anaheim, California – Shohei Ohtani stole two bases — including a steal of home — but the hero of the night for the Angels was journeyman reliever Jake Petricka, whose eighth-inning performance helped Los Angeles hang on for a 6-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday in Anaheim, California.
Jared Walsh hit a three-run homer and Phil Gosselin had a clutch two-run single for the Angels, who have won three in a row including the first two of the three-game series with New York.
After winning 13 in a row the Yankees have lost four straight, but they didn’t go down quietly.
The Angels held a 6-2 lead before the Yankees’ offense finally got busy in the eighth inning. DJ LeMahieu led off with a single and Anthony Rizzo doubled. Aaron Judge followed with an RBI single, and Giancarlo Stanton’s sacrifice fly made it 6-4.
After a walk to Joey Gallo, the Yankees had the tying runs on base for Gio Urshela. With the game on the line, Angels manager Joe Maddon brought in Petricka, who had spent all season in the minors before being called up last week.
Petricka responded by striking out both Urshela and pinch hitter Luke Voit to end the inning.
Angels closer Raisel Iglesias retired the Yankees in order in the ninth for his 29th save.
Los Angeles starter Jaime Barria held the Yankees scoreless for the first three innings, getting help from the defense, which turned the first two of its five double plays in the game. In the fourth, Rizzo led off with a home run to give New York a 1-0 lead.
The Angels got the run back and more in their half of the fourth against Yankees starter Jameson Taillon who was perfect for three innings, striking out five of the first nine hitters he faced.
David Fletcher led off the fourth with a single and stole second. Ohtani walked before Fletcher, and Ohtani pulled off a double steal. It turned out not to be necessary as Walsh followed with a three-run homer, giving the Angels a 3-1 lead.
Gary Sanchez’s solo homer in the fifth got the Yankees to within 3-2 but the Angels responded again in the bottom of the inning, scoring three times to take a 6-2 lead.
In the inning, the Angels had runners on second and third with two outs when Ohtani was walked intentionally, loading the bases for Gosselin, who made the Yankees pay with a two-run single.
The Angels’ third run of the inning scored when Ohtani stole home on the back end of a double steal. Los Angeles finished with five stolen bases in the game.
Angels reliever Jimmy Herget (1-1) earned the victory with 1 ⅔ scoreless innings.
Tallion (8-5) took his first loss in 16 starts since the beginning of June. He gave up six runs on five hits and two walks in 4 ⅔ innings. Taillon struck out six.
Barria allowed two runs and five hits in 4 ⅓ innings. He walked two and fanned two.
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