Angels rally to top Yankees
They erase deficit, but Shoemaker leaves early because of an arm injury
Simmons’ two-run homer is the difference after Angels spot New York a 4-0 lead.
ANGELS 7 NEW YORK 5
The Angels came back from a four-run deficit to defeat the New York Yankees 7-5 on an electric Wednesday night at Angel Stadium. But like so much of the team’s season, the good news was shrouded in bad: Starter Matt Shoemaker exited because of an arm injury.
Shoemaker’s fastball hummed from 92 to 94 mph in the first inning. After he took the mound for the second, his velocity dropped precipitously. Over the next three innings, he threw his fastball sparingly, and it averaged 89 mph and never surpassed 91. Sudden velocity drops are common in the case of arm injuries.
Once the Yankees’ Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius notched back-to-back singles to begin the fourth, Angels athletic trainer Eric Munson visited the mound. He spoke to Shoemaker for about a minute before the two walked off together. The Angels later announced that Shoemaker experienced tightness in the extensor muscle of his right forearm. Forearm injuries are often connected to elbow injuries.
For Shoemaker, the night’s challenges began early. Brett Gardner began the game with a single to left field. He took third when Aaron Judge ripped a single to left, and scored when Matt Holliday boomed a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field.
Next, Shoemaker drilled Starlin Castro in the left hand, eliciting a visit from pitching coach Charles Nagy. Sanchez, last year’s rookie sensation, came up and smashed a 441and foot, three-run blast to left field. Shoemaker held up his glove to receive a new ball before the previous one departed the ballpark, as he is wont to do. The Yankees led 4-0 and wouldn’t score again while Shoemaker was on the mound.
The Angels began to chip away in the bottom of the inning. Cameron Maybin tapped an infield single to third base before Albert Pujols and Yunel Escobar rapped singles into the outfield. Up next, Luis Valbuena clobbered a ball to center, but Aaron Hicks reached over the wall and came down with it.
One run scored on the sacrifice fly, and two runs scored on Danny Espinosa’s secondinning homer. Yankees starter Michael Pineda threw him a first-pitch fastball down the middle, and Espinosa timed it to right field.
The Angels rallied for two more in the third. Pujols singled into left, took second on an Escobar groundout, third on a Valbuena groundout, and home on a wild pitch. Andrelton Simmons walked, went to second on that errant pitch, scored when Eric Young Jr. poked a single into left.
The Angels replaced Shoemaker with right-hander Parker Bridwell, who was called up earlier in the day in Mike Morin’s stead. He quickly induced a grounder from Chase Headley that hit Gregorius in the legs, thus registering as an out. Next, Orange County native Rob Refsnyder lined a ball right to Espinosa, who stepped on second base to complete the inning-ending double play.
In the fifth, Bridwell quickly retired two Yankees before Escobar threw away Judge’s grounder hit his way, allowing the rookie to reach base. After a Holliday single, Castro knocked another single into left field. Young delivered an accurate throw to backup catcher Juan Graterol, who tagged out Judge. As he ran off the field, Young held up three fingers on his right hand, in honor of his late son, Eric Young III, who died just after his birth in January.
In the sixth, Bridwell found trouble. Sanchez dribbled a ball back to him, and he threw errantly to first base, putting Sanchez on second. With one out, Headley singled into center to score Sanchez and tie the game.
In the seventh, Bridwell found more difficulty, but escaped it thanks to Young. Gardner and Hicks singled in the infield. Judge stroked a sinking liner to left, where Young came in and slid to corral it. Holliday popped out, and right-hander Blake Parker entered to face Castro. He struck him out and handled the eighth inning without issue.
With closer Bud Norris unavailable after appearing in three straight games, David Hernandez pitched the ninth. The Angels celebrated victory before an umpire review found that Kole Calhoun’s apparently game-ending catch of Hicks’ drive to the right-field wall was invalid. The game went on, and Aaron Judge approached as the potential tying run.
He grounded out to third base, and the Angels (35-34) went over .500 for the first time in three weeks.