down the third-base line, which
Brosius fielded behind the bag. He had no play on Glaus, but Erstad
went too far as he rounded second and Brosius threw to second
baseman Sojo, who ran Erstad down toward third.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," Scioscia said. You could see
that we had a lot of opportunities. (Neagle) made some terrific
pitches to get key outs which he wasn't able to do at our place."
The Yankees made it 6-0 in the seventh on Justice's sacrifice
fly with the bases loaded. Pinch-hitter Scott Spiezio homered in the ninth off Jason Grimsley.
Game notes
"Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff sat next to the Angels
dugout. ... Erstad's double in the ninth moved him within 15 hits
of breaking Alex Johnson's franchise record for hits in a season
(202 in 1970). ... Tim Salmon went 0-for-4, dropping to .174 (4-for-23) against the Yankees this season, and .277 for his
career. ... Sojo's homer was his first since rejoining the Yankees.
He had five with Pittsburgh. ... Justice's homer was his 11th with
New York.
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