Yankees game 79: Eovaldi prevents the sweep
Nathan Eovaldi gets into the 6th and the Yankees score 3 to prevent the sweep in Anaheim.
New York Yankees 3 – Los Angeles Angels 1
The Yankees manage to avoid the sweep on a strong outing by Eovaldi.
Through the first two innings, Nathan Eovaldi and Matt Shoemaker matched each other zero for zero to start the getaway day. In the third inning, the Yankees drew first blood on the scoreboard. After a leadoff single by Didi Gregorius, Stephen Drew sacrificed him over with a great bunt. Brett Gardner made a productive second out when he grounded out to first, advancing Gregorius to third base with two outs. Chase Headley came through with a runner in scoring position and two outs when he hit a single to right field, putting the Yankees ahead by one.
After four innings, Nathan Eovaldi allowed three baserunners on two hits and a walk but kept the runs off the scoreboard.
In the fifth inning, the Angels threatened with a pair of singles to start the inning but a double play squashed the rally. The Angels rallied in the sixth inning when Johnny Giavotella led off with a single. Eovaldi struck out Kole Calhoun before walking the fearsome duo of Mike Trout and Albert Pujols to load the bases. With the bases loaded, the bullpen would come in to help keep the scoreboard clean.
Chasen Shreve came in to face Erick Aybar and got the Angels shortstop to ground out to third base with a nice scoop at first base by Mark Teixeira to keep the Angels off the scoreboard and finish off the line for Eovaldi.
In 5 1/3 scoreless innings, Nathan Eovaldi allowed five hits and three walks while striking out three.
With two outs in the sixth inning, Garrett Jones got a hold of a Matt Shoemaker pitch and provided insurance for the Yankees in the form of his fifth home run of the season, a solo blast to right field.
One more double knocked Shoemaker out of the game and the Yankees scored more than one run.
In the seventh inning, the Yankees hoped to score again when Stephen Drew started with a ringing double off the big right field wall. Brett Gardner advanced Drew with a sacrifice bunt but Chase Headley grounded out and Alex Rodriguez struck out to waste the runner in scoring position.
After cleaning up a bases loaded jam, Chasen Shreve pitched a scoreless seventh inning to keep the lead moving to the final six outs of the game.
In the eighth inning, the Yankees rallied with base hits, not the long ball. After a strikeout of Mark Teixeira, Brian McCann hit a single the other way, against the shifted infield. Garrett Jones followed with a walk and Chris Young hit a single to load the bases. The third run came on a soft shallow fly ball to center field by Didi Gregorius.
For the bottom of the eighth inning, Justin Wilson came in to face the top of the order.
After retiring Johnny Giavotella and Kole Calhoun, Mike Trout adds another home run, his 21st of the season, to end the shutout. Taking no chances with the slugging Pujols, closer Dellin Betances got the call. He proceeded to get Pujols out on a ground ball to finish off the eighth inning.
With a two-run lead, Dellin Betances started the ninth inning with a walk, not the ideal start. After a steal of second base, Betances got the next two outs including a strikeout, before Chris Iannetta walked to put the tying run on base. Against pinch-hitter C.J. Cron, Dellin Betances got the power-hitting first baseman to go down swinging to end the game and prevent the sweep as the Yankees return home.
Win – Nathan Eovaldi (8-2)
Loss – Matt Shoemaker (4-7)
Save – Dellin Betances (7)
Notables
Yankees
*Didi Gregorius – 2 for 4, R, RBI (17)
*Chase Headley – 3 for 5, RBI (29)
Angels
*Mike Trout – 1 for 3, R, BB, Solo home run (21) in the 8th, RBI (44)
*Johnny Giavotella – 2 for 4
Current Yankees Record: 42-37