It’s a Dream Finish for Angels, Riggs

An 11-year odyssey through five organizations and a number of minor league outposts, including Great Falls, Mont., Yakima, Wash., San Bernardino, San Antonio, Albuquerque and Memphis, Tenn. -- and one stint at Saltillo, Mexico -- reached its zenith Tuesday night.

Adam Riggs, the definition of the term “journeyman,” a 31-year-old utility player who was recalled from triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday, delivered a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift the Angels to a 1-0 victory over the New York Yankees in front of a sellout crowd of 43,660 at Angel Stadium.

The game-winning hit was actually a fly ball to right-center that could have been caught, but with the bases loaded, one out and the ball hit plenty deep enough to score Jeff DaVanon, Yankee right fielder Gary Sheffield let it drop. No matter to Riggs, who basked in the adulation of his teammates in a mob near the mound.

“That was great -- that was like a dream,” said Riggs, who replaced the injured Troy Glaus on the Angel roster and had been hitless in four previous at-bats Tuesday. “That’s what you play for, to be around a bunch of good guys and to help the team win. That was the thrill of a lifetime.”

DaVanon started the winning rally with a single to center off Yankee reliever Paul Quantrill, and Vladimir Guerrero singled to left, moving DaVanon to second.

Alfredo Amezaga, who entered as a pinch-runner in the ninth and was promptly picked off first base by Tom Gordon, put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to advance the runners, and Casey Kotchman was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Riggs, who had all of 45 games and 117 at-bats on his big league resume before Tuesday, followed with his hit, as the Angels won for the 19th time in 24 games and increased their lead over Texas to 3 1/2 games in the American League West.

“It was great execution for guys who had bumps in the road,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “I’m really proud of Riggs and Amezaga. They had tough nights, but they hung in there.”

Angel starter Aaron Sele threw six shutout innings, giving up two hits, and relievers Francisco Rodriguez (seventh and eighth), Troy Percival (ninth) and Scot Shields (10th and 11th) blanked the Yankees for the next five innings.

But the game wouldn’t have gone into extra innings if not for Guerrero, the strong-armed Angel right fielder who threw out Jorge Posada at the plate to end the top of the ninth.

Posada was trying to score from second on Bernie Williams’ single, but Guerrero fired a two-hop throw to catcher Jose Molina, who blocked the plate nicely with his left leg and tagged Posada.

“That’s what he’s known for,” Sele said of Guerrero’s arm. “They pushed the envelope there, made him catch the ball cleanly and make a big throw, and Jose did a great job of catching the ball and blocking the plate. Everyone did his job well tonight. It was a full team win.”

Without a full team.

Garret Anderson (mysterious back ailment), Tim Salmon (inflamed knee), Darin Erstad (strained hamstring) and Brendan Donnelly (broken nose/elbow tendinitis) are on the disabled list, and Glaus officially joined them Tuesday.

The Angel third baseman said his decision to have surgery this week instead of rehabilitating his right shoulder and swinging through the pain was based on his desire to return to the Angels by September.

One problem: Friday’s procedure to repair a fraying of the labrum -- which is cartilage around the bone -- and rotator cuff usually requires four to six months from which to recover.

“There are no guarantees, but this is going to give me the best chance,” said Glaus, whose shoulder got progressively worse after he suffered the injury while diving for a ground ball on Minnesota’s artificial turf on April 30.

“Had I continued on this same path, I wasn’t going to make it [to September]. I want to help the team in the stretch run and in the playoffs.”

Glaus, who is batting .296 with 11 home runs and 28 runs batted in, played 10 games at designated hitter after the injury, hitting four home runs and driving in eight runs, but he said his shoulder took a turn for the worse in New York on May 11, the same night he hit his 11th home run -- and injured his right knee.

“It hurt on every swing,” Glaus said. “The fact that I was playing well didn’t weigh into the decision. It didn’t make it any easier, but that wasn’t a determining factor.... If the pain was bearable, I would deal with it. But it got worse. We’ve done everything we can do to try to make the pain go away, and it’s not. This is the right decision.”