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The RailRider-themed Yankees keep finding ways to win ballgames. They also keep finding ways to bring unnecessary amounts of tension into games. Chad Green had an adventure on the mound, and nearly blew the game single-handedly, but the Yankees managed to reel things in just in time to preserve a 7-5 victory.
Green entered the game in the seventh inning and managed to pick up a groundball out to strand a runner and close the book on a stellar performance from starter Domingo German. The Yankees’ bullpen had been somewhat depleted already in this series, so Green was left out for the eighth inning to hold a 7-1 lead. Things, however, fell apart quickly. Two straight singles and a walk loaded the bases for Justin Bour, who found a lofted changeup in the middle of the plate to drive. The ball went out to center field, and suddenly the Angels were right back in the game.
Luis Cessa came on to bridge the gap to the ninth inning, and the defense immediately put him in a jam. A misplay from Brett Gardner allowed Andrelton Simmons to reach with a double, and Albert Pujols walked on four pitches to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Cessa locked in from there, striking out Brian Goodwin and inducing a double-play ball out of Kevan Smith. Zack Britton came in to close the game out, and retired the Angels in order on grounders.
Before Green brought the Angels back, everything was going the Yankees way. German was phenomenal, throwing 6.2 innings of one-run ball and striking out five. His lone mistake came from his glove rather than his arm, allowing Tommy La Stella to reach base on a fumbled grounder that led to his run coming in. The Yankees were in desperate need of starting pitching when they called up German and he has filled in perfectly, pitching to a sub-two ERA in five games so far.
The bats also gave German a comfortable lead throughout the game, starting off with a Luke Voit solo shot in the first inning. Voit would hit a second solo home run in the eighth, and carries a 34-game on-base streak going back to last season.
Mike Ford made his presence felt in the fifth, blasting his first career home run to right-center. Ford has had a successful run in Anaheim so far, drawing two intentional walks on Monday before going deep. Gleyber Torres also snapped out of his funk a little, going 2-5 and driving in a run in the seventh.
The Yankees have hit a new high-water mark for the season at three games over .500. They’ve also secured at least a series split with the Angels, and can go for the series victory tomorrow. CC Sabathia will get the ball staring down a historic milestone with 3,000 career strikeouts within reach, so there will be plenty to look forward to.