"Oil Tycoon" John Ryan Murphy
In his second start of the year, Vidal Nuno didn't have quite as good of an outing as his first, but he was still pretty good. He allowed three runs in just over four innings, keeping the Yankees in the game and allowing for another unheralded source to get some big hits. John Ryan Murphy drove in three runs on two hits (including his first major league home run) as the Yankees beat the Angels 4-3.
The Angels took an early lead when Mike Trout hit a one-out home run in the first to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. Nuno got into a bit more trouble after allowing a single to Albert Pujols, but he escaped with no further damage.
After two scoreless half-innings, the Yankees took a lead in the bottom of the second. With one out in the inning, Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch. That was followed by a Brett Gardner infield single and a walk to Brian Roberts, which loaded the bases. After Kelly Johnson flied out, Murphy came to the plate. During the at bat, Angels' starter Hector Santiago was called for a balk, which brought home Teixeira to tie the game. Murphy then singled to score Gardner and Roberts to make the score 3-1.
The Angels would come back to tie the game in the top of the fourth. Pujols led off the inning with a single. That was followed by Nuno issuing a walk to Howie Kendrick. Erick Aybar then hit a ground ball to third. Johnson tried to start a double play and got the out at second. However, Kendrick slid hard into second, causing Roberts' throw to go over Teixeria's head. That allowed Pujols to score. Chris Iannetta then doubled to score Kendrick, tying the game. After Ian Stewart struck out, David Freese singled. Iannetta had to be held up at third, which would be huge as Jacoby Ellsbury made a diving catch on a J.B Shuck blooper to end the inning.
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In the top of the fifth, Nuno got Collin Cowgill to ground out before walking Trout. That would be the last batter Nuno would face. He was taken out after going 4.1 innings allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four. Dellin Betances was brought in and was also called for a balk against the first batter he faced. That put Trout on second, but nothing would come of that as Betances got Pujols to ground out and Kendrick to fly out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Murphy led off the inning with a home run, his first in the majors, to put the Yankees back on top. The Yankees had a chance to add more that inning, but squandered it, keeping the score at 4-3.
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The first person Kelley faced was Trout. Kelley walked Trout on four pitches and then got behind on a 2-0 count to Pujols. However, Kelley would get Pujols to fly out for the second out of the inning. Kelley then struck out Kendrick to escape the jam.
In the top of the eighth, Kelley got Aybar to ground out before Iannetta and Ian Stewart reached on singles. After Kelley got David Freese to fly out, Matt Thornton was brought in to face pinch hitter Raul Ibanez. On the seventh terrifying pitch of the at bat, Thornton got Ibanez to fly out to end the inning.
After the Yankees couldn't extend their lead in the eighth, David Robertson came in to pitch the top of the ninth. Robertson struck out Cowgill to start the inning, but after that, the inning got scary. Trout came to the plate and singled up the middle. That put the go-ahead run at the plate, in the form of Pujols. At one point, it looked like Pujols might foul out, but Teixeira couldn't catch the ball, as two fans got in his way. That wound up amounting to nothing as Pujols ended up flying out. That left the game up to Kendrick. Kendrick worked the count full, but on the seventh pitch of the at bat, Robertson struck him out to end the game. Robertson got the save and the Yankees got a 4-3 win.
The Yankees and Angels will close out their series in the Bronx tomorrow at 8 eastern. Masahiro Tanaka will pitch for the Yankees and Garrett Richards will go for the Angels.