Beat goes on as Angels roll past Yankees again

NEW YORK -- Chone Figgins and Casey Kotchman homered, Vladimir Guerrero doubled twice, and the Los Angeles Angels kept winning against the New York Yankees, battering them, 10-6, last night.

"We've held our own against them," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

More than that, actually. The Angels are the only AL team to own an edge over New York since Joe Torre became its manager before the 1996 season. The Angels are 56-52 against the Yankees in the regular season in that span -- they've also beaten them twice in the playoffs.

The loss dropped the Yankees to 21-25.

New York may have lost center fielder Johnny Damon, too. He left early because of leg cramps, won't play today, and could wind up on the disabled list.

"It's not like every time we lose it's 'here we go again,' " shortstop Derek Jeter said. "It's not like the end of the world and we're back to playing the way we were."

Along with eight extra-base hits, the Angels relied on their fielding to support Jered Weaver (4-3). Before the game became a rout, the AL West leaders made several sparkling plays to stay ahead.

Guerrero and Kotchman each got three hits and Orlando Cabrera scored three times. The Angels scored three times in the fifth for a 6-2 lead, highlighted by an RBI double by Gary Matthews Jr.

Yankees rookie Tyler Clippard (1-1) couldn't duplicate last Sunday night's success in his major league debut and relievers Matt DeSalvo and Luis Vizcaino also were hit hard.