The Angels have had a tough time in the Bronx this series, and tonight things took a turn for the worse. They went ahead and decided to get into a hit parade and a slug fest, the only problem being they got severely out-slugged. Big time.
It wasn't an easy game on paper, with Yankees starter Nathan Eovaldi coming in having gone 6-0 with 3.35 ERA in his last 8 starts. That's a nice little heater the dude was on, but at first, it seemed like the Halos had some magic against him, as they got on the board immediately in the first via Mike Trout RBI single.
But extrapolating that early success into a game's worth of timely hits, runs and, ultimately, a win, would be a fools errand. No, this was a back-and-forth affair...at least until later in the game, when the Yankees continued applying pressure and the Angels had seemingly already headed back to the hotel.
To counter Trout's early salvo, New York roasted Angels veteran Jered Weaver in the first for a couple quick runs (Brett Gardner RBI double and A-Rod RBI single). The Angels then answered with the unlikeliest source of power they could find: A Gregorio Petit two-run homer, his first big league bomb since 2014! The Angels were in business, and business only got better when Jefry Marte hit a homer himself in the following inning. The Angels had a 4-2 heading into the bottom of the third. What could go wrong, besides just about everything? I'm asking for a friend.
Jacoby Ellsbury didn't like that two-run deficit, though, and rectified that by sending a solo shot to that stupid, short right field. Now the Yanks were within one. In the fourth, Brett Gardner struck again, this time with an RBI single off of Weaver, and we were now tied at 4-4.
Here's your last ray of sunshine for the Halos; the point of no return, so if you're squeamish, don't read past this part: Albert Pujols continued the trading of scoring blows by driving in Mike Trout on a double (his 6th of the season), giving the Angels a 5-4 lead. Enjoy that one...drink it deep...remember it, because that represented the high point of the game. After that, it was one long plunge into the depths of Yankee hell.
Jered Weaver would be knocked out in the sixth, after giving up the game-tying homer to Chris Parmelee, and then letting a guy get on second right afterward. Jose Alvarez came in from the pen, and made damn sure to give up a Carlos Beltran double, which scored the inherited runner, gave the Yankees a 6-5 lead and closed the book on Weaver.
If there was any hope in this world, the game would have been rained out after that point...sending the Angels away with a hard-fought 6-5 loss. But nooooooo, stupid mother nature couldn't have even done us Angels fan a solid. Instead, there would be no deus ex machina or saving grace in this game. It would just become a bloodbath, instead.
Before the sixth was over, Brian McCann doubled in a couple more runs, making it 8-5 Skankees. In the seventh, Chris Parmelee and Carlos Beltran homered off of Greg Mahle. The one time slugfest that saw both teams trading punches was now a full on, 12-5 Yankee beatdown, and I found myself reaching for my fourth fresh barf bag of the night.
Oh, the Angels did get a run in the ninth off of a Mike Trout no-doubter...so there's that. I love Trout Bombs, those are dope. I only wish it wasn't in such a blowout of a game, in the later, meaningless innings. A Trout Bomb is a Trout Bomb, though...I guess. Whatever, dude.
That's three in a row against the Yankees, on a road trip that started out good but has now devolved into a shit show. Awesome. /Sarcasm
So, how about that MLB Draft tomorrow, huh guys?!?!