New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels (Game 2): Jameson Taillon vs. Reid Detmers

They may be walking out onto a sodden field for Game 2 of the doubleheader, but the Yankees will do so riding the high of their 6-1 victory in the day’s first contest. Nestor Cortes was typically brilliant while the Yankees slugged three home runs off Shohei Ohtani, knocking the superstar from the game in the fourth. They’ve already clinched the series victory, but can they keep the momentum rolling en route to a sweep of the Angels?

Jameson Taillon gets the ball for his 10th start of the season. The 30-year-old righty has quietly put together one of the best starts to the season of any starting pitcher in baseball. He is tied with Kevin Gausman for the lowest walk rate (2.5 percent) of any qualified pitcher in MLB, while sitting in the top 20 in ERA, FIP, and fWAR. The cutter in particular has unlocked the rest of his arsenal, allowing him to go at least seven innings in each of his last two starts. On the year, Taillon is 5-1 with a 2.49 ERA, 3.04 FIP, and 39 strikeouts in 50.2 innings.

Reid Detmers will get his first taste of Yankee Stadium. The 22-year-old rookie was selected 10th overall by the Angels in the 2020 draft, debuting at Angel Stadium just 13 months after officially signing with the team. He tossed the season’s first solo no-hitter on May 10th against the Rays in only his 11th career MLB start. He throws a four-seamer at 93 mph and a slider with the 25th-most downward movement vs. average of any slider in baseball. Despite that, Detmers uses a low-70s curveball as his go-to strikeout pitch while featuring a changeup exclusively against righties. In eight starts, the lefty is 2-2 with a 4.65 ERA, 5.01 FIP, and 27 strikeouts in 40.2 innings.

The Yankees made a handful of changes to the afternoon game’s lineup. Isiah Kiner-Falefa plays short, moving Marwin Gonzalez to third and DJ LeMahieu to first, which gives Anthony Rizzo the night off. Kyle Higashioka replaces Jose Trevino behind the plate while Miguel Andújar comes in to play left field, pushing Aaron Hicks to center, Aaron Judge to DH, and Matt Carpenter to the bench.

The Angels also tweaked the lineup that was silenced by Cortes in the first game. The top three of Taylor Ward, Ohtani, and Mike Trout remains the same, but Brandon Marsh replaces Juan Lagares in left while Tyler Wade faces his old team for the first time, subbing in for Matt Duffy at third. Kurt Suzuki replaces Max Stassi at catcher, which is really encouraging to see after Suzuki lost consciousness after getting hit in the neck with a pitch during the Angels’ 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays on Saturday.

How to watch

Location: Yankee Stadium — Bronx, NY

First pitch: 7:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: YES, Bally Sports West, MLB Network (out-of-market)

Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9, WADO 1380

Online stream: MLB.tv

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