Thanks to their 7-6 victory over the Yankees in Game 5 of the ALCS on Thursday night, the Angels saved themselves from elimination to force a Game 6.

L.A. starter John Lackey gave up three runs on six hits over 6.2 innings of work, while striking out seven and walking three. He was cruising until the sixth inning when he allowed a double to Melky Cabrera, then walked pinch hitter Jorge Posada on a terrible call by home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth.

The call definitely rattled Lackey, who wound up walking the bases loaded before retiring the second out of the inning. He was relieved with the two outs and the bases loaded, but the Halos bullpen wound up getting shelled as the Yankees put six runs on the board to take a 6-4 lead.

But the Angels answered back with three runs of their own and then held on over the final two innings to secure the victory.

The call by Culbreth completely swung the momentum in the Yankees favor. Lackey had every right to be pissed, although he allowed his emotions to get the best of him and Mike Scioscia had little choice but to relieve him. Had New York wound up winning, the Angels could have pointed to that call as their death nail.

Joe Girardi will once again be subject to criticism following his decision to let starter A.J. Burnett go back out for the seventh inning. The Yankees had all the momentum and Girardi should have had more faith in his bullpen, but he allowed Burnett to start the inning and A.J. would up allowing the first two batters to reach base to spark the Halos.

Another Yankee that will face some heat is Nick Swisher, who went 0-for-5 and popped out with bases loaded in the top of the ninth to end the game. He had a solid regular season, but he’s hitting just .118 so far in the postseason and has killed several scoring opportunities for the Bronx Bombers.

Game 6 is set for Saturday at 8:07 p.m. ET and will feature Joe Saunders vs. Andy Pettitte.

What a day for pitching. Vicente Padilla goes seven and a third for the Dodgers, surrendering one run; the Phillies’ Pedro Martinez throws seven shutout innings on two hits; CC Sabathia wows his fans at Yankee Stadium in a marvelous eight-inning performance; Angels starter John Lackey is…not good. Sadly, Lackey couldn’t treat baseball fans to a pitching clinic — it’s practically impossible against the Yankees. Over five and two thirds innings, the Angels ace gave up four runs (two earned) on nine hits. This was hardly an outing typical of Lackey’s stature, but his supporting defense was even worse. In their 4-1 loss to the Yanks in Game 1 of the ALCS, the Halos committed three errors and were absolutely clueless up at the plate against CC Sabathia.

The Angels, who set a franchise record for fewest errors this season with 85 and played flawlessly against Boston in the division series, were horrible on defense. . Only twice this season did the Angels commit three errors in a game; they made three Friday night.

t appeared Lackey would minimize damage in the first inning when, with runners on second and third and no out, he got Mark Teixeira to fly to shallow left, the runners holding, and Alex Rodriguez to hit a sacrifice fly to center.

Hideki Matsui hit a towering popup to the left side of the infield. Third baseman Chone Figgins and shortstop Erick Aybar converged, both looked at each other thinking the other would catch it, and the ball dropped for a single, allowing Johnny Damon to score.

This exciting postseason has witnessed some horrific defense by otherwise Gold Glove-caliber fielders. Considering crucial errors by Matt Holliday, Chase Utley, and almost the entire Angels roster, something seems out of whack. After skating by against the Red Sox, one would think the Angels knew how to communicate on the diamond. With A-Rod, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixiera, and the Yankees rotation in the groove, the Angels have their work cut out for them. They need to quickly forget this embarrassment and give starter Joe Saunders some solid support in Game 2.