"Tony has paid a lot of attention to our depth," said Scioscia of Angels General Manager Tony Reagins, "and it's worked well for us now."
Um, sorry fellas, you're not that deep. Nobody is that deep. This was not a 14-run lineup. This was not a consecutive-win lineup. This was not a bomb-the-Bombers lineup. Was it?
On a sweltering afternoon, it began as a hot mess, the Angels going hitless for three innings against the Yankees' Andy Pettitte, with Alex Rodriguez and Eric Hinske -- Eric Hinske? -- homering against Jered Weaver to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead.
The Angels had them right where they wanted them.
"This group knows how to play the game," said hitting coach Mickey Hatcher, who deserves much credit for turning this group into baseball's best hitters.
"They know it's not about one pitch, or one at-bat, or one game. They know how to grind."
They know, because their teacher was once that sort of player, Hatcher passing along knowledge gained from years on a tightrope.
"I know what it's like to have to fight for your job, because I've done that," Hatcher said. "I know what it's like to be down, how to handle all that, only because I've been there."
After the Angels closed the gap with a run in the fourth, they used "Angel baseball" and put together the best offensive inning I have seen this season. It was a seven-run fifth inning that featured so many furious legs and arms, it felt like one long Lakers fastbreak.
"It was a lot of guys picking it up," Wood said. "It is how we play."
Seven runs, seven hits, five singles, five hits going to the opposite field.
Figgins and Erick Aybar went from first to third on a single. Bobby Abreu scored from first on a double. The kid Wood hit his first home run of the season. The old guy Matthews stole his first base of the season.
It was exhausting to watch. It was worse, apparently, to defend. During the inning, counting throws to first base, the Yankees' pitchers tossed the ball 44 times.
"Like any team with a lot of speed up and down the lineup, we try to put a little bit of pressure on them," Scioscia said.
Pressure? This was like a 30-minute headlock. It wore out the Yankees and rejuvenated the ants.
"Sitting over there watching our guys do their work was pretty fun," Weaver said. "A lot of players can do so many things with the bat and on the bases."
