VLAD SLAMS YANKS ANGELS RALLY AS GUERRERO ENDS SLUMP WITH BOMB ANGELS 6, N.Y. YANKEES 5.

Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - What Vladimir Guerrero might have lacked in his swing the past couple of weeks, he more than made up for with his flair for the dramatic.

Mired in a 4-for-45 slump since July 6 and 0 for 3 on Thursday, Guerrero had the Angels' biggest hit of the season, a grand slam that turned the game upside-down and lifted the Angels to a 6-5 victory over the New York Yankees before a sellout crowd of 44,109 at Angel Stadium.

Guerrero doesn't show much emotion on the field, other than his trademark smile, but he enthusiastically pumped his fist after rounding first base, a sign his slump had bothered him more than he let on.

Before Guerrero blasted Tom Gordon's 1-0 pitch in the seventh inning, it was the Yankees who did the muscle-flexing. Jason Giambi homered twice and Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui once apiece off Angels starter Bartolo Colon (12-6) as the Yankees built a 5-2 lead with Randy Johnson on the mound.

Johnson's back began to stiffen in the sixth inning, and he was out of the game for the start of the seventh after 89 pitches, just the kind of break the Angels needed.

Pinch hitter Jeff DaVanon led off with a walk against Yankees reliever Scott Proctor, who was replaced by Buddy Groom. Maicer Izturis and Chone Figgins singled off Groom to load the bases for Darin Erstad, who struck out.

Yankees manager Joe Torre summoned Gordon from the bullpen to face Guerrero, who hit his team-leading 17th homer - and first grand slam - of the season.

In recent days, Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher noticed a difference in Guerrero's stance when he compared it with his stance in last year's MVP season.

``It's really simple,'' Hatcher said. ``Lately, he's a lot closer (to the plate), and he's bent over more. Last season, he was further (from the plate) and standing up more. He looked at the tapes. I said, 'This was then, this is now.' It took about a minute.''

The Angels still were left with the task of holding the lead, no small task with the Yankees due to send up the top of their order. But Scot Shields retired Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Gary Sheffield in order in the eighth, setting it up for closer Francisco Rodriguez.

Rodriguez hung an 0-2 slider to Alex Rodriguez, who missed a home run by about two feet, hitting it high off the wall in left field for a double. Matsui flied out to deep center for the first out of the inning, but Alex Rodriguez tagged and went to third.

Next up was Giambi, who worked the count full before he swung and missed at a 78 mph slider that might have been out of the strike zone. Bernie Williams followed with a walk on four pitches, bringing pitching coach Bud Black out of the dugout for a meeting on the mound before pinch hitter Jorge Posada came to bat.

Posada hit a sharp grounder right to second baseman Chone Figgins, who threw Posada out. Francisco Rodriguez emulated Guerrero with a fist pump after earning 22nd save the hard way.

The way the Angels' offense has struggled lately, a comeback seemed unlikely. They had averaged only 2.6 runs per game since the All-Star break and were thoroughly shut down by the Oakland A's the previous two nights.

But down 3-0, the Angels tried to scratch their way back. Erstad was hit by a pitch leading off the fourth inning, went to third on Garret Anderson's single - the Angels' first hit of the night - and scored on a sacrifice fly by Bengie Molina.

In the sixth, Erstad singled and scored on Anderson's two-out single to make it 3-2 before controversy struck. Anderson was running on an 0-2 pitch to Molina, who hit a slicing flyball into the right-field corner that bounced and was touched by a fan for a ground-rule double.

Anderson, who was halfway between second and third when the ball was touched, had crossed the plate but was ordered back to third base. Scioscia sprinted to the field to argue with first-base umpire Eric Cooper and convinced the umpires to consult.

After a brief meeting, the play stood as called. After an intentional walk to Orlando Cabrera, Steve Finley grounded out to end the inning, stranding Anderson at third.

The Yankees wasted no time getting started.

Derek Jeter hit Colon's first pitch of the game off the wall in right field for a triple. Robinson Cano followed with an RBI single.

Colon got Gary Sheffield to hit into a double play, but Rodriguez smacked his league-leading 27th homer for a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees increased their advantage to 3-0 on Giambi's first home run of the night. After the Angels closed to within 3-2, Matsui and Giambi hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh for a 5-2 lead.

Joe Haakenson, [phone]

joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Derek Jeter slides in safely with a leadoff triple ahead of the throw to Angels third baseman Maicer Izturis.

(2) Vladimir Guerrero, right, is congratulated by Chone Figgins after his seventh-inning grand slam put the Angels ahead.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Box:

(1) ANGELS vs. N.Y. YANKEES

- Joe Haakenson

(2) GAME RECAP

(3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED

(4) ALMANAC