On the same day they lost the heart of their order, No. 3 hitter Torii Hunter and cleanup batter Vladimir Guerrero, to the disabled list, the Angels showed they still have a pulse.
Facing the hottest team in baseball, a club that had won 13 of 15 games, the Angels rode a pair of three-run home runs by Kendry Morales and No. 9 batter Erick Aybar to a 10-6 victory over the New York Yankees on Friday night.
Morales' shot off starter Joba Chamberlain capped a four-run fifth inning that erased a four-run deficit, and Aybar's poke just inside the right-field foul pole off reliever Brian Bruney in the seventh turned a 7-6 lead into a 10-6 game.
Brian Fuentes struck out Jorge Posada with two on to end the ninth for his major league-leading 25th save.
Aybar's third homer came during a bizarre rally that began with one rarity, All-Star shortstop Derek Jeter dropping Mike Napoli's popup in shallow center for an error, and ended with Posada, the Yankees' catcher, making a bare-handed grab of Chone Figgins' foul pop.
Posada and Figgins got tangled up near the plate after contact, and Figgins inadvertently knocked Posada's mitt off his left hand. But Posada calmly cupped the ball with both hands for the final out.
The Angels trailed, 5-1, after another subpar start by Joe Saunders, who gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings, but they rallied off Chamberlain in the fifth.
Figgins led off with a single and stole second. Maicer Izturis popped out, but Bobby Abreu hit a run-scoring single and stole second.
Juan Rivera reached on third baseman Alex Rodriguez's throwing error, tripping and falling beyond the first-base bag. He left the game in the eighth because of tightness in his left quadriceps and right hamstring.
Morales then crushed Chamberlain's first pitch for a three-run homer to center, his 15th of the season, and a 5-5 tie.
Aybar led off the sixth with a broken-bat single off reliever Mark Melancon, and Figgins lined an RBI triple to right for a 6-5 lead. Izturis grounded back to the mound, Figgins holding, but Abreu hit a broken-bat RBI single to center for a 7-5 lead.
The Yankees trimmed the deficit to 7-6 in the seventh when Mark Teixeira, the former Angel who was booed loudly before each at-bat, led off with a single, Robinson Cano singled with two outs and Melky Cabrera capped an 11-pitch at-bat with an RBI single.
