New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Angels Match Player Stats On Jun 14, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jun 15, 2017

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Andrelton Simmons' two-run homer in the seventh inning snapped a tie and lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night at Angel Stadium.

The Angels took two of three in the series.

Yankees reliever Ronald Herrera (0-1) joined the club Wednesday after being called up from Double-A Trenton. He entered the game in the seventh inning and got the first two batters.

But after a walk to Luis Valbuena, Herrera threw a 79-mph breaking ball to Simmons on the first pitch. Simmons went down and got it -- he actually appeared to hit the ball as his right knee hit the ground -- but got enough of it to hit it into the left-field bullpen for his seventh home run of the season.

The game, however, did not end without drama. With two out and nobody on in the ninth, the Yankees' Aaron Hicks hit a deep fly ball to right. Kole Calhoun leaped at the wall and appeared to make the catch.

Second base umpire Tony Randazzo made the out call and the Angels began to celebrate. But the Yankees called a replay, and the play was overturned because the ball appeared -- at least to the replay umpires -- to deflect off the wall into Calhoun's glove.

That brought up Aaron Judge representing the tying run, but Judge hit the first pitch and grounded out to third to end the game.

Angels reliever Blake Parker (2-2) got the win with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and David Hernandez pitched the ninth for his first save. But the key pitcher for the Angels was reliever Parker Bridwell.

Bridwell was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake earlier in the day to give the Angels long relief in the bullpen, and it turned out they needed it. Starter Matt Shoemaker had to leave the game in the fourth inning because of a strained right forearm.

Bridwell pitched 3 2/3 innings and had to dodge some bullets, giving up seven hits. But he allowed only one unearned run.

Yankees starter Michael Pineda got knocked around early but managed to stick around six innings. He gave up five runs on 10 hits and one walk.

After a flurry of offense in the early innings, both teams lost some steam in the middle innings. The Angels led 5-4 heading to the sixth, but the Yankees tied the game on Chase Headley's RBI single.

The Yankees would have had more if not for the defense of Eric Young Jr. in left field. They had two on and two out in the fifth when Starlin Castro singled to left. Young seemed to double-clutch after initially fielding the ball, but threw a perfect one-hop throw to the plate, nailing Judge trying to score from second.

In the seventh, the Yankees had runners on first and second with nobody out when Judge hit a liner to left. Young, though, made a diving catch, and the Yankees offense stalled from there.

The Yankees got out of the gate fast, scoring four runs off Shoemaker in the top of the first inning. Matt Holliday drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly, but the big blow was a three-run homer by Gary Sanchez (three hits).

The Angels threatened to get all four runs back in the bottom of the inning, but center fielder Hicks robbed Luis Valbuena of a grand slam, reaching over the wall in center to pull the ball back.

Instead, it was just a long sacrifice fly that cut the Yankees' lead to 4-1.

The Angels, though, kept the pressure on Pineda. Danny Espinosa's two-run homer in the second inning made it 4-3, and the Angels added two more runs in the third to go up 5-4.

Albert Pujols scored one of the runs on a wild pitch and Young's RBI single gave the Angels the lead. But probably the key to the inning was the at-bat by Simmons.

With Pujols on third and two out, Simmons worked the count full, fouled off three tough pitches, then drew a walk.

Shoemaker couldn't make it out of the fourth inning. After giving up two hits to start the inning, the trainer went to the mound to visit Shoemaker, who was removed from the game.

Bridwell, called up from Triple-A Salt Lake before the game, replaced Shoemaker and worked his way out of the inning. He got help from Didi Gregorius, who was called out running between first and second when he was hit on the leg by Chase Headley's ground ball.

NOTES: Yankees LHP CC Sabathia had an MRI on his left hamstring, one day after injuring himself in his start Tuesday against the Angels. Results on the MRI showed a Grade 2 strain, meaning Sabathia likely will be placed on the disabled list, though the Yankees haven't made the announcement yet. Before the results were known, Sabathia and Yankees manager Joe Girardi expressed optimism that it would not be a disabled list situation because Sabathia said he woke up Wednesday morning feeling almost no soreness in his hamstring. ... The Angels called up RHP Parker Bridwell from Triple-A Salt Lake and optioned RHP Mike Morin to Salt Lake to make room on the roster. The Yankees called up RHP Ronald Herrera from Double-A Trenton and optioned RHP Ben Heller to Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre to make room on the roster. Bridwell and Herrera have been starting in the minors, but will serve as long relievers out of the bullpen.