NEW YORK - It looked sloppy, out of character and unlike anything the Angels had done to win 102 games this season.
In short, it was not Angels baseball.
The Angels threw away their chances to extend the American League Championship to seven games with a 5-2 loss to the Yankees in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium.
A long offseason now awaits.
Gary Matthews Jr. struck out swinging against Mariano Rivera in the ninth inning Sunday to send the Yankees to their 40th World Series in franchise history, as flashbulbs popped inside the new Yankee Stadium and several Angels hung on the railing of their dugout in disbelief.
It put sobering conclusion on one of the most trying seasons in franchise history, one that began with the death of pitcher Nick Adenhart but ended with the team's first appearance in the ALCS since 2005.
"He's looking down just as disappointed as we are," pitcher Jered Weaver said of Adenhart.
Needing to score two runs in the final six outs, the Angels pressed their luck in the eighth inning by scoring once off Rivera but knew the odds of striking twice against baseball's best reliever were slim. Until Vladimir Guerrero's RBI single in the eighth inning, Rivera hadn't give up a run in a postseason home game since Oct. 22, 2000.
But in a calamitous eighth inning, in which the Angels botched two sacrifice bunt attempts by the Yankees, the Angels not only gave him cushion but practically sealed their fate.
Ervin Santana, who'd given up just one run in relief over 5 2/3 playoff innings, walked leadoff batter Robinson Cano. Scioscia went to Scott Kazmir and the results were immediately disastrous.
The Yankees twice offered the Angels an easy out by attempting to bunt runners into scoring position but twice the Angels fumbled the opportunity. First Nick Swisher hit a bunt down the first base line, which Kendry Morales fielded cleanly and threw to first. It seemed perfect, but Howie Kendrick dropped the ball, perhaps distracted by Swisher barreling toward him.
First and second nobody out.
"I just made a mistake," Kendrick said. "There's nothing to explain. I just dropped it. There's no excuse. I just dropped the ball. The throw was there, I just dropped it."
Now it was Melky Cabrera's turn to sacrifice. This time Kazmir fielded the ball cleanly and turned toward first base. He saw Kendrick moving to cover first and made an indecisive throw toward the bag that sailed high over Kendrick's head and into foul territory. Cano circled he bases to score the fourth run and pinch-runner Brett Gardner and Cabrera each moved into scoring position.
Gardner scored three batters later on a sacrifice fly by Mark Teixiera to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead.
"I wanted to step and throw, but then I saw him on the move and I kind of wanted to ease up a bit and I airmailed it," Kazmir said.
To make up one run against Rivera might seem daunting but doable. To make up three must have felt futile.
In the end it was.
The Angels were done in by nine walks Sunday, just 3 1/3 innings from starting pitcher Joe Saunders and two errors. They dropped all three games at Yankee Stadium, where on Sunday a record 50,173 fans watched Game 6.
It was in this building where the Angels committed seven errors during Games 1, 2 and 6, which is a major reason why the Yankees will meet the Phillies on Wednesday in Game 1 of the World Series.
"At times we played good baseball," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "At times we shot ourselves in the foot. The Yankees are a team that you can't give extra outs to. We did it in a couple of games, and obviously it cost us."
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