Yankees Hit Just Enough to Beat Angels In 10

After a very weak opening game of their home series with the Los Angeles Angels, the Yankees needed another bounce-back game. And it was another hole-in-the-rotation game, and, after 2 nice starts and 1 bad one, Jhony Brito needed one as well.

He gave us one. He threw 84 pitches before being removed in the 5th inning, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks. He would not be the winning pitcher, but he would not be responsible for a loss, either. Nor would Michael King, who took it through the 7th without allowing any further runs.

Aaron Judge certainly took his 2022 replacement of Shohei Ohatani as American League Most Valuable Player to heart. In the 1st inning alone, he robbed Ohtani of a home run, and then hit one himself, to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

The Angels scored off Brito in the 5th, but it was still 2-1 going into the 8th thanks to him and King. But Aaron Boone made the mistake of bringing Wandy Peralta in to pitch. He allowed a single to former Yankee Gio Urshela, balked him to 2nd, and then allowed a game-tying single to Hunter Renfroe.

The Yankees got men on 1st & 2nd with 1 out in the 8th, but didn’t score. And when they wasted a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the 9th, I could feel a Cliché Alert coming on: "I Hate Extra Innings."

But the long rest the bullpen got worked -- except for Peralta. Clay Holmes pitched a scoreless 9th, and Ian Hamilton pitched a 1-2-3 10th, standing ghost runner Mike Trout.

The Yankee ghost runner wad Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Anthony Volpe was told to bunt him over to 3rd. He tried, but popped up to the pitcher, Matt Moore, for the 1st out. A rookie mistake: He'll learn to be a better bunter, and we should appreciate his effort.

Judge was intentionally walked to set up the inning-ending double play. But Moore choked, hitting Anthony Rizzo with a pitch to load the bases. All that was needed was a long-enough fly ball, and Gleyber Torres hit one to center. Trout is good with the glove as well as with the bat, but, in the deepest part of the new Yankee Stadium, he was not going to throw IKF out at the plate.

Yankees 3, Angels 2. WP: Hamilton (1-1). No save. LP: Moore (1-1). A big win, showing that they could win when 2 runs over 9 innings wouldn't be enough. They hit just enough to win in 10.

The series concludes this afternoon, at 4:05. Nestor Cortés, no hole-in-the-rotation he, starts against Patrick Sandoval.