WHY IT WAS A FRUSTRATING NIGHT IN ANAHEIM, AGAIN

I really dislike the Angels, I really do. They play on the west coast, so their games start three hours later than normal, which sucks in itself, win or lose. They’ve also been a thorn in the side of the Yankees’ since the Joe Torre era, and things never seem to go right whenever they’re in Anaheim. Tonight was just another one of those nights as the Yanks lost 5-1.

The Yankees offense was both non-existent and unlucky in this one. Non-existent in terms of results: 3-for-11 with RISP, 12 men left on base, one run scored. They were unlucky in that Mike Trout robbed Nick Swisher of a solo homer in the second, and Peter Bourjos robbed Swish of another double in the seventh. There were also a number of plays saved up the middle by shortstop Erick Aybar and second baseman Howie Kendrick that saved runs, too. It’s just very, very frustrating that the Yankees couldn’t get a break on offense at all on Tuesday night.

Though the Yankees struggled for most of the night on offense, they did have a chance in the ninth to do some damage. Against Ernesto Frieri, who hadn’t allowed a hit in 11 innings since joining the Angels, the Yanks loaded the bases on walks by Russell Martin, Derek Jeter, and a HBP for ARod to set up Robinson Cano with two outs. Cano then struck out on three pitches, thus continuing the futility with the bases loaded for the Yankees. They’re now 0-for-15, as a team, with the bases loaded, and 1-for-33 overall in their last several games. The lone run in last night’s game, if you’re wondering, came in the fourth inning on a Nick Swisher RBI single.

Andy Pettitte started and he pitched better than his line score, I would think. In total, he went 7+ innings, allowing nine hits on five runs while striking out three and walking none. He did allow two homers, though; one to Albert Pujols, a two run blast in the second, and another to Mark Trumbo, a solo shot in the sixth. Cody Eppley came on in relief of Pettitte in the eighth and he allowed his inherited run to score on a weak groundball single in the vacated hole at second base. You can file that play into the series of unlucky plays for the Yankees.

Opposing Pettitte was Dan Haren. He was pretty sharp, so it’d be wise of us to give him at least some credit. Haren pitched 7+ innings, allowed eight hits while punching out seven and walking just one.

The good news about this loss is that they have just one game left to play in the series. It’ll be Ivan Nova (5-2, 5.46 ERA) against Ervin Santana (2-6, 4.45 ERA) in the finale. The Yanks have an off-day on Thursday as they travel to Detroit, so it'd be nice if they salvaged the final game and it’ll give the team a good taste going into the Motor City.

 
--Jesse Schindler, BYB Lead Staff Writer
Follow me on Twitter @SchindlerJesse

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