Aaron Judge hit a 2-run Homer in the 4th to put the Yankees up 2-1, and Juan Soto hit a bases-clearing triple in the 7th to make it 7-1, to back the commanding pitching of Carlos Rodon in NY’s 8-3 win over the Angels in Anaheim on a Thursday night.
Rodon only allowed 1 hit going into the 7th — a solo homer by LA’s Logan O’Hoppe in the 2nd.
Anthony Volpe drew a tough walk with bases loaded in the 7th for an RBI, and scored on Soto’s triple — but otherwise had his 21-game hitting streak stopped, going 0-4.
Judge’s homer was his 18th, tying Kyle Tucker and Gunnar Henderson for the MLB lead.
“Kind of felt like we needed a shot of energy,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards. “I even said to Nestor (Cortes) in about the 2nd or 3rd inning, we got to get the boys going a little bit — and Judgy’s homer… got the boys going a little bit. And we were able to put together obviously a really big inning — a lot of good at bats. And then Carlos obviously giving us a really strong start, was big.”
NY improves to 39-19, 2 games over Baltimore in the AL East. The Angels drop to 21-35.
1. Rodon Great
Carlos Rodon was commanding — pitching a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th — allowing only the solo homer to O’Hoppe in the 2nd.
Rodon’s 96-MPH four-seam fastball was crackling, and he used it to great degree, setting it up with his 86-MPH changeup, 84-MPH slider, 81-MPH curveball, and 93-MPH cutter.
Staked to a 7-1 lead in the 7th, Rodon relaxed a bit — allowing a leadoff walk to Luis Rengifo, single to Taylor Ward, and RBI double by Kevin Pillar and was lifted.
His final line: 6 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 5 K’s, 1 walk — he pitched better than that. Rodon wins to go 7-2 3.09.
2. Judge HR Puts NY Ahead 2-1 in 4th
Lefty Patrick Sandoval started for the Angels and was putting down the Yanks with ease through the first 3 innings when Juan Soto led off the 4th with a walk, and Aaron Judge hit a 2-run Bomb to left for a 2-1 NY lead.
BAJ Blast ?#AllRise pic.twitter.com/RS7PXB2WWl
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 31, 2024
3. Soto 3-RBI Triple Highlights Crooked # 7th
Sandoval pitched a good game — other than allowing the 2-run Judge homer he threw 6 innings of 2-hit baseball, striking out 7.
6’3 righty Adam Climber came in for the top of the 7th and it didn’t go well. Climber is 33 years old, and has been in the Majors since 2018. He was one of the better setup men in baseball in 2021 and 2022 with Miami and then Toronto — going 10-6 2.80 with Toronto in 2022 and leading the league in games pitched in with 77.
But he was horrible in this outing — walking Alex Verdugo to lead off, allowing a hit-and-run single to DJ LeMahieu, getting Gleyber Torres to foul out, and then walking Jose Trevino to load the bases, and walking Oswaldo Cabrera to force in a run making it 3-1 NY, and then walking Anthony Volpe to make it 4-1 NY.
Jose Suarez was brought in — and Juan Soto Chopped a shot that went past 1st base and down the line for a bases-clearing triple. NY 7 LA 1.
Soto clears the bases ?@JuanSoto25_ ? pic.twitter.com/oMzGNCg9eY
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 31, 2024
4. Hamilton Pitches Good
Rodon left with 2nd and 3rd and nobody out in a 7-2 game in the 7th. Ian Hamilton came in and did well — striking out O’Hoppe and Jo Adell before walking Zach Neto to load the bases.
Caleb Ferguson came in with bases loaded, 2 outs — and allowed an RBI single to Willie Calhoun.
With the score 7-3 NY, and bases loaded, it started to look like the Yanks might squander the big lead. But Ferguson got a grounder to Volpe at shortstop, who stepped on 2nd to end the inning. Phew.
5. Yanks Add 8th Run in 8th
Jose Suarez stayed in for the 8th, and the Yanks got another run — a 1-out walk by DJ LeMahieu, double by Gleyber Torres, and sac fly by Jose Trevino. NY 8 LA 3.
Adding on in the 8th ? pic.twitter.com/icpk8CUiN6
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 31, 2024
6. Tonkin the Finish
Michael Tonkin continues to get Clean Up Duty — he pitched the 9th and got 4 outs — groundout, grounder but error by Volpe, fly out, and fly out for the old ballgame.
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