Free Falling: Angels lose fifth in a row, get swept by Yankees

Angels 2  Yankees 6

The Angels looked to escape from New York today with a win, or at the very least, having avoided  another bullying by the Yankees on their home turf. It’s been a rough start to this east coast road trip, facing down a sweep while giving up eight runs two games in a row. C.J. Wilson took the hill to face down the hot, home team lineup on a gorgeous day in the Bronx.

For Angels fans, the game started like a lucid dream, with Mike Trout and Albert Pujols both taking C.C. Sabathia deep to left field for a solo shot, jumping the Angels out to a 2-0 lead. It was just the fourth time that Trout and Pujols have gone back-to-back, and it’s one of the more beautiful sights to be seen in the Halosphere.

Wilson was able to relatively cruise in the first four or so innings, at least compared to the early bombardment suffered by previous starters Jered Weaver and Garrett Richards. C.J. did give up a run on a ground out to Didi Gregorius in the third, but was otherwise being efficient and unconscious. It wasn’t until the fifth when we saw Wilson have a predictably hard hit inning; the "one bad inning" from C.J. is rote at this point, and you can only hope to weather it. C.J would give up a solo shot to Chris Young, then give up two straight singles to put men on for Brett Gardner, who would knock them all in with a 3-run HR. The Angels’ quick start was nullified and voided, and they quickly found themselves in a 5-2 hole.

Still, unlike some of C.J.’s other sub-par starts this season, he at least returned to the game, partially due to being able to keep his pitch count low, and also due to the fact that the bullpen is running on fumes and the less they’re relied upon today, the better. Perhaps it wasn’t for the better today, though, because while C.J. got through seven, he put one more run on the board, via a grooved fastball to Jose Pirela, and the Yankees settled into a cozy 6-2 catbird seat. A few outs away from a demoralizing sweep in front of a huge market and most of Trout’s family and friends. Not good.

Ultimately, the Halos grubbled in their pockets for some spare runs and offense, and had it not been for the altruistic strokes of Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, they would have all but starved; a goose egg in the Big Apple being the only box left unchecked on the Yankee’s Beatdown checklist. In the end, though, they lost their fifth game in a row and further signaled to anybody watching that it might be best to see what can be done for the future, starting today. If this is what 2015 has in store, the early we accept that, the better. They Angels head down to Tampa Bay next, a team they just lost two out of three to just earlier in the week. Things could get a lot worse, before they get any better.