The Yankees take the series against the Angels behind the great pitching of Vidal Nuno. Jeter gets his first HR of the year. Offense was great. Defense was great.
The first game of this three game series against the Angels was brutal, which made the last two games against them feel really good. The Yankees won tonight's game 9-2 and take the series against the Angels. Series wins are always good.
Vidal Nuno faced the Angels a little under two weeks ago and only lasted 4.1 innings against them. Tonight's outing against them went a lot better than the first. Nuno managed to pitch an impressive 6.1 innings, giving up only four hits and one earned run while striking out three batters and walking one. Nuno's only bad inning of the night was the 2nd inning, where he seemingly lost control. However, he managed to hold the Angels to one run that inning, the only run he would give up all game. Other than that, he was very efficient tonight, retiring thirteen batters in a row after that second inning. His 6.1 innings pitched would be the longest outing of his career. Great to see.
The offense decided that it was tired of having to constantly come back from an early deficit, and took matters into their own hands. They had help from the Angels defense tonight though. In the first inning, Jacoby Ellsbury would lead off with a walk. New paddleboard owner Derek Jeter, courtesy of the Angels, would get on base via a fielding error, courtesy of the Angels. Carlos Beltran would walk to load the bases for the red hot, kale loving Mark Teixeira, who "powersauced" a couple of runs in with a double down the third base line. Alfonso Soriano would strike out swinging. Yangervis Solarte would knock in a run with a sac fly to make the score 3-0. Brett Gardner would then drive in Tex from second via a single and an error from the pitcher, Hector Santiago. After Gardner took third on the wild pitch, Brian Roberts would drive him in with bloop a hit into right field. 5-0 Yankees before the Angels got in the batter's box. Excellent.
In the second inning, Derek Jeter would hit his last first HR of the year to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead. It's okay to feel emotions. The Yankee would tack on three more runs in the Top of the 8th inning. A combination of Dellin Betances and Preston Claiborne would close out the game for the Yankees, sending them to Milwaukee with a series win against the Angels. The Yankees take the season series from the Angels 4-2. They will not see them again this year.
The Yankees have a day off tomorrow, then Friday they will start a three game series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Masahiro Tanaka will pitch (and....gulp, bat) the first game at Miller Park. Hopefully, we'll see the classic Milwaukee Brewers logo at least one of the games there.
Great game tonight.