Scioscia, Mathis propel warmer Angels to critical Game 3 win

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Who were those unmasked men?

Unwrapped, thawed out and heated up, the Los Angeles Angels of Get Us the Hell Out of This 40-Degrees Crap for the longest time Monday looked uncannily like ... their stunt doubles.

Yeah, same guys who blundered and bumbled their way through two games in New York a few days ago.

Not that the Angels had stopped resembling the Angels, but when they flashed the Rally Monkey on the scoreboard in the late innings of Game 3 Monday, the poor primate was headed to the local zoo to turn himself in.

Then came a .211-hitting, .288 on-base-percentage backup catcher, unmasked.

A steady-handed, nimble-minded Angels manager, unleashed.

A season-saving 5-4, 11-inning Angels win. And more confirmation that the two heavyweights slugging it out in this AL Championship Series are too large to be contained by nine innings.

Three games, 33 total innings, 11 home runs, just the fourth ALCS ever in which two of the games have gone extra innings, each pitch more tension-filled than the last.

"You feel like throwing up," Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher said. "Then you feel like eating. Then you feel like throwing up. Then you feel like eating."

Be sure to tune in for Game 4 Tuesday. Airline sickness bags will be made available.

Meantime, one key highlight from Game 3 for the Angels?

"No masks," center fielder Torii Hunter said.

Take that multiple ways.

The 73 degrees at game-time sure beat the 47-degree Game 2 temperatures ("Both teams were happy, trust me," Hunter said).

And at the end, despite more false starts, the Angels didn't need to cover their faces.

Jeff Mathis took care of that with a two-out, game-winning double against Alfredo Aceves in the 11th. A defensive specialist whose offense was an afterthought for most of the season, Mathis emerged Monday as the Angels' secret weapon.

And man, did the Angels ever need one. They went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, bringing that total to 3 for 21 over their past two games.

Yet they still were in position to overcome it when Bobby Abreu led off the bottom of the eighth by roping a double into left-center that looked like maybe it would be a triple ... and then making a catastrophic decision midway between second and third to double back to second.

He was thrown out by a mile, the heady combination of Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira again knocking the wind out of the Rally Monkey.

"He was mad when he came into the dugout," Hatcher said of Abreu. "He got caught in between, and they made a great relay. Jeter, that guy knows how to play."

One man who wasn't angry even though it opened another inviting door for the Yankees was Angels manager Mike Scioscia, who has created this culture of aggression and chance-taking in Anaheim.

"I'm great with that play," Scioscia said. "Bobby stayed with the play a little too long instead of going on to third base or breaking down [and going back to second]. Something like that, we're keeping in our game plan.

"When it doesn't work, it can look ugly."

Getting blown out of an ALCS can look ugly, too, which is what was threatening to happen to the Angels right about then.

Already, they were down 3-0 early thanks to Jered Weaver serving up three solo homers. They had fought back, with Howie Kendrick's bases-empty long ball and an inspiring, game-tying two-run homer from none other than Vladimir Guerrero in the sixth.

When Guerrero dug in against Andy Pettitte, he had one home run in 111 postseason plate appearances. He had left eight runners stranded in Game 2.

At 35, he was finished. And hey, that's not me talking. That was what Hatcher told Guerrero during Sunday's workout. Pulled one of the oldest desperation ploys in the book, actually.

Told him the media had written him off.

Mike Scioscia's decision-making late in Game 3 might have saved the Angels' season. (Getty Images)

"I told him, 'These guys think you're done! But I still see the horns in your head. I want you to know: I still believe in you!'" Hatcher said.

But by night's end, would anybody else believe in Guerrero or the Angels?

Enter Scioscia. Having just inserted Mathis to catch to start the eighth inning -- Maicer Izturis had batted for Mike Napoli -- he watched Kevin Jepsen deliver a leadoff walk to Hideki Matsui, watched Yankees manager Joe Girardi send speedster Brett Gardner in to run, watched Jepsen throw strike one to Jorge Posada ... and then called a pitchout.

It could not have been timed more perfectly. Gardner was running, Mathis fired a strike to second and ... out.

Exhibit A in the edge a savvy manager can provide.

And for Mathis to enter the game cold and nail one of the AL's swiftest baserunners. ...

"They let us know ahead of time, and I was getting myself prepared," Mathis said.

He had been notified by the Angels' staff 15, 20 minutes earlier of what was coming, so he had plenty of time to stretch and throw back in the team's indoor batting cage.

Nevertheless, the Angels' 4-3 lead evaporated, stunningly, just two pitches later when Posada whacked a Jepsen fastball over the fence.

Now it was 4-4 into the ninth, and with two out and none on, in another perfect call, Scioscia ordered Angels closer Brian Fuentes to intentionally walk Alex Rodriguez.

Last time Scioscia did that, putting the potential winning run on base so late in the game in a similar situation?

"Must have been Barry Bonds in '02," he said. "I don't know if it was a similar situation. I'll have to research that. But we did walk Bonds with nobody on."

Up next, pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston whiffed.

As it turned out, Scioscia and Mathis were just getting warmed up.

Mathis blasted a leadoff double in the 10th, causing Girardi to call for closer Mariano Rivera. At the same time, Girardi sent Hairston in to play left field for Johnny Damon, leaving the Yanks without a DH (since Hairston had batted for Gardner in the ninth, he now was the DH).

Seeing what was coming, Scioscia opted to leave Mathis in the game rather than pinch-run and use his third catcher, Bobby Wilson.

The catch was on the Yankees' side, Rivera was due up third in the 11th. Now without a DH, Rivera either was going to have to bat or be batted for.

Girardi opted for the latter, sending third catcher Francisco Cervelli to the plate. He whiffed.

Coming to the plate in the bottom of the 11th, with Rivera now gone, the Angels saw every chance to atone for their assorted missed opportunities, sloppiness and general blundering.

"They had Mariano in the game, so it's going to be a little different the way you play it moving forward," Scioscia said of a brief dugout discussion to pinch-run Gary Matthews Jr. or Reggie Willits for Mathis. "If they have Mariano still in the bullpen, I think there's definitely an absolute sense of urgency, you'd better get it done then."

But with Rivera in the game, and then gone after just one inning, hello opportunity.

"After Mariano pitched and he was out of the game, I think the game sets up a bit differently," Scioscia said. "If you don't get it done there, you're going to want Jeff behind the plate."

Which is exactly how the Angels played it. And it is exactly why Mathis was still there in the 11th, facing Aceves with two out and Kendrick on first and a must-win situation wrapping itself tighter around the Angels' backs.

Girardi? He said that after Rivera's 25-pitch outing in Game 2, the closer was only going to be available for one inning, anyway. But then he said that if it was a save situation, it "may be a different story."

The Angels just knew two things: It gave them an opening, and any game in which Rivera leaves has a chance to be a very good game.

"Wow, they wanted to win," Hunter said of Girardi's ripping through eight pitchers. "It was like a spring training game. It felt like a spring training game. Joe pulled all the tricks out today. That lets you know how much they wanted it. I commend them on that."

Let's just say it was a lot easier to commend the Yankees on that with a win tucked away in their back pockets, with Scioscia having managed halos around Girardi and with a chance to bring this thing even in Game 4.