SHORT AND SWEET CABRERA'S SINGLE LIFTS ANGELS TO SERIES TIE.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - Orlando Cabrera is both substance and style, is as quick with his wit as he is with his bat, and Wednesday night in a game the Angels had to have, gave the New York Yankees a little reminder of their biggest playoff collapse ever.

Cabrera's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the seventh snapped a tie and was the difference in the Angels' 5-3 win in Game 2 of the American League Division Series in front of 45,150 at Angel Stadium.

Bengie Molina's solo homer in the eighth upped the Angels' lead, giving Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez some breathing room in the ninth. Rodriguez gave up a towering home run to Jorge Posada but got the final three outs to save the Angels' victory, tying the best-of-five series at one game apiece.

Game 3 is scheduled for Friday at Yankee Stadium.

``It was a big situation for us,'' Molina said. ``No way we want to go down 0-2 going to New York. I've been here a long time. Guys here don't like to lose. We know how to bounce back, this is how we play. All we need to do is keep playing our game.''

Their game is pitching and defense, and they got it Wednesday. Angels starter John Lackey gave up two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings and got the usual boost from the bullpen. Scot Shields got a big out to end the sixth, and Kelvim Escobar threw two scoreless innings to get the victory and set up the ninth for Rodriguez, who earned his first postseason save.

The Angels made the most of their seven hits, including a solo homer by Juan Rivera that got the Angels on the scoreboard in the fifth inning, and used two sacrifice bunts in the decisive two-run seventh.

``You have to look at the personnel you have,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said about his team's offensive philosophy. ``If we were six or seven deep with guys that have potential to hit 20 home runs (per season), we probably have a different style of baseball in place on the field. We don't have that. So the only way for us really to balance the books a little bit on scoring enough runs is to get aggressive on the basepaths and maybe push the envelope a little bit.''

Cabrera hit .379 for the Red Sox in last season's American League Championship Series, a big part of Boston's comeback from an 0-3 deficit on their way to the World Series title. But he said he wasn't about to offer advice to teammates on how to beat the Yankees.

``This team has always played the Yankees pretty good,'' Cabrera said. ``There's nothing I could tell them they haven't done before.''

Cabrera, a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop who owns his own clothing line and is part-owner of a professional team in his native Colombia, had been quiet in this series, going 1 for 7 before his critical at-bat in the seventh inning Wednesday.

The inning began when Rivera hit a high bouncer to shortstop Derek Jeter. Rivera stumbled coming out of the batter's box, then dived head-first into the first-base bag to beat the throw for an infield single.

Steve Finley sacrificed pinch-runner Jeff DaVanon to second, and when the throw to first by Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was wide, Finley was safe as well. Adam Kennedy moved the runners to second and third with a sacrifice bunt, but Wang got Chone Figgins on a popup to shallow center.

Up stepped Cabrera, who lined Wang's first pitch, a 95-mph fastball up in the strike zone, to center field to score the go-ahead runs.

``Sinkerball pitchers like this guy, when they're getting tired they start leaving the ball up,'' Cabrera said. ``In the at-bat with Figgins, everything was up, up, up. He looked like he was getting tired, so I looked for something up, and he left it right in the middle and high.''

The Angels trailed 2-1 entering the bottom of the sixth when Yankees starter Wang got yet another ground ball. Of the 15 outs through five innings, 11 came on groundballs. But Cabrera's chopper to third leading off the sixth was different. The ball tipped off the end of third baseman Alex Rodriguez's glove for an error, and the Angels cashed in on it when Molina singled to center with two outs, driving in Cabrera from second and tying the game at 2.

``All I was trying to do is stay in the middle of the field,'' said Molina, who is 3 for 8 with two homers in the series. ``All we needed was a single. This is how we've done it all year. This is not a surprise for us.''

Back-to-back doubles by Matsui and Robinson Cano gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and Jason Giambi's double was the key hit in the fifth, leading to another run and 2-0 lead.

Figgins, though, saved a run with a spectacular back-handed grab of Matsui's hard grounder near the line at third. He threw in the dirt to Erstad and first, but the Gold Glove first baseman dug it out to keep the Angels close.

Rivera's homer leading off the cut the Angels' deficit to 2-1, setting the stage for their late-inning rally and sending the series back East deadlocked at one game each.

Joe Haakenson, [phone]

joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Angels' Bengie Molina singles against Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang, scoring Orlando Cabrera in the sixth inning.

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

(2) The Yankees' Jason Giambi breaks his bat while hitting a pitch from Angels starter John Lackey in the first inning of Wednesday's game.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Box:

(1) STORY LINES

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISION SERIES, BEST-OF-5; SERIES TIED 1-1