Pitching, pitching and more pitching. That is what the Yankees have going for them right now as they silenced the LA Angels 6-1 and 2-1 in a double-header sweep at Yankee Stadium.
In Game 1 Nestor Cortes was the star of the show, tossing seven shutout innings, allowing only five hits while walking two. He struck out seven. It was the fourth time in his last five starts that Cortes has gone seven or more inning for the Yankees. The lefty has been so impressive that his ERA dipped to 1.50 on the year.
BusiNes as usual.@Cortes_1210 👊 pic.twitter.com/GXURsSDcYr
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 2, 2022
Meanwhile the Bronx Bombers used the long ball to knock out Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani. Matt Carpenter, Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge all hit home runs against Ohtani, knocking him out after three innings.
Marwin Gonzalez would tack on a RBI double and D.J. LeMahieu added a solo shot of his own as the Yankees took a commanding 5-0 lead.
In the nightcap, Yankees fans nearly saw history as Jameson Tallion carried a perfect game into the eighth inning. That all ended when Jared Walsh hit a ground ball double that bounced off the glove of shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Walsh would score on a base hit by Kurt Suzuki to give LA a 1-0 lead.
“There was a certain point I was sitting in the tunnel and I was kind of thinking, like, my buddies on other teams are probably starting to be aware of it,” Taillon said, adding: “I definitely thought there’s a small chance we could do it.”
The Yankees would rally in the bottom of the eighth as Anthony Rizzo lined a two-run single up the middle with the bases loaded and two out to give the Bronx Bombers the lead.
Tony too clutch. @ARizzo44 👊 pic.twitter.com/0LpEGxtLWW
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 3, 2022
Clay Holmes would work his way into and out of a bases loaded jam in the ninth to preserve the save.
The Yankees (36-15) host the Tigers on Friday.
