Yankees Bats Stay Hot Against Angels
The New York Yankees finally got some consistency from their bats as they continued where they left off in the first game of the series against the Angels. The Yankees beat the Angels in the second game of the series 6-3 behind a good start from Michael Pineda.
The Yankees started strong as Carlos Beltran hit his second home run in as many at-bats against the Angels with a first inning 2-run shot to left-center (had a game-winning 3-run home run on Monday). The Yankees early scoring was capped off by a Starlin Castro solo home run to right in the 3rd inning that gave Michael Pineda some breathing room to relax on the mound.
Pineda's performance was a huge bright spot for the Yankees.
"To me, it's all been about command," Girardi said. "When Michael's on, he can be really dominant. I'm hoping this can continue the roll for him."
Pineda had great movement on many of his pitches. His slider and cut-fastball were very effective and allowed him to pitch seven innings, giving up three runs on four hits. That was Pineda's longest outing since July 4th of last season.
"I changed the angle of my arm because the slider cuts better when I have a lower angle on my arm," Pineda said through a translator. "That's one of the adjustments that I made."
Up next for the Yankees is hard throwing Angels right-hander Jared Weaver who gets set to face-off against Nathan Eovaldi as he looks to continue his evolution into a top-end pitcher.