The Angels have knocked the Yankees out of the playoffs twice in the past seven years, and now they might just keep the Yanks from the postseason altogether.

That is one byproduct of the Angels' acquisition yesterday of Mark Teixeira. The Yanks have more games left against the Angels (10) than any other opponent, beginning with a four-game set that opens tomorrow at the Stadium.

And the Yanks have long had trouble beating the Angels despite Los Angeles' lack of lefty power and adequate protection for Vladimir Guerrero. The only AL team that Joe Torre had a losing record against in his 12 years as Yankee manager was the Angels, and that does not even include the 2002 and 2005 Division Series in which the Angels ousted the Yankees.

Now the Joe Girardi Yankees have to cope with a quirk in the schedule that has them playing so many late-season games against a team not from their division, including two separate three-game stops in Anaheim. The Yanks are going to finally uncover a way to beat their AL West nemesis or else their road to October is going to become that much more treacherous.

What is fascinating is that the Angels essentially are the team most assured of making the playoffs this season, since they went into last night with an 111/2-game lead in the AL West. As one AL executive said, "The Angels are making this deal to get 11 wins in October. They already know they have won the division."