WEAVING ANOTHER GEM FOR ANGELS ROOKIE FINALLY GETS EIGHTH WIN, BEATS YANKEES ANGELS 5, N.Y. YANKEES 3.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA  Staff Writer

NEW YORK -- Jered Weaver aced his latest test like he had a cheat sheet in his back pocket, or at least under the bill of his cap.

With the Angels' 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees, Weaver became the first major-league pitcher to win the first eight decisions to start his career since the Florida Marlins' Livan Hernandez in 1997.

Whitey Ford has the American League record for victories to start a career with nine.

``He's pitching like a 10-year (veteran),'' manager Mike Scioscia said. ``His stuff is outstanding and he makes his pitches. I think what's encouraging is that you see Joe Saunders and Jered come on the road against a tough team and pitch their game. That's what we're going to need down the stretch.''

Saunders, a fellow rookie, pitched the Angels to victory in the opener of the four-game series that concludes tonight. Angels rookie starters are a combined 13-0 this season.

In what was expected to be the biggest challenge of his young career, Weaver had his run of Yankee Stadium. The Yankees offered little resistance and a sold-out crowd of 54,309 supplied no additional intimidation.

The only thing that seemed to be getting to Weaver was home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson, who was calling pitches on the outside corner to right-handed hitters but not the inside corner. Weaver was told to be ready for anything after getting an inconsistent strike zone when he pitched in Boston during the previous road trip.

``We talked about not getting pitches you want and make sure to challenge hitters,'' Angels second baseman Adam Kennedy said. ``As good as they are, you can't really nibble because you're probably not going to get as many borderline calls.''

After a walk to Derek Jeter in the third inning, pitching coach Bud Black paid a visit to Weaver to calm him down. In the fourth inning, catcher Mike Napoli thought Weaver had struck out Jorge Posada to end the inning and started walking off the field. Hudson called the pitch a ball, so Weaver came right back and eventually got Posada to strikeout looking.

It was one of eight strikeouts for Weaver in six innings of work as he improved to 8-0 after three consecutive no-decisions. He gave up just three hits and allowed his only run on a Craig Wilson home run in the fifth inning.

Unlike Saunders, who said he had some first-inning jitters while facing the Yankees for the first time, Weaver proved to be unflappable. He wasn't efficient early, throwing 70 pitches through the first three innings,

``I felt great,'' said Weaver, who is 6-0 on the road. ``Obviously my pitch count in the first couple of innings wasn't where I wanted it to be. I was just trying to get a feel for the hitters and how their swings are on my ball. Things like that kind of got into the back of my head but I was able to settle down there late.''

Weaver needed just 34 pitches to get through the next three innings.

``He knows how to pitch and somewhere along the way he got taught and he listened,'' Kennedy said. ``Knowing how to pitch and having good stuff, whether you're 23 or 30, you're going to be able to succeed.''

Getting a three-run lead before throwing your first pitch will also help the success ratio. Chone Figgins opened the game with a home run to right, his second leadoff home run this season and fifth of his career. Run-scoring singles from Juan Rivera and Kennedy made it 3-0.

They were close to adding more but Curtis Pride ended the threat when he grounded into a double play with the bases loaded.

Rivera delivered another RBI single in the fifth inning. After Howie Kendrick drove home a run in the sixth inning with a single, the Angels again had the bases loaded with one out. They were unable to add insurance runs when Orlando Cabrera struck out and Vladimir Guerrero flew out.

Holding a 5-1 lead with one out to go for the victory, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi hit back-to-back home runs off Scot Shields. Francisco Rodriguez came on to earn his 30th save by getting Posada to fly out to left.

The victory gave the Angels a 4-2 record against the Yankees and wrapped up the season series for the third consecutive year. The Angels are now 11-7 at Yankee Stadium over the past three seasons and 53-50 against the Yankees overall since Joe Torre became their manager in 1996.

``Right now, we've played them tough to this point and pitching has been a huge part of that,'' Scioscia said. ``The first series at home we swung the bats a little better too. That was in April and it seems like a different season.''

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

The Angels' Jered Weaver hardly seemed fazed or intimidated in pitching for the first time at Yankee Stadium. The rookie went six innings and had eight strikeouts in the Angels' win.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press