On a rain-soaked Thursday, Nestor Cortes could not get out of the fifth inning and the Yankees offense fought against Tyler Anderson in their 9-4 loss to the Angels.
The Yankees (68-48) have dropped their series to the Angels, but since the Orioles lost to the Blue Jays earlier in the evening, both teams remain tied atop the AL East standings.
Here are the takeaways…
-The prevalent theme of this game was the Yankees’ lack of offense, especially early on. Whether it was the weather or the Angels starter, the Yanks just simply couldn’t get traffic on the bases. They wound up with just three hits against Anderson, all scattered.
The Yankees wouldn’t get another hit until the eighth — their last being in the fourth — when they rallied to push across two runs on four hits, all singles.
–Aaron Boone shook up the lineup a bit on Thursday against the lefty Anderson. Gleyber Torres led off like he’s been doing against southpaws of late and finished 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. Giancarlo Stanton was tasked with hitting in the cleanup spot behind Aaron Judge. The slugger went 1-for-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts.
Austin Wellswho has been batting cleanup, was hitting fifth with the lefty 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 in a 3-for-21 slump but got off to a great start, blasting his first Yankee Stadium home run with the Yankees in the second inning to tie the game at 1-1. He would finish 1-for-4.
Anthony Volpe (0-for-3) left the game in the eighth inning with left foot pain after fouling a ball off his foot in the second inning, the team announced. Boone said after the game that Volpe’s X-rays came back clean, but he may not feature 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 fireballer Ben Joyce. That pitch was the fastest the Yankees hit a home run off since pitch tracking began in 2008, per the YES broadcast.
-Cortes bent but didn’t break through the first four innings — allowing two runs on six hits — before things went sideways 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 Pillar, down in the count 0-2, poked a single over the second baseman on a pitch way outside to drive in two and knock Cortes out of the game.
Enyel De Los Santos came in to try and end the fifth but after walking Anthony Rendon to load the bases, Jo Adell hit a low line drive towards Soto. The right fielder does to try and catch the ball but missed, allowing the ball to get by him and clearing the bases. From Los Santos hit 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’s now allowed 11 runs over 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 the Chisholm homer.
Highlights
What’s next
The Yankees welcome the Texas Rangers to The Bronx for a three-game set starting Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm
Carlos Rodon (12-7, 4.37 ERA) will take the mound while Cody Bradford (3-0, 3.96 ERA) will be on the mound for the Rangers.
