The New York Yankees faced off against the Los Angeles Angels in the first leg of a doubleheader at 1 PM on Thursday afternoon. With a rain delay stopping the game at the top of the 9th inning, the Yankees were ahead by five runs by a score of 6–1.
If not for a miracle, the Yankees seem to have the game wrapped up ahead of the second leg of the doubleheader at 7 PM.
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Good news and bad news as Yankees take first game of doubleheader:
In the 1st inning against SP Shohei Ohtani, newly signed infielder Matt Carpenter launched a second-tier blast to right field. The at-bat lasted 11 pitches, torturing Ohtani right out of the gate.
Shortly after Carpenter’s HR, Gleyber Torres recorded a solo shot, making it his third homer in five games. Torres is now hitting .256 on the season with a .500 slugging percentage. He recorded two hits and an RBI, doubling off the right-field wall in his second at-bat.
The Yankees recorded a total of 13 hits and six strikeouts. They got a ton of production from the bottom of their order, with Aaron Hicks, José Treviño, and Marwin Gonzalez combining for seven hits and an RBI.
The Yankees’ lineup has finally experienced a bit more consistency throughout, which has aided back-to-back stellar offensive performances. The Angels are currently on a six-game losing streak after the first game on Thursday, and the Yankees will be trying to piece together another win with Jameson Taillon on the mound in Game 2.
As for the team’s pitching, Nestor Cortes put together another excellent outing. He allowed five hits over 7.0 innings, walking two batters and striking out seven. Cortes currently has a 1.50 ERA on the season, but the bullpen quickly got into some trouble when Clarke Schmidt walked two batters and gave up two hits, allowing the Angels to get on the board with a run.
Luckily, Wandy Peralta was able to get through the rest of the inning without any further damage. The Yankees have now won two consecutive games and six of their last eight, somehow managing significant injury adversity.