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Series Recap
·7 min read

Series Recap: Yankees slip up against Angels

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One would have thought a return home would do the trick for the New York Yankees. Yet, in a series which nearly mirrored their West Coast fling with the Los Angeles Angels, the pinstripes found themselves slip slidin’ away. While fans didn’t have to stay up late, there was plenty to make them toss and turn at the conclusion of this series.

GAME 1

A change in venue couldn’t help the Yanks from dropping their seventh straight contest, an 8-3 defeat to the Halos. Your usual suspects knocked the ball out of the yard. Then, the bullpen continued to be perplexing. The end result was their longest losing streak since 2007 when Joe Torre was still skipper.

MILQUETOAST MIKE

Michael Pineda pitched to a near carbon copy of his prior start at L.A. It wasn’t an awful outing but not a quintessential home start which has been the norm for the big guy.

Los Angeles got on the board first in the opening frame. An Albert Pujols RBI-single to left staked the Angels to a 1-0 lead. The second stanza wasn’t much better and Pineda didn’t get much help.

The second stanza wasn’t much better and Pineda didn’t get much help. Eric Young Jr. reached and advanced to second on a Chris “you’re drivin’ with your eyes closed” Carter error at first base. With one down, a Danny Espinosa double to deep right-center plated Young Jr. After a Cameron Maybin groundout advanced Espinosa to third, Kole Calhoun knocked an RBI-single to center, making the score 3-0.

Pineda toughed it out from there and did record seven K’s on the evening.

DERBY DUO

Whether it was Parker Bridwell or Blaine Parker, the Yankees offense was only able to muster a picket fence during the middle innings. After a Chase Headley sacrifice fly broke the shutout in the fourth, New York finally played some power ball.

In the fifth, Aaron Judge didn’t even get all of a Bridwell pitch and still clocked a deep solo shot to right. When you’re going good, you’re going good.

An inning later, Gary Sanchez unleashed a solo blast to right off Parker to tie the game at three.

If this is what a home run derby between these two looks like, sign me up.

WHERE’S DELLIN?

It wasn’t long ago the Yankees were marching out Dellin Betances with a 9-1 lead to get him some work. Yet, in a tie game with Betances having pitched sparingly across the past week, one wonders why he wasn’t called upon in the seventh for a couple of innings of work.

Instead, Joe Girardi turned to professional Kyle Farnsworth impersonator Tyler Clippard. In the seventh, Clippard yielded a homer to the first batter he faced, as Maybin went yard to left. The ensuing batter Calhoun drove a double to right. A loud out to center by Pujols moved Calhoun to third. Yunel Escobar followed with an RBI-triple above the glove of Brett Gardner in left and Clippard left to a chorus of boos in the Bronx.

The Angels would tack on another run in the frame and touched up Jonathan Holder for a couple more in the eighth and ninth.

GAME 2

Shaking off their funk, the Yankees finally looked comfortable again in the confines of Yankee Stadium. The combination of power hitting and solid pitching enabled the Bronx Bombers to double up the Angels 8-4.

PACKING POWER PRODUCTION

The Yankees weren’t about to turn Ricky Nolasco into the second coming of Chuck Finley. The Bronx Bombers bats teed off on the Los Angeles starter. Didi Gregorius crushed a two-run jolt to right in the second inning, springing New York to a 2-0 lead.

Matt Holliday quieted the first base discussion for one evening, smashing a solo shot to right in the fifth to push the Yankees ahead at 3-2. It was home run No. 15 on the campaign for Holliday or equaling Mark Teixeira‘s home run total for the entire 2016 season.

ROMINE ROLLS

In addition to his fine work behind the dish, Austin Romine produced with a solid night at the plate. Romine collected three hits, including a two-run double in the sixth against Mike Morin, helping break the contest open at 5-2.

SLOW YOUR ROLE

Slow and slower was the game plan for Jordan Montgomery. The rookie lefty used his breaking pitches effectively and notched five K’s on the evening. After losing his focus a bit following a balk, a Martin Maldonado two-run homer in the fourth was the only real blip on the radar for “Gumby.”

BIG TICKET BETANCES IS BACK

Those of you who follow me on Twitter thought I was joking didn’t you? Ahead 8-2 in the eighth, Betances was brought in to get some work and made quick work of the Angels, notching a scoreless inning with two K’s in only 14 pitches.

BOMBS OVER BAGHDAD

In an attempt to straighten him out, Clippard entered the game in the ninth, only to yield a two-run homer to Maldonado to right. Clippard and his rec specs exited without recording an out and before the Bronx faithful could boo him out of the Stadium, the PA operator did him a solid by blaring the Aroldis Chapman air horn siren.

Chapman would finish off the Angels in only nine pitches in his first Bronx appearance in more than a month.

GAME 3

Talk about a tale of two games and a sloppy ending. In the series finale, a 10-5 loss felt like the team stopped playing on the field and at the plate and it ended in a debacle.

KING JUDGE

Much like LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Judge gave Yankees fans a reason to watch. With his three-run homer to center, his 25th, in the second inning against Jesse Chavez, the pinstripes increased their advantage to 5-1.

Yet, like in basketball and especially more so in baseball, one guy cannot do it alone.

SLOPPY SEVENTH

After the Angels chipped away and pulled within 5-4, they sent Luis Severino packing and the Yankees unraveled. With a runner on, Starlin Castro botched a seemingly tailor-made double play ball and the floodgate burst open. After Chasen Shreeve entered, L.A. squared the game on a sac fly to center.

Then, for some reason, Betances was brought in during the middle of an inning, rather than starting the frame. The aggressive Angels took advantage, as Maybin stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Sanchez. An Albert Pujols RBI-single to right gave the Halos a 6-5 lead. Following a walk to Yunel Escobar, Betances uncorked a wild pitch, allowing both runners to move up a base. Andrelton Simmons lined a two-run double to left.

STAGNANT STICKS

Until a Chris Carter single in the ninth, the Yankees lineup went through an awful 0-for-15 streak against the Angels bullpen and couldn’t recover.

ON DECK

At 39-31 on the campaign, the Yankees host a new opponent, the Texas Rangers in a three-game series starting Friday night.

Pitching probables include Yu Darvish vs. Masahiro Tanaka, Austin Bibens-Dirkx vs. Luis Cessa, Nick Martinez vs. Michael Pineda.