Yankees swept by Angels while Red Sox creep closer in AL East

Monday, Aug. 23, 2004 | 5:14 a.m.

The New York Yankees are struggling to score and their once-huge lead in the AL East is suddenly shrinking. Manager Joe Torre refuses to panic just yet.

"I guess that's what the lead is all about. You have fouls to give," Torre said. "You certainly can't worry about who's running after you."

Kelvim Escobar outpitched Kevin Brown, Bengie Molina went 4-for-4 with a three-run homer and the Anaheim Angels completed a three-game sweep of the slumping Yankees with a 4-3 victory Sunday.

Gary Sheffield homered and had two RBIs for New York, which managed only four hits and was booed by a sellout crowd of 53,885 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees have lost six of their last seven and have been outscored 37-11 in the losses.

"With the exception of Sheff, nobody's swinging the bat very well right now," shortstop Derek Jeter said. "Usually it's not everyone cold at the same time."

The loss, combined with Boston's 6-5 road victory over the Chicago White Sox, dropped New York's AL East lead to 5 1/2 games - the closest the Red Sox have been since June 28. The Red Sox, a season-high 10 1/2 games a week ago, have won six straight.

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz homered on consecutive pitches to start the eighth, and the Red Sox swept the White Sox for the first time since taking three straight Sept. 26-28, 2000, in Chicago.

"When we start thinking about the Yankees, we start playing terrible for some reason," Ortiz said. "We'll see at the end. We don't have time to think about the Yankees or anything like that."

Meanwhile, the Angels have won five straight, and 13 of 17, to move a half-game behind first-place Oakland in the AL West.

"We ran into a New York team that isn't playing its best ball - we know that," Angels closer Troy Percival said. "That's when you need to take advantage."

In other American League games, it was: Kansas City 10, Texas 2; Minnesota 7, Cleveland 3; Tampa Bay 2, Oakland 1; Toronto 8, Baltimore 5; and Seattle 5, Detroit 3.

At New York, Escobar (8-9) allowed just three hits and struck out eight in seven innings, winning for the third time in four starts.

Kevin Brown (9-3) cruised into the fifth, but then ran into trouble.

Jose Guillen led off with an infield single and Jeff DaVanon bunted for a hit. One out later, Molina sent a 1-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a 3-2 lead.

"We haven't had a whole lot going right for us lately," said Brown, who lost for the first time in 10 home starts this season. "Bad bounces, bad pitches. Today, it was that one pitch."

The Angels pulled off their first sweep of New York since May 11-13, 1999, also at Yankee Stadium, and finished 5-1 on their road trip.

"You have a red-hot team over there. They came in on their `A' game and whipped us," Alex Rodriguez said.

Red Sox 6, White Sox 5

At Chicago, the White Sox led 5-4, but Ramirez hit Freddy Garcia's first pitch of the eighth for his 33rd homer, and third of the series, giving him 11 RBIs in the three games.

Damaso Marte (4-5) relieved and Ortiz hit his first pitch to right-center for a 6-5 lead.

Curtis Leskanic (2-5) got one out for the win, which gave the Red Sox a one-game lead in the AL wild-card race. Keith Foulke pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save.

The White Sox lost for the 19th time in 27 games and fell under .500 for the first time since April 8.

Royals 10, Rangers 2

At Kansas City, Mo., Calvin Pickering drove in six runs with a grand slam and a two-run homer in his first major league appearance in almost three years to help the Royals snap Texas' eight-game winning streak.

In his previous official at-bat in the majors on Oct. 5, 2001, Pickering hit a three-run homer for Boston against Baltimore.

Zack Greinke (6-9) pitched six shutout innings.

Twins 7, Indians 3

At Minneapolis, Justin Morneau drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth before leaving when he was hit in the hand by a pitch, and Minnesota completed a three-game sweep.

The first-place Twins, who led Cleveland by only a game last Sunday, took a seven-game lead in the AL Central. The Indians have lost seven straight, including four to the Twins.

C.C. Sabathia (9-8) gave up seven runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings, leaving after hitting Morneau in the left hand with a pitch. The first baseman was taken to a hospital for X-rays, which were negative. He's day to day with a bruised hand.

Devil Rays 2, Athletics 1

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Dewon Brazelton (6-4) pitched seven strong innings, and Jose Cruz Jr. hit a tiebreaking homer in the sixth to help the Devil Rays snap a four-game losing streak.

Erubiel Durazo homered for Oakland, which went 5-1 on a six-game road trip.

Blue Jays 8, Orioles 5

At Baltimore, Eric Hinske and Vernon Wells homered, and Toronto completed a three-game sweep.

The Blue Jays had lost four straight and 13 of 15 before coming to Baltimore, where they picked up their first road sweep of the season.

Mariners 5, Tigers 3

At Detroit, Willie Bloomquist hit his first homer in more than 13 months - a go-ahead three-run shot in the fifth - to help Seattle avoid a three-game sweep.