In the final game of a Memorial Day series against Los Angeles, the Yankees were able to take two of three from Mike Trout and the Angels. Thanks to a strong outing by Masahiro Tanaka and just enough offensive output, the Bombers clinched the series against the Halos following this afternoon’s 3-1 victory.
The Yankees are now 9-1 in their past ten series, an impressive record considering the quality of teams faced during the hot streak.
Tanaka shut down his Japanese counterpart Shohei Ohtani, as the rookie struck out twice and did not record a hit against the Yankee starter.
The 29-year-old only surrendered a solo home run to Andrelton Simmons in the sixth, the only blemish on an otherwise fine outing from Tanaka. His final line: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO, 104 pitches, 64 strikes.
Offensively, the Yankees scored all three runs in the third inning. Since the long ball was nowhere to be found, the Bombers scored their runs in a different fashion.
With the bases loaded in the home half of the third, Garrett Richards walked Aaron Hicks which allowed Aaron Judge to score the first run of the game.
With the bases still juiced, Richards plunked Greg Bird and allowed Gary Sanchez to score the the second run of the ballgame. In his second game back, Bird managed to pick up his first hit of the season.
Miguel Andújar was responsible for the team’s third and final run of the afternoon after grounding into a force play to the left side of the infield, scoring Didi Gregorius.
HIGHLIGHTS
As previously noted, the Yankee offense did not exactly light up the scoreboard against the Halos today. Instead, they relied on the combo of solid pitching and small ball to get the job done. As a result, the highlights from this particular ballgame were few and far between.
Tanaka got the best of Ohtani in their first MLB matchup as he retired the rookie with a nasty 3-2 splitter.
Shohei Ohtani strikes out in his first MLB at-bat against Masahiro Tanaka 🔥#YANKSonYES LIVE stream:https://t.co/CUN8wRdrGx pic.twitter.com/eSEEX3f1Bj
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 27, 2018
Greg Bird‘s first hit of the season in his second game of 2018
Greg Bird collects his first base hit of the season! #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/1t7IAvTFRi
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 27, 2018
Lastly, Aroldis Chapman recorded the final out to seal the game and series win
GAME OVER!@Yankees take the series win with a 3-1 victory over the Angels.
Postgame up next on YES! pic.twitter.com/QKCzRHvV65
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 27, 2018
OTHER NOTES
As Brian Hoch pointed out on Twitter, Aaron Judge’s 119.9 mph single was the hardest-hit ball in MLB this season.
119.9 mph exit velo for Aaron Judge on that single to right field. That's the hardest-hit ball in @MLB so far this season.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) May 27, 2018
NEXT UP
Tomorrow vs. Houston: 1:05 pm EST
Domingo Germán (0-2, 5.59) vs. Justin Verlander (6-2, 1.08)
