On a rainy Thursday, Nestor Cortes failed to get out of the fifth inning and the Yankees offense fought against Tyler Anderson in a 9-4 loss to the Angels.
The Yankees (68-48) lost their series to the Angels, but since the Orioles lost to the Blue Jays earlier in the night, the two teams remain tied atop the AL East standings.
Here are the conclusions…
-The overarching theme of this game was the Yankees’ lack of offense, especially early on. Whether it was the weather or the Angels’ starter, the Yanks simply couldn’t get traffic on the bases. They ended up with just three hits against Anderson, all scattered.
The Yankees wouldn’t get another hit until the eighth – the last one was in the fourth – when they rallied to go up two runs on four hits, all singles.
–Aaron Boone shook up the lineup a bit on Thursday against the left-handed Anderson. Gleyber Torres started like he has been doing against lefties lately and finished 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. Giancarlo Stanton was tasked with getting the cleaning spot right behind Aaron Judge. The slugger went 1-for-4 with one RBI and two strikeouts.
Austin Wellswho has been batting cleanup, was batting fifth with left on the mound. The rookie catcher finished 1-for-4.
judge and Juan Soto combined to go 1-for-8 with an RBI. Soto got an RBI single in the eighth and Judge struck out twice.
–Jazz Chisholm Jr. entered Thursday’s game down 3-for-21, but got off to a great start, hitting his first home run at Yankee Stadium with the Yankees in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1. He would finish 1 in 4.
Antonio Volpe (0-for-3) left the game in the eighth inning with pain in his left foot after missing a ball off his foot in the second inning, the team announced. Boone said after the game that Volpe’s X-rays came back clear, but he may not appear in Friday’s game.
Oswaldo Cabrera took over for Volpe and hit a solo shot in the ninth inning off a 101.7 mph fastball from the fireballer Ben Joyce. That pitch was the fastest the Yankees have hit a home run since pitch tracking began in 2008, according to the YES broadcast.
-Cortes doubled but came up empty through the first four innings – allowing two runs on six hits – before things got worse in the fifth. With two outs in the fifth inning, Cortes allowed a double with a man on first and a walk to load the bases. Kevin Pilar, trailing 0-2, hit a single over the second baseman on an outside pitch to score two and knock Cortes out of the game.
Enyel De Los Santos entered to try to close the fifth, but after walking Anthony Rendon to load the bases, Jo Adell hit a low line toward Soto. The right fielder dove to try and catch the ball but missed, allowing the ball to sail past him and clearing the bases. Los Santos banged Brandon Drury before Mickey Moniak – who started the inning – singled to score the sixth run of the inning.
Cortes pitched 4.2 innings (95 pitches/64 strikes), allowing six runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out two. He is now allowed 11 runs in his last three starts (14.2 innings).
Game MVP: Tyler Anderson
Anderson completely shut down the Yankees. The lefty pitched six innings of one-run ball, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out seven. The only blemish was Chisholm’s home run.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees welcome the Texas Rangers to the Bronx for a three-game set starting Friday. The first performance is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Carlos Rodon (12-7, 4.37 ERA) will take the mountain while Cody Bradford (3-0, 3.96 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rangers.
