Francisco Rodriguez

NEW YORK -- They dueled down to the final strike, Francisco Rodriguez vs. Derek Jeter with the outcome on the line. After throwing a series of amped-up fastballs and wicked sliders, Rodriguez retired Jeter on a fly ball with a runner on third for the last out, lifting the Los Angeles Angels over the New York Yankees, 4-3, yesterday for a three-game sweep. "It could be the worst hitter in the world. It could be the best hitter," Rodriguez said. "I treat every hitter with the same respect.

The Milwaukee Brewers had plenty of opportunities against a 41-year-old starter and a struggling closer. The defending NL Central champs just can't seem to get that big hit right now. Miguel Batista pitched seven shutout innings of four-hit ball and Daniel Murphy supplied the offense, sending the surprising New York Mets to a 3-1 victory over Milwaukee on Monday night. Given a vote of confidence by manager Terry Collins before the game, Frank Francisco bounced back from a pair of rough outings to earn his ninth save.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Joe Saunders and Francisco Rodriguez collaborated on another victory for the Los Angeles Angels. Juan Rivera and Eric Aybar homered to back the Angels' star starter and closer in a 7-4 win over the Oakland Athletics yesterday. Both are expected to represent the Angels in the All-Star Game: Rodriguez for the third time as the major leagues' save leader, and Saunders for the first time with an AL-high 12 wins. "Twelve means I've gotten off to a good start, but I've got to keep it going," Saunders said after helping the Angels extend their West Division lead over Oakland to 5...

The Milwaukee Brewers got a quick start on the second half, picking up a big-time closer. The NL Central co-leaders acquired former All-Star reliever Francisco Rodriguez from the New York Mets on Tuesday night, boosting the Brewers’ bullpen for a second-half run at the playoffs. The trade was announced only a half-hour after the All-Star game, with the Mets sending K-Rod and cash to Milwaukee for two players to be named. Most likely, more trades all over the majors will follow before the July 31 deadline for making deals without waivers.

Derek Jeter hit a solo homer and Tanyon Sturtze pitched five strong innings in a spot start, leading the New York Yankees to a 4-2 win over the Rangers last night at Arlington, Texas. Sturtze (4-2), moved into the rotation Tuesday because Javier Vazquez has pink eye, started poorly but recovered enough to give the Yankees a lead they wouldn't relinquish. The righthander allowed two runs on three hits in the first, but held the Rangers scoreless from there. He allowed only five hits overall with one walk and one strikeout in his first start since bruising his right pinkie in the Yankees'...

Hideki Matsui's two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning capped a big comeback as the New York Yankees took advantage of four walks by an exhausted Francisco Rodriguez to beat the Los Angeles Angels, 8-7, yesterday. Bernie Williams and Jason Giambi homered for the Yankees, who got a stellar debut from starter Shawn Chacon and defeated the Angels for only the third time in nine meetings this season. Juan Rivera connected for the West Division leaders and Paul Byrd threw seven solid innings, but Los Angeles's normally dependable bullpen blew a 7-3 lead...

Adam Kennedy's two-run single keyed a four-run second inning against Al Leiter, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the New York Yankees, 6-3, last night in Anaheim, Calif. The Yankees remained 1 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East race, while the Angels stayed 6 1/2 games up in the West. Darin Erstad, Chone Figgins, and Jose Molina had RBI singles for the Angels, who are 47-45 against New York in the regular season since Joe Torre became Yankees manager in 1996. No other team has a winning record against them during that stretch.

Vladimir Guerrero doubled and scored the go-ahead run on a heads-up base-running play in the 12th inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 6-5 victory over the White Sox in Chicago last night. The victory kept the Angels' lead in the West at one game over Oakland. Guerrero led off the 12th with a double off the wall in left-center off Dustin Hermanson (1-3). Bengie Molina then bunted down the third base line, and while Geoff Blum was throwing to Ross Gload for the out at first, Guerrero kept running, with shortstop Juan Uribe late covering third.

Garret Anderson hit a two-run homer and Bengie Molina added a solo shot in the second inning, giving the Los Angeles Angels all the runs they needed to end a four-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Yankees in New York last night. The Angels avoided their longest skid of the season and defeated the Yankees for the sixth time in eight meetings this season. Los Angeles was coming off an 18-inning loss in Toronto Thursday night and didn't arrive in New York until 4 a.m. Things could have been worse if the Angels had needed to find a new starting pitcher -- which would have been...

With Randy Johnson on short rest, Jason Giambi's big day helped make his job easy. Giambi hit one of four Yankees homers and doubled twice, and Johnson gave host New York seven clutch innings in a 12-3 victory yesterday over the sinking Baltimore Orioles. Alex Rodriguez also connected, and Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui all homered for the second consecutive game. "Today was just one of those magical days where everyone was swinging the bat well," Rodriguez said.

LAS VEGAS - We await the winner of the showdown for Mark Teixeira among the Nationals, Red Sox, and Angels. If the Yankees and Orioles are also in it, so be it, but for the moment, those three teams will duke it out. The Red Sox and Nationals (and Yankees) may have already met with the free agent first baseman - not here, but prior to the winter meetings. They've all communicated with him in some form. Now the question is, how many years and how many zeroes will accompany an offer?

While Dustin Pedroia seems to be the front-runner heading into today's American League Most Valuable Player announcement, Kevin Youkilis, Justin Morneau, Carlos Quentin, and Francisco Rodriguez are all going to garner support, and with good reason. There wasn't really a true No. 1 candidate for most of the season. Josh Hamilton was the favorite, it seemed, right up to the All-Star break and shortly thereafter, but he began to slow down while Quentin's stock was rising fast. After Quentin was hurt Sept.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - They were baseball's best over the long, hot summer. Then came October, and another big chill. The Los Angeles Angels seemed to have it all: a powerful lineup strengthened by newcomers Torii Hunter and Mark Teixeira, an impressive rotation headed by John Lackey, and a bullpen anchored by record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez. They won 100 games for the first time in franchise history, with eight of those victories coming in their nine meetings with the Red Sox, and baseball observers praised the Angels as a team that did the little things correctly.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Like the grand slam that finally ingratiated him to the Red Sox fan base in the 2007 postseason, J.D. Drew's answer to doubters, to questioners, to doctors' reports and rustiness, came off his bat and off Francisco Rodriguez at a moment when it seemed the Angels were close to stanching their failing season. Los Angeles had tied the game, their vaunted closer on the mound, as Drew's home run wafted out and out and out. It hit near the green-tarped area in center field, a two-run shot in the ninth inning and a perfect bookend to Jason Bay's first-inning home run. It was the...

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Torii Hunter put on goggles, got on the clubhouse floor and began doing the butterfly and backstroke in a puddle of beer and champagne. Hunter and the Los Angeles Angels had plenty to celebrate yesterday. They became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season by winning their fourth AL West title in five years. "I love it. I'm Michael Phelps," Hunter bellowed, invoking the Olympic swimmer who won eight gold medals in Beijing. "This is what it's all about.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - I want to take the Angels seriously. I want to believe they can challenge the Red Sox should they meet again in October. But it's hard to get into a lather about a threat from California. Memories of past Octobers keep flashing through my mind. When I close my eyes I see Angels who never got into hardball heaven while playing the Red Sox in the postseason. The Angels beat the Sox again yesterday, rallying for four runs off Josh Beckett in the seventh inning.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Even without his best stuff, Jered Weaver won again. Struggling early with his breaking ball yesterday, the 6-foot-7-inch righthander still became the first rookie in 25 years to win his first seven starts, pitching the Los Angeles Angels past the Kansas City Royals, 3-1. Not since Fernando Valenzuela went 8-0 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1981 had any rookie launched his career with seven wins in seven starts. "We're getting wins. That's all I really care about," Weaver said.

Shawn Chacon put the New York Yankees into too much of a hole to climb out of. Ichiro Suzuki hit a three-run homer in a five-run second inning, and the Mariners beat the Yankees, 8-3, last night in Seattle. New York dropped 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Red Sox in the AL East. The Yankees, who overcame a four-run deficit against the last-place Mariners in Monday's 7-4 win, lead Cleveland by a half-game in the wild-card race and are one game in front of the Los Angeles Angels.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Joe Saunders and Francisco Rodriguez collaborated on another victory for the Los Angeles Angels. Juan Rivera and Eric Aybar homered to back the Angels' star starter and closer in a 7-4 win over the Oakland Athletics yesterday. Both are expected to represent the Angels in the All-Star Game: Rodriguez for the third time as the major leagues' save leader, and Saunders for the first time with an AL-high 12 wins. "Twelve means I've gotten off to a good start, but I've got to keep it going," Saunders said after helping the Angels extend their West Division lead over Oakland to 5...

Vernon Wells drove in three runs, Marco Scutaro homered, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat visiting Chicago, 5-2, yesterday, handing the White Sox their season-high fourth straight loss. "It's frustrating," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "All of a sudden, in one week, we forgot how to hit, how to catch the ball, how to run the bases, how to pitch. That happened quick. " A Joe Crede error led to three unearned runs and Chicago's struggling offense sputtered against righthander Jesse Litsch, putting just one runner in scoring position.