NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez is putting all those playoff failures behind him. The Los Angeles Angels are turning the AL Championship Series into a defensive debacle.

Coming through under pressure once again, Rodriguez hit a tying homer in the 11th inning and the New York Yankees edged Los Angeles, 4-3, last night on Maicer Izturis' error in the 13th for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

"Wow, what a game," Rodriguez said.

After the rain came and went on another chilly night, New York pulled out its latest late-inning thriller and remained unbeaten in this year's playoffs. The game ended at 1:07 a.m. (EST) when Izturis threw away Melky Cabrera's grounder to second base.

"Izzy just tried to do too much," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "You're not going to turn two."

Pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston Jr. opened the 13th with a single off losing pitcher Ervin Santana in his first postseason at-bat. Brett Gardner sacrificed and Robinson Cano was intentionally walked as the crowd chanted "Melky! Melky!"

Cabrera hit a bouncer in the hole between first and second, and Izturis made an ill-advised attempt to throw back across his body for a force at second. The low toss skipped past shortstop Erick Aybar and rolled behind third, where Chone Figgins tried to pick it up.

Figgins fumbled the ball and Hairston, who had slowed up, sped home and slid in with the winning run.

"It hit my glove and kind of kicked off," Figgins said." It's one of those crazy things that I was backing up but the ball slipped out of my hands."

It marked another sloppy performance by the Angels, and finished a game that lasted 5 hours, 10 minutes.

"I was a little aggressive there," Izturis said. "I'm not scared to be aggressive. Unfortunately, it cost us the game."

The Yankees poured out of the dugout to celebrate, knocking over Hairston behind the plate.

Moments later, he took a whipped cream pie in the face from starter A.J. Burnett, which has become a fan-favorite tradition for the Yankees after walk-off wins this year.

They led the majors with 15 such victories and have added two in the playoffs — the Yankees are 5-0, including a first-round sweep of Minnesota in which Rodriguez went 5 for 11 with two home runs and six RBIs.

"I'm doing what I've done all year — try to stay in the moment and really enjoy the moment," he said. "I had a blast out there today."

Rodriguez saved New York in this victory, hitting a leadoff shot against major league saves leader Brian Fuentes to keep the game going. He had a chance to win it in the 12th, but flied out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

"As soon as he tied it, we knew we were going to win this game," Hairston said. "We don't give up. We really don't."

Rodriguez entered these playoffs hitless in his previous 18 postseason at-bats with runners in scoring position. Overall, he was 8 for 59 (.136) in the postseason dating to 2004.

Derek Jeter also homered and Cano had an RBI triple for the Yankees. Mariano Rivera threw 2[0xb0]shutout innings, his longest outing since May 30, 2006.

After a travel day, the best-of-seven series shifts to Anaheim, Calif., for Game 3 tomorrow. Jered Weaver is scheduled to pitch for the Angels against Andy Pettitte, with a forecast of 73 degrees and partly cloudy skies.

The warm weather will allow players to ditch the ski masks and hoods some have sported under their baseball caps in New York. It was 47 degrees at gametime, 2 degrees warmer than Friday night, with 15 mph winds gusting to 23 mph.

"Right now we are all in sleep mode. Hit that plane, get some sleep," Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher said. "We've just got to go out there and get two more. One thing about going out to Anaheim is we don't have to bring our long sleeves."

Most fans were still around for the finish, though many were huddled in bright ponchos under the overhangs. It was the longest postseason game by innings since Houston beat Atlanta, 7-6, in 18 innings on Oct. 9, 2005.

The Angels, normally sound on fundamentals, have been betrayed by their defense in this series. They made three errors during a 4-1 loss in the opener and let an infield popup drop for an RBI single.