Orange County Register

  The Angels have had their share of problems facing pitchers making first major league starts, be it the Texas Rangers’ Matt Harrison, the Baltimore Orioles’ Chris Waters.

  There are others, and the Yankees’ Alfredo Aceves joined them on Tuesday, denying the Angels the opportunity to clinch the A.L. West for at least one more day with a 7-1 victory in which he allowed five hits and one run in seven innings.

 The Angels’ magic number remained 2, pending the outcome of the Rangers’ game at Seattle. Texas was winning 6-1 in the eighth inning.

  Aceves, who was pitching in the Mexican League last year, was backed by a three-run home run by Alex Rodriguez in the sixth inning, a two-run shot by Johnny Damon in the seventh and a solo shot by Damon in the ninth. It was the 12th career multi-home run for Damon.

  The first two home runs came against starter Ervin Santana, who gave up eight hits and six runs (five earned) in six-plus innings. The second Damon home run came against Justin Speier, the 14th he has allowed this season. 

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