Angels keep it going

Once John Lackey slipped, and Darren Oliver slipped, there seemed to be nothing left for the Angels. Their season would be ending here, as the Yankees went on to the World Series.

Except the Angels weren’t done. That was clear almost as soon as they came off the field after that ugly seventh, after the Yankees had taken a two-run lead, after the monkey had emerged. This wouldn’t be the end, not for the Angels’ season and not for the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

The teams will return to New York for Game 6 tomorrow after the Angels pulled out a come-from-behind 7-6 win last night at Angel Stadium.

“It shows that we have heart,’’ said Angels center fielder Torii Hunter. “We go out there, we keep battling. We’re grinders, man. That’s what we do. We go out there and play with these guys. They’ve got some of the best players in baseball over there. We hung on. Those guys are King Kong.’’

So, if the Yankees are King Kong, Hunter was asked, what are the Angels? “Smurfs,’’ he said, laughing.

“We came through with a big win,’’ Hunter said. “I got to tell you, my little boy at home has probably got gray hair right now.’’

That was partially due to Brian Fuentes in the ninth inning - as Hunter said, “my heart was going fast, Lamborghini fast’’ - as the Yankees loaded the bases on an intentional walk to Alex Rodriguez, an unintentional walk to Hideki Matsui, and a hit batsmen (Robinson Cano), setting the stage for Nick Swisher. But one pop to shortstop Erik Aybar on a low-and-away fastball on 3 and 2 and it was over.

“It’s not like my life flashes before my eyes, as far as this is it, this is the ultimate moment,’’ Fuentes said. “At the same time, in that game, I knew it was the pitch. I was really hoping for some action . . . I was happy he put that one in play, and we were able to get out of it. Just a sigh of relief.’’

“We came back against a great team,’’ said Angels third baseman Chone Figgins. “We lived to fight another day.’’

That was due to the Angels’ seventh-inning rally, a response to the Yankees’ six-run top of the seventh. The Angels’ half of the inning began with Jeff Mathis’s sixth consecutive hit in the series, as Yankees manager Joe Girardi chose to keep starter A.J. Burnett in the game. After a walk to Aybar, Figgins bunted the runners over. The first run came in on a ground out, and then the fun began.

With the crowd of 45,113 rocking, Hunter walked. And then Vladimir Guerrero singled just past the glove of a diving Derek Jeter for yet another two-out RBI. The game was tied.

Not for long. Kendry Morales, perhaps the Angels’ MVP all season, singled to right field, sending Hunter home with the third run of the inning, and seventh run of the game

“Watching from the bullpen, that momentum just shifted in a heartbeat,’’ Fuentes said. “It was the blink of an eye . . . Now it’s silent, and we’re sitting looking at each other like, ‘What just happened.’ Now it’s 4-3, and come up with another hit, now we’re down by two. We come back the next inning, and I’m thinking if we could just get a run here, get some guys on and get the guys going, and sure enough guys start getting on. It worked out. I was really proud of them.’’

Though for most of the game, it didn’t appear that it would come to that. Lackey had looked so good for six innings, so ready to propel the Angels back to New York. Then came the seventh and, after getting Swisher for the first out, it began to unravel. Melky Cabrera doubled, Jorge Posada walked, and so did Jeter. Johnny Damon flied to left. There were two outs, and Mike Scioscia began to walk toward the mound.

“I knew that wasn’t going to go well,’’ Figgins said.

Lackey could be seen on the telecast saying, “This is mine,’’ to his manager. But it wasn’t. He wouldn’t be allowed to throw another pitch, with Scioscia opting instead for Oliver, and then Kevin Jepsen. It didn’t work, with the Yankees scoring all six of their runs before Swisher flied to left to end the frame.

When Lackey left, three Yankees clogged the bases for Mark Teixeira. And he delivered with a base-clearing double, his first RBIs since his walkoff homer in Game 2 of the Division Series. The double was blasted to left-center off Oliver, bringing the Yankees to within one run. Rodriguez was walked intentionally, bringing up Matsui. Matsui, too, produced, with a single that scored Teixeira. The game was tied. But the Yankees didn’t stop. Even with a new pitcher, Jepsen, Cano got two more runs home on a crowd-stifling triple.

The score was 6-4, and the Angels were down to their final moments yet again. Or not quite.

“Any time you have a chance to close out a series and you don’t win, no matter what the score, it’s a missed opportunity,’’ Girardi said. “But we get a chance to go to our ballpark where we’ve played extremely well. You know, we’ve had a lot of come-from-behind wins there. Yeah, it’s a missed opportunity, but we still have another game on Saturday.’’

So, what do the Angels have to do differently in New York to again extend the series?

“I don’t know,’’ Hunter said. “Just play our game the same way we’ve been playing over here. Keep playing our game, and keep pounding the strike zone on these guys - and don’t let A-Rod beat us.’’