Brown piches decent but offense take another vacation day lose 3-1 to Angels.

[RLA68]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=250428110

NEW YORK (AP) -- Kevin Brown looked much better. The rest of the New York Yankees did not.

John Lackey combined with four relievers to shut down the all-or-nothing Yankees, and the Los Angeles Angels got RBI singles from Vladimir Guerrero and Darin Erstad in a 3-1 victory Thursday night.

The Angels took two of three at Yankee Stadium, assuring New York (9-13) of its first losing month since it was 11-17 in May 2003.

"A lot of guys in this room have rings and we think we can play with anybody," Lackey said.

After Alex Rodriguez's huge night in a 12-4 victory Tuesday, the Yankees managed just one run in each of the last two games and dropped their second consecutive series at home. New York's star-studded lineup has scored two runs or fewer seven times this season.

"We couldn't come up with the big hit," Derek Jeter said. "We have spurts where we swing the bats well, just have not done it consistently."

Brown (0-3) lost his sixth straight start dating to last season -- but he was New York's lone bright spot. After altering his pregame warmup routine, he allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings, retiring his final 11 batters.

But in typical fashion, Brown was far from satisfied.

"I wouldn't say my stuff was any better," he said. "I wouldn't say I was much sharper or had that much more movement."

The right-hander hasn't won since Aug. 28, 2004, in Toronto, and his six-game losing streak matches the longest of his career.

"A couple of groundballs really beat me," Brown said. "I'm going to keep working and find a way to be a little bit better."

Lackey (2-1) lasted only 5 1-3 innings because he threw 111 pitches, but he was effective. He gave up only Hideki Matsui's RBI double, then turned it over to Los Angeles' outstanding bullpen.

"You can't ever argue going to our bullpen. Those guys are great," Lackey said.

Jake Woods, Brendan Donnelly and Scot Shields combined for 2 2-3 scoreless innings before Francisco Rodriguez struck out two in a perfect ninth for his fifth save in six chances.

The Angels' bullpen has allowed only four earned runs in its last 39 2-3 innings.

"We have a core that has been together for several years now. We're all friends, we all compete against each other down there. The bullpen is almost a team within a team," Donnelly said. "We're like our own little family down there and I guess the results show on the field."

The Yankees stranded 10 and went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Chone Figgins used his speed to spark a two-run third inning for the Angels. He singled and stole second, then took off for third on the next pitch as Guerrero bounced a perfectly placed RBI single past Rodriguez, who had vacated his position to cover the bag.

"This team just keeps scrapping," Steve Finley said. "I love it. It's like National League style."

Garret Anderson followed with a double to right, and Gary Sheffield bobbled the ball before throwing to second base. But nobody was there -- Jeter had dashed to the right side to cut off a possible throw to the plate.

When Sheffield's toss went rolling through the infield, Guerrero broke for home and scored easily as the crowd of 51,951 groaned at New York's embarrassing mistake.

"That's the kind of thing you work on in spring training, cutoffs and that kind of thing. He just threw to the wrong base," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Erstad's run-scoring single in the fourth made it 3-0. Matsui put the Yankees on the board with a two-out RBI double in the fifth.

[RLA68]

We get a good game pitched by washed Brown and our offense is still not there. We are making subpar pitchers look like All Stars. We have pitching issues but it is our offense that needs to get it going, on a daily basis.