Yankees 4, Angels 3: Didi’s tenth inning homer helps Yankees outlast Angels for seventh straight win

?? YES SIR ??

Yankees win 4-3 in extras!#YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/TIPRqp1Qzn

— YES Network (@YESNetwork) April 28, 2018

It just did not seem like the Yankees’ night for eight innings. The Angels were making great defensive plays, balls that were hit on the screws were dying on the warning track, nothing seemed to go right. But, because this team is scrappy as hell, the Yankees rallied late and grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat. The final score was 4-3 in ten innings. Seven straight wins and the second best record in the AL (16-9), and they ain’t even firing on all cylinders yet. Anyway, West Coast night games get bullet point recaps — pretty sure this is the first bullet pointer of the season, right? — so let’s get to it:

• Seven From Sevy: Man, up until that seventh inning, Luis Severino was absolutely locked in. He did allow a solo homer to Shohei Ohtani in the second, but it wasn’t even a bad pitch, otherwise he just cruised through six innings. The seventh got messy. Singles by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols set up Andrelton Simmons for the go-ahead two-run triple. That one was a bad pitch. Severino’s line: 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K.
• Rally From Behind, Part One: The Yankees tied the game 1-1 in the fifth inning thanks to Miguel Andujar’s latest extra-base hit. A double to left. Ronald Torreyes moved Andujar up to third with a single, and Aaron Hicks brought him home with a sacrifice fly. Hicks fell behind in the count 0-2, shortened up, and got the ball deep enough to score Miggy Mantle. Very nice.
• Take The Lead, Part One: The sixth inning was … weird. Didi Gregorius started it with a bunt single, and he eventually reached third base on an error and a wild pitch. Neil Walker drove him with a robbed home run. It went over the yellow line in right field, but Kole Calhoun brought it back. Sucks. Gregorius scored on the sac fly, and the umpires decided Giancarlo Stanton left second base too early when he tagged up to go to third, and the inning was over. Replays showed he didn’t leave early! After the game Aaron Boone took responsibility for not challenging the play, saying he ran out of time while checking to make sure Didi’s run counted. Either way, the Yankees led 2-1. Rookie manager mistake? I guess so. Still annoying.
• Rally From Behind, Part Two: For the second day in a row, the Yankees came from behind against the other team’s closer. Gary Sanchez drew a leadoff walk against Keynan Middleton, Andujar doubled him to third, and pinch-hitter Brett Gardner brought him home with a sac fly. I wanted Boone to pinch-run Gardner for Sanchez. He might’ve scored on the Andujar double! Fallacy of the predetermined outcome, yeah, I know. Bottom line, Sanchez and Andujar set things up, and Gardner cashed the run in. Tie game.
• Take The Lead, Part Two: How is Didi this good? Don’t get me wrong, I love it. I just never in a million years expected this out of him, even if this doesn’t last all year. Against former Yankee Blake Parker, Sir Didi gave the Yankees a 4-3 lead with his tenth homer of the season, a tenth inning solo shot over the high wall in right field. Ten homers in 25 games! He hit his tenth homer in his 56th game last year. All the Yankees fans in Anaheim gave Didi a curtain call on the road. For real. How awesome.
• Leftovers: Walker and Stanton combined for three balls that I thought were gone off the bat, only to be caught on the warning track. Walker had one from each side of the plate and Stanton’s would’ve been a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth. I thought it was going to clear both bullpens. Instead, caught for an out … tough night for Aaron Judge, who went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. His on-base streak ends at 21 games … perfect innings for Jonathan Holder and David Robertson, though Holder’s featured a lot of loud contact for outs. Aroldis Chapman pitched around a two-out double for the save … Andujar is currently tied for the MLB lead with eleven doubles … Didi currently leads MLB in AVG (.368), homers (ten), and RBI (30). Well, technically he’s tied with Trout in homers, but still, he’s leading the Triple Crown categories. Neat!

Here are the box score, video highlights, updated standings, and our Bullpen Workload page. The Yankees and Angels are back it Saturday night — that’s a 9pm ET start — for the middle game of this three-game series. Masahiro Tanaka and Garrett Richards are the scheduled starters.

Source: FanGraphs