30-year-old rookie Matt Palmer shut down the Yankees for 6 1/3 innings. He only allowed three hits and one earned run over that span, pitching the Angels to an 8-4 victory Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.

For a while, however, it looked like Palmer would be the hard-luck loser against CC Sabathia. The Yankees and Sabathia carried a 1-0 until the sixth inning when the Angels were able to scratch across a run to even the score. They would then score seven more times over the next three innings to put the game out of reach, despite the Yankees scoring three in the ninth.

Hideki Matsui hit an RBI single in the bottom of the first to give the Yankees the early 1-0 lead. The Angels then put together a rally in the next half-inning, loading the bases with one out. However, Sabathia was able to strike out Brandon Wood and get Maicer Izturis to line out to Robinson Cano.

Sabathia finished the day giving up five runs (four earned) over 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked four. The Yankees are now 2-4 in his starts.

The Angels tied the game in the sixth on Kendry Morales' RBI groundout. Then in the seventh, with runners on second and third and two outs, Howie Kendrick had an RBI infield hit, Torii Hunter hit a two-run double and Mike Napoli hit an RBI single. They'd score one more in the next inning on a Morales solo home run off struggling reliever Jose Veras.

They would then score two more times in the ninth inning on Juan Rivera's single coupled with Melky Cabrera's fielding error in right.

However, the Yankees, who rallied from a 9-4 deficit the previous night, tried again today. With Cabrera on third with two outs, Jorge Posada hit a two-run home run to right to make it an 8-3 game. Brett Gardner scored the Yankees fourth and final run after Derek Jeter reached on Gary Matthews Jr.'s error.

The Yankees are now 13-11, as the loss snapped their four-game winning streak. Phil Hughes and Joe Saunders will face each other tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m.

Recap records: Patrick: 8–2, Seamus: 4–6, Andrew: 1–3.

Andrew Fletcher blogs about the Yankees regularly at Scott Proctor's Arm.