Yanks get better of Saunders in rematch

Angels lefty struggles in second showdown with Bombers

Tim Britton / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Shutting down the Yankees' powerful lineup in their home ballpark is tough enough to do once. Doing it two times proved too difficult for Joe Saunders.

Saunders turned in the Angels' best start of this American League Championship Series in Game 2, when he limited the Yankees to two runs in seven innings in Los Angeles' eventual 4-3, 13-inning loss. With his team facing elimination in Sunday night's Game 6, Saunders couldn't conjure up the same magic.

The left-hander struggled to find the strike zone and couldn't escape the fourth inning, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and five walks in 3 1/3 frames. The Angels were unable to overcome the 3-1 deficit in the game or the ALCS, falling to the Yankees, 5-2, in Game 6.

"I thought I made some good pitches when I needed to," Saunders said. "Obviously I fell behind more than I wanted to. But I made some good pitches, and they found a hole. They hit some pretty good pitches."

Saunders did indeed spend most of the night behind in the count. He started 15 of the 22 batters he faced with ball one and went to three-ball counts seven times in all. His five walks were the most he'd surrendered since mid-July.

Even with his control problems, Saunders managed to keep the Yankees off the scoreboard through the first three innings. He retired Jorge Posada in the first with two men on before inducing a groundout from Johnny Damon with the bases loaded in the second.

It all came unraveling for Saunders, however, against the bottom of the Yankees' order in the fourth, starting with a leadoff walk to Robinson Cano. Saunders was ahead in that count 1-and-2 before missing with three straight. Nick Swisher followed with a single to left and, after a Melky Cabrera sacrifice, Saunders lost an eight-pitch battle with Derek Jeter, walking the shortstop to load the bases.