Final Score in New York: Angels 1, Yankees 4
A night of sloppy fielding from the normally sharp Angels gifted the Yankees enough runs to take Game 1 of the 2009 ALCS. The Angels had the tying run on deck in the 9th, so it is not like they got dominated, in fact, the Yankees were pretty flat all night and a precision defensive outing would have yielded a win.
But just like in the 2002 and 2005 postseason, the Yankees took game 1 of the series form the Angels. John Lackey pitched fantastic, Jason Bulger and Matt Palmer each did the job of holding things in place, but CC Sabathia scattered hits far enough apart from each other to avoid any trouble.
It didn't look like the Angels when Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins looked at each other on a first inning popup instead of looking at the ball. The national broadcast hardly named them as it was so intent on stroking the Yankees. A FOX broadcast truck in the Yankee Stadium parking lot had gallons of lube at the ready should the game have gone into extra innings, but it wasn't necessary, as the Angels threatened but did not score off of Mariano Rivera.
The Angels got a RBI single from Kendry Morales in the 4th inning to score Vladimir Guerrero who had led off the frame with a double that almost cleared the plexiglass centerfield wall. It was that kind of night for the Angels ... a lot of invisible almosts that are now just whisps blowing around the L in the scorebook.