Yankees implode late in 11-5 loss to the Angels

Carrying a six-game winning streak into the series finale in Anaheim, the Yankees looked poised to sweep the Angels after jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth. Then, the wheels came off, as New York allowed the Halos to score 11 unanswered runs over a three-inning span, en route to an 11-5 drubbing in Southern California. The lone bright spot was Luke Voit, who went 3-5 on the night, and  7-18 (.389) with two home runs in the series.

Photo Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo

Masahiro Tanaka was on the mound for the Yanks in this one and he was obviously not at his best. The 30-year-old righty started off the night with four scoreless innings, but that was a smokescreen. Tanaka had two strikeouts and finished with just one swing-and-miss on his 89 pitches. In the fifth, his luck quickly ran out. He allowed a single, followed by a two-run home run by Tommy La Stella, his seventh of the year. That cut the Yankees 4-0 lead in half. After getting one out, he gave up a single and then another two-run home run, this time by Kole Calhoun. Tanaka came into tonight with just three home runs allowed in five 2019 starts.

Tanaka had one more run charged to him in the fifth after two batters he walked scored on a David Fletcher single off of Jonathan Holder, following a passed ball by Gary Sanchez. Tanaka allowed six runs (five earned), and nine base-runners, in 5.2 innings. In the seventh, things got really sloppy for the Bombers. Stephen Tarpley entered and walked the first two he faced before giving way to Joe Harvey, who permitted two hits and two walks. That combined with an error by Gio Urshela, and a poor defensive play by Mike Tauchman, allowed the Angels to tack on five more runs and put the game out of reach at 11-4. Tommy Kahnle pitched a scoreless eighth to stop the bleeding, but the game was clearly too far gone.

Offensively, New York got off to a great start. The Yankees got on the board in the third when Tyler Wade singled, then stole two bases, and was driven in by D.J. LeMahieu. They would add a run to their lead in the very next inning on Gio Urshela's first big fly of the season. In the fifth, the Yanks doubled that two-run advantage with two more hits and two walks. Gleyber Torres delivered with an RBI single. However, it felt like it should have been more as Mike Tauchman struck out with the bases loaded and Mike Ford popped out with men on second and third. On the night, the Yankees were 3-15 with runners in scoring position and left 26 on base. A garbage time run was scored in the eighth because Cody Allen couldn't throw strikes. That made the final score 11-5.

What's Next?

The West Coast trip continues as the Yankees head North to take on San Francisco. The Giants come in winners of their last three, but they still reside at the bottom of the NL West standings at 11-14. The probable pitching matchup is red hot James Paxton (2-2, 3.10 ERA) taking on Madison Bumgarner (1-3, 3.66 ERA). The two lefties will duke it out starting at 10:15pm Eastern time on YES.

Recap by: Jake Graziano

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