Parmelee Powers Yanks Past Angels

Last night, the Yankees needed a spark. They got it, and blew up the house.

Nathan Eovaldi started against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and fell behind in the top of the 1st inning. But in their 1st 4 batters of the game, the Yankees got a double from Jacoby Ellsbury, an RBI double by Brett Gardner, a popup from Carlos Beltran (easily forgivable due to his current hot streak), and an RBI single from Alex Rodriguez. 2-1 Yankees.

The Angels struck back with 2 runs in the 2nd, 1 in the 3rd, and 1 in the 5th. Nasty Nate did not have his good stuff. But Ellsbury led off the bottom of the 3rd with a home run, his 3rd of the season, off Jered Weaver, brother of Jeff F. Weaver (and you know what the F stands for). In the 4th, Chris Parmelee doubled, and came home on a Gardner single. That tied it at 4-4, before the Angels made it 5-4 in the top of the 5th.

Then came the bottom of the 6th, and the aforementioned needed spark. Parmelee took Weaver deep, with his 1st homer as a Yankee, to tie the game. With 1 out, Ellsbury walked, Gardner singled, Beltran doubled, A-Rod grounded out, and Brian McCann singled. 8-5 Yankees.

Didi Gregorius led off the bottom of the 7th with a single, and Parmelee hit his 2nd Yankee homer. Ronald Torreyes reached on an error, and Beltran hit one out, continuing said hot streak with his 16th homer.

Anthony Swarzak, a true journeyman (he even spent part of last season in Korea's baseball league), finished the 6th inning for Eovaldi, became the pitcher of record, and also pitched the 7th, allowing just 1 baserunner. Kirby Yates pitched a scoreless 8th, and Nick Goody allowed a meaningless homer by Mike Trout in the 9th.

Yankees 12, Angels 6. WP: Swarzak (1-0). No save. LP: Weaver (5-5).

The Yankees have now taken the 1st 3 games of the series, and go for the sweep tonight. Ivan Nova starts against Jhoulys Chacín, whom the Angels recently acquired from the Atlanta Braves. His name is pronounced "Yo-LEASE Sha-SHEEN." He's Venezuelan, but the pronunciation looks more Gaelic.

I'm hoping to see more of the heavy hitting the Yankees have put up lately.