"Considering the individual histories involved, it's difficult to say which was more surprising – Bobby Abreu's game-deciding home run, Jeff Mathis' two-run double to give the Angels a lead or Jordan Walden picking a runner off base to end the game.

The improbabilities added up for the Angels in a 6-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night when Abreu hit a two-run home run off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera with two outs in the ninth inning of a tie game.

"Hit a homer off Mariano? That's unbelievable," Abreu said. "He's so tough to make good contact against. To hit a home run is something that's hard to believe.

"I know – he's a pitcher, you're a hitter and you have a bat in your hands, so anything can happen. But he's the best closer in the game and it's hard just to make good contact."

That has been difficult for Abreu against any pitcher over the past five weeks.

The game-deciding shot off Rivera was Abreu's second home run of the game. He also hit a solo home run off Yankees starter A.J. Burnett in the sixth inning – an inning capped by a rare offensive contribution from Mathis (a two-run double with the bases loaded to give the Angels a lead).

But it was Abreu's first multi-home run game of the season, his first multi-hit game since July 30 and his first multi-RBI game since July 25. Even with Tuesday's home runs, he has just three hits in his past 25 at-bats and is batting .167 (18 for 108) since the end of June – the worst extended slump of Abreu's career.

"It was tough," Abreu said, using the past tense for his prolonged ordeal. "Like you say, I've never been in a situation like that in my career. It may be 30 or 40 (at-bat slumps in the past). But this was 100 (at-bats).

"Sometimes you get desperate. You try to find a way to get on base and break that slump any way you can."

At age 37, though, there are legitimate questions about whether it truly is "just a slump," as Abreu explained it Tuesday. Those questions also are being asked about his fellow veterans, Torii Hunter, who had a three-hit game Tuesday, and Vernon Wells."