Walden bluffed toward third a couple times. The only thing that did was draw boos from the crowd.
Walden decided to try it once more. He stepped to third as if to make a throw, whirled toward first and - surprise! - Granderson was trying to steal second and caught in no-man’s-land.
For Walden, it was easy pickin’s.
“He’s halfway and I’m like, ‘What?’ ’’ Walden said. “You practice it in spring training. That’s why.’’
Walden threw to shortstop Erick Aybar, who chased Granderson. Aybar tossed to first baseman Mark Trumbo, who made the tag.
“I was trying to get to second base. The odds are you never really see too many teams do that too many times in an inning,’’ Granderson said. “So the odds are he’s probably not going to do it again. There’s two strikes and I don’t have too many options to get to second base.’’
The Angels, the only American League team with a winning record against the Yankees over the last decade, saddled New York with its first three-game losing streak since early June.
Abreu’s drive deep into the right-field seats was only the second homer allowed this season by Rivera (1-2). The Yankees closer faltered for the second straight appearance - he blew a ninth-inning lead Sunday night in Boston.
“I don’t worry about that. That’s going to happen,’’ Rivera said. “Unfortunately, it happened tonight.’’
Abreu connected for his first multihomer game this season and 16th of his career.
The Angels moved a season-high 12 games over .500. They have the AL’s best record since mid-June.
Granderson did hit his 29th homer, giving New York a 1-0 lead in the first.
