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ANAHEIM, Calif. - Mike Mussina's elbow held up fine, and rookie Robinson Cano provided all the offense New York needed in his postseason debut.
Mussina, who had inflammation near his elbow for most of last month, pitched scoreless ball into the sixth, Cano lined a three-run double in the first and the Yankees beat Bartolo Colon and the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 in Game 1 of their AL division series Tuesday night.
Mariano Rivera saved it for the Yankees, who looked fresh even after a cross-country trek on the heels of a seven-game road trip to end the regular season.
Darin Erstad's run-scoring single cut it to 4-2 in the ninth, only the 10th earned run Rivera has allowed in 71 career postseason appearances. But the right-hander got pinch-hitter Casey Kotchman of Seminole on a popup with a runner on first to end it.
"We've been playing important games for the last month or so now," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. "It doesn't matter whether we're home or on the road."
New York produced all its offense with two outs and wasted little time getting to Colon, a 21-game winner and leading contender for the Cy Young Award.
Colon threw only one ball in his first 13 pitches, but allowed three straight two-out singles in the first to the middle of the order - Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui. Cano then lined a double to left, clearing the bases.
"I had two strikes. I wanted to take my chance," Cano said.
Colon retired Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on five total pitches to start the game, then had two strikes against all four players who got first-inning hits. The right-hander reached 48 pitches after two innings. He plunked Rodriguez in the back in the second after allowing a two-out single to Jeter. Giambi followed with a run-scoring double.
Bengie Molina homered in the seventh for the Angels.