Another week, another ride on the rollercoaster. The Yankees are the type of team to sweep the Phillies in Philadelphia and then drop 2 of 3, at home, to a Mike Trout-less Angels squad.
Let’s dive into the series and see what went wrong for the Bronx Bombers.
8/7: Yankees 5, Angels 2 (Game 1)
After Tuesday night’s game was postponed due to rain, the Yankees and Angels were slated for a doubleheader on Wednesday. Game 1 of the doubleheader saw Yankee rook Luis Gil take the mound following his last start against Philadelphia. Gil continued to impress, finishing with a line of 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER and 6 K.
Even more impressive, Gil leads the MLB in starts with 1 or less runs allowed.
The Yankee offense started in the first with young guns Anthony Volpe and Austin Wells each driving in a run to make it 2-0. Oswaldo Cabrera would tack on another run for the Yankees with a solo bomb in the bottom of the 3rd.
The Yankee offensive tacked on 2 more runs after a Verdugo double and a Judge single in the 4th to make it 5-0.
A no-nonsense win for the bombers to push their win streak to 3.
8/7: Angels 8, Yankees 2 (Game 2)
Game 2 of the doubleheader was a less than impressive showing for the Yankees. On the mound for his second career start, Will Warren would fair far worse than he did in his first outing against the Phillies.
Warren, filling in for Marcus Stroman, gave the Angels a nice 6-run lead after a Zach Neto grand slam in the top of the 2nd.
Warren’s final line put the Yankees in a big hole that the offensive could not crawl out of. The Yankees got 4 and 2/3 innings of shutout work from their bullpen (Tonkin, Hill, Leiter Jr.) to keep them in the game but their offensive was only able to plate 2 runs.
Nothing real special about this game. Maybe a punt game with Warren on the mound but you can’t have punt games against teams like the Angels.
8/8: Angels 9, Yankees 4
Thursday night’s series finale between the Yankees and Angels is another game Yankee fans, and the team, would like to forget. On the mound for the Yankees was Nestor Cortes, who as of late has been awful. Actually, worse than awful. Cortes has been one of the worst pitchers in the game over his last 5 starts.
Including his performance against the Angels in which he gave up 9 hits and 6 ER over 4 and 2/3 innings of work, Nestor has given up the most runs by any pitcher since July 11th.
Nestor just doesn’t have the juice that he used to have. With Clark Schmidt coming back sooner rather than later, Cortes being moved out of the starting rotation at this point is inevitable.
The Yankee offense did not produce much either. Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s first homer in the Bronx would tie the game at 1 in the 2nd but the Angels would build a 9-1 lead that they would not let up.
The Yankees would tack on 3 more runs in the later innings, including an Oswaldo Cabrera oppo-shot off Ben Joyce that was the fastest pitch a Yankee has hit a homer off of since tracking began in 2008.
If it is any consolation for the Yankees as they drop a series they should’ve won, at least Oswaldo is starting to hit.
Upcoming Series vs Texas Rangers (8/9-8/11)
The Yankees will look to bounce back this weekend against the reigning World Champion Texas Rangers. Although the Rangers have had an up-and-down year, primarily due to injury, they’re still a formidable opponent.
The projected pitching matchups can be seen below:
8/9: Carlos Rodon vs. Cody Bradford
8/10: Gerrit Cole vs. Nathan Eovaldi
8/11: Marcus Stroman vs. Andrew Heaney
I personally can’t wait for the pitching duel of Gerrit Cole vs. Nathan Eovaldi and to see this two star-studded offenses duke it out over the weekend in the Bronx.
