ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Adam Riggs arrived at 2 in the afternoon and scrambled to get his uniform. Late in the evening, he turned out to be the man of the hour for the Anaheim Angels.
Riggs, called up from the minors to replace injured slugger Troy Glaus, hit a bases-loaded single over a drawn-in outfield in the 11th inning to give the Angels a 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
"To get called up, then go 0-for-4, you feel like you're not helping your team out," said Riggs, who hit .246 in 61 at-bats for Anaheim last year. "Then to get that hit, that makes it especially great.
"Just to play against the Yankees is always special."
Riggs lofted an opposite-field fly over the head of Gary Sheffield in right to break the scoreless tie and end a well-pitched game by both teams.
Jeff DaVanon led off the 11th against Paul Quantrill (4-2) with his third single of the game, and Vladimir Guerrero followed with a single. After a sacrifice bunt by Alfredo Amezaga, Quantrill intentionally walked Casey Kotchman to get to Riggs.
Scot Shields (3-0) pitched two perfect innings for the win, and Guerrero threw out Jorge Posada at the plate in the ninth. The Yankees finished with only three hits -- one after the third inning.
Aaron Sele held the Yankees to two hits through six. Francisco Rodriguez followed with two hitless innings, and Troy Percival gave up one hit in the ninth.
"Pitching has fueled our surge," manager Mike Scioscia said after the Angels ran their major league-best record to 26-13 and opened a 3½-game lead over Texas in the AL West.
"We have confidence in our young players, and if we continue to pitch well, we'll be on the path we need to be."
The Yankees, beginning a 12-game road trip that's their longest this season, dropped a half-game behind Boston in the AL East.
Javier Vazquez shut out the Angels on three hits through seven innings. Tom Gordon pitched two scoreless innings, then Quantrill came on to start the 10th.
Quantrill said he got the pitch to Riggs too high in the zone.
"Unfortunately, it was at a time where it was important for me not to mess up," he said. "I didn't get the ball down like I should have, but it was a real good at-bat for him.
"He did what he needed to do, which was just put the ball in the air."
Anaheim's Jose Molina, starting behind the plate in place of his brother, Bengie, made a couple of outstanding defensive plays: a perfect throw to nail Kenny Lofton trying to steal third in the eighth, and a fine block of the plate to tag out Posada.
Posada attempted to score from second on Bernie Williams' sharp single to right, but Guerrero's throw was right on target and Molina skillfully blocked the plate with his glove and body.
Plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt maneuvered around the runner and the catcher for a clear view, saw that Posada still hadn't touched the plate and called him out to end the inning.
"I really thought I was in there," said Posada, back after missing four games with a broken nose. "I thought my right foot got in and the tag came late."
Sheffield bruised ribs on his left side when he made a lunging, one-handed catch of Jose Guillen's foul fly in the sixth. He banged into the short wall in front of the right-field stands but remained in the game.
"It felt like a deep bone bruise or something like that, but it wasn't a factor or anything," Sheffield said. "I just hope it doesn't get sore tonight. I'm going to ice it, and hopefully that'll cure it."
Sheffield made a baserunning mistake in the fourth inning that might have been costly. He led off and reached safely on third baseman Chone Figgins' throwing error. With the count 2-2 on Posada, Sheffield headed for second but slowed down as he neared the bag and was tagged standing up. The pitch was a ball, and Sheffield thought it was ball four.
Sele went on to issue three more walks in the inning, but still held the Yankees without a run.
Notes
- Yankees 1B Jason Giambi missed his second game in a row because of back spasms.
- Glaus, scheduled for right shoulder surgery Friday, decided to have the operation after the pain kept getting worse. "My goal is to be back to play in September and October," said Glaus, a three-time All-Star and 2002 World Series MVP.
The Associated Press News Service
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