Last night, the New York Yankees hoped to right the ship after losing two straight from to the Oakland Athletics. Unfortunately, it was not to be; the Yankees lost their third consecutive game. With the Tampa Bay Rays winning again, the Yankees drop another game in the standings. The final score was the Los Angeles Angels 8 and the New York Yankees 7. It was a back and forth contest with the Angels winning out.
Corey Kluber bombed in his return to the rotation
New York Yankee fans were thrilled to see Corey Kluber return to the rotation last night. After all, Kluber pitched the Yankee’s only no-hitter this year. So hopes were high that he would return to form and stop the Yankee’s slide. They remained thrilled through three innings as Kluber appeared sharp. But by the end of the fourth inning and throwing 68 pitches, he had struck out six, including Angel’s star Shohei Ohtani. But he had also walked two and given up five earned runs.
Kluber appeared to run out of gas in the fourth and completely fell apart. At the bottom, Ohtani struck out looking on Kluber’s 41st pitch of the game. Gosselin got a hit to center for Kluber’s first hit allowed in the game. Walsh singled to center, moving Gosselin to third base. Adell singled to left, and the Angels got on board, scoring Gosselin. Marsh flew out to Gardner with both runners advancing. Stassi walked to load the bases. Mayfield got a Grand Slam to put the Angels up by 3 runs. Lagares got a base hit to right field. Fletcher flew out to Judge in right to end the inning that saw the Angels make adjustments and score 5 runs off of Corey Kluber. Los Angeles Angels 5 New York Yankees 2.
The Yankees hit, but not enough
At the end of the fourth inning, the New York Yankees were behind by three runs, but the Yankees in the back and forth contest bounced back, scoring three runs of their own and tieing the game up at 5.
LeMahieu singled to right, scoring Gardner from second. Rizzo doubled, moving LeMahieu to third base. Judge faced the new pitcher Steve Cishek with two on and two outs and singled, driving in LeMahieu, drawing the Yankees within one. Rizzo moved to third on the play. Stanton got an RBI single to left, tying the game up at 5 apiece.
But in the bottom of the fifth inning with Andrew Heaney on the mound, Ohtani homered off him, giving the Angels the lead again. Lagares tripled off the right-field wall scoring Stassi as the Angels went two up on the Yankees in the bottom of the sixth. But the Yankees would come roaring back in the seventh the Giancarlo Stanton drove in Anthony Rizzo with a monster 471′ blast into the centerfield stands. Tie score. With Wandy Peralta on the mound in the eight, Marsh would get a double and eventually score, giving the Angels an 8-7 lead that the Yankees would not recover from. The top four in the lineup provided all the Yankee runs.
Yankees still don’t have a dependable closer
If the Yankees reach the postseason and hope to advance to the World Series, they must find a dependable closer. The struggles of Aroldis Chapman are well documented as he has become afraid to use his blazing fastball because he has lost control over it. In addition, the Yankees have lost their backup closer in Zack Britton, who has gone on the 60 day IL and will not pitch for the rest of the season.
The Yankees scored 7 runs yesterday, but Wandy Peralta gave up the winning run to the Angels in the seventh. Clay Holmes came in the eighth and shut down the Angels, but the Yankees offense couldn’t get it done in the ninth. Since July 4th Aroldis Chapman has only blown one save but also has failed to save seven games. Those that he did save were mostly edge of couch nail biters. With manager Boone afraid to use Chapman in close games, he has used Chad Green, Wandy Peralta, Jonathan Loaisiga, and Albert Abreu to close games with varying results. For the time being, he is mixing and matching as the situation requires.
UPCOMING:
Tonight at 9:38 pm EDT, the Yankees will send Jameson Taillon to the mound at Angels Stadium to face Jaime Barria in game two of the three-game series. The game will be broadcast on the YES Network and Bally Sports West.