NEW YORK - The Angels pitching staff came through again in a 4-0 victory over the New York Yankees Tuesday, June 17, shutting out the Yankees for the second straight game.
Kyle Hendricks took the mound for the Angels and dealt, pitching six scoreless innings while striking out nine and allowing just four hits and a walk.
“It was a good night,” Angels manager Ron Washington said in a televised postgame interview. “When we had an opportunity to score we were able to push them across, and when we had an opportunity to maybe stop them from getting a run we did.”
The Angels struck early in the top of the second. A two-out double by Logan O’Hoppe against Yankees starter Will Warren gave the Halos their first base runner of the game and they quickly capitalized.
Luis Rengifo drove O’Hoppe home in the very next at-bat with a hard ground ball that snuck past a sliding DJ LeMahieu into right field. LeMahieu got a piece of the grounder with his glove, slowing the ball down as it rolled into right field and giving O’Hoppe the chance to score from second to put the Halos on the board with a 1-0 lead.
Los Angeles kept the offense rolling in the top of the third with three straight hits from the top of the order to load the bases before Taylor Ward struck a hard ground ball just past the outstretched glove of New York third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. to drive home two more runs and improve the Angels to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third.
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Los Angeles Angels designated hitter Mike Trout (27) follows through on a single against the New York Yankees during the third inning at Yankee Stadium.
While the Angels didn’t need much insurance with Hendricks on the mound, they loaded the bases again in the top of the seventh after Luis Rengifo opened the inning with a single to right field. Jo Adell would later reach base due to catcher’s interference and Zach Neto was hit by a pitch two batters later.
Nolan Schanuel drove Rengifo home with an RBI groundout in the next at-bat to give the Angels a four-run-lead, enough to take home the victory.
Hendricks was sharp for the Angels, striking out four Yankees in the first two innings. Hendricks especially performed well against Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, who struck out twice against Hendricks and three times in the game in total.
The Halo bullpen picked up where Hendricks left off, with Ryan Zeferjahn, Reid Detmers and Hunter Strickland combining for three shutout innings to close the game. The strong performance from the bullpen has been the latest in an upturn for the Los Angeles relievers, who have a combined 3.38 ERA in the team’s last five games.
The Yankees only had three runners in scoring position all game, stranding them all while leaving six runners on base in total. The shutout marks 29 consecutive scoreless innings for the usually dominant New York offense.
“It means we pitched well, and it could also mean they [Yankees] weren’t swinging the bats well,” Washington said in a televised postgame interview. “So, you can look at it however you want to, but I’m going to look at it like we pitched well.”
The Angels seek their third straight win against the Yankees Wednesday, June 18 at Yankee Stadium at 4:05 pm PDT.