With a player as dangerous as Shohei Ohtani in the lineup, the Los Angeles Angels can’t be counted out easily.
The Angels will look to Ohtani to help them win a second straight game against the visiting New York Yankees in the middle contest of a three-game series on Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif.
Los Angeles took the series opener 4-3 in 10 innings on Monday night after Ohtani erased a two-run deficit in the seventh with his major-league-leading 35th homer of the season.
After the Angels blanked New York in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings, Michael Stefanic came through with a pinch-hit single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th to score the winning run.
Los Angeles had lost seven of eight before the come-from-behind victory.
Angels manager Phil Nevin said Ohtani showed the most emotion he’s seen on his tying home run.
“When they step up in moments like that and have something like that happen, what it does for the whole place … But you guys have to understand what it does for our dugout,” Nevin said. “It’s massive.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked by reporters after the game about his decision to pitch to Ohtani with a runner on first and two outs in the seventh. New York had intentionally walked the slugger in the fifth inning with runners on the corners and two outs in a scoreless game.
Mickey Moniak lined out to right to end the earlier threat.
“When we have the two-run lead there, the guy behind (Ohtani) is hitting .330 too,” Boone said of Moniak. “So I wasn’t going to put another runner on second and the tying run (at first) and the go-ahead run at the plate.”
The Yankees blew two late leads in a rubber game against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.
In Denver, New York had a 3-1 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth and a 7-5 lead heading to the bottom of the 11th, but it gave up both advantages and lost 8-7 in 11 innings to the Rockies, who own the worst record in the National League.
It marked the first time in team history the Yankees blew two leads of at least two runs following the seventh inning. New York is now 2-7 in its past nine games and sits alone in last place in the American League East.
The Yankees plan to send Domingo German (5-5, 4.32 ERA) to the mound on Tuesday. The right-hander has logged back-to-back no-decisions since throwing a perfect game on June 28 against the Oakland A’s.
He most recently allowed two runs (one earned) and one hit in six innings during a 7-4 loss against the Chicago Cubs on July 9.
German is 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in four career appearances, including two starts, against the Angels.
The Angels intend to start left-hander Patrick Sandoval (4-7, 4.41 ERA), who is coming off nearly two weeks of rest.
His only win in his past 10 starts came when he threw seven shutout innings to beat the Kansas City Royals 3-0 on June 16.
Sandoval has made two starts against the Yankees in his career, going 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA. He lost at Yankee Stadium on April 20 after giving up five runs on four hits and six walks in four innings.
–Field Level Media
