Shoemaker Excels Early Then Angels Stung By Yankees' Power Surge
NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Shoemaker and the Angels seemed to be in complete control.
Then, the New York Yankees suddenly flipped the power switch.
Carlos Beltran hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning after Brian McCann and Starlin Castro launched back-to-back shots in the seventh, rallying the Yankees past the Angels 5-2 Monday night.
"We were feeling good the whole night. That one inning, a couple of homers," Angels star Mike Trout said.
Shoemaker (3-7) blanked the Yankees on four hits and hadn't even gone to a three-ball count until the Yankees broke through with two outs in the seventh.
"There's no doubt, he was dominating us," Beltran said.
McCann hooked a long drive just foul on a 3-2 pitch, then hit the next delivery into the second deck.
Two pitches later, Castro connected for the Yankees' fourth set of consecutive home runs this season, tying it at 2. Shoemaker slapped his hands together while he walked to the dugout when the inning ended.
With two outs in the eighth, Jacoby Ellsbury singled and Brett Gardner lined a single to center field that dropped in front of Trout. Shoemaker looked a bit surprised and exasperated as Ellsbury hustled into third, well ahead of Trout's throw.
"We were playing back," Trout said. "I was kind of in-between laying out and just trying to keep the ball in front of me."
Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia: "We were playing a little deeper to try and stop a double and Mike just couldn't close the distance on it."
Lefty Jose Alvarez was summoned to relieve the right-handed Shoemaker. The switch-hitting Beltran turned around and went the opposite way for his team-leading 14th home run.
"Felt really good, pretty fired up right now. Executed a lot of pitches today," Shoemaker said.
"Just getting sick of losing," he added.
Shoemaker stuck out six, and has fanned 39 without a walk in five starts.
Andrew Miller (3-0) struck out Kole Calhoun, Trout and Albert Pujols in order in the eighth. Aroldis Chapman, who blew a save chance for the first time this season Sunday in Baltimore, pitched a perfect ninth for his 10th save.
Pujols blooped an RBI single in the first against Masahiro Tanaka. Calhoun added a sacrifice fly in the third for a 2-0 lead.
Both the Angels and Yankees began the day 26-30. For teams often in the playoffs, this was the latest they'd met in a season with below-.500 records since August 1992.
The Yankees played at home for the first time since the death of Muhammad Ali. They held a pregame moment of silence for the boxing great, who beat Ken Norton at the old Yankee Stadium in 1976.
DAWDLING
Yunel Escobar hit a hard grounder past Tanaka in the fifth, and shifted 2B Castro was right there to field it. Castro bobbled the ball, but Escobar didn't run hard out of the batter's box and was an easy out. Scioscia kept staring at the field, never looking at Escobar when he returned to the bench.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Angels: Setup man Joe Smith has been nursing a sore hamstring, and Scioscia said the team would wait to see how the righty feels before deciding whether to put him on the disabled list. ... SS Andrelton Simmons was set to begin a minor league rehab assignment at Class A. He's been out since May 9 after having thumb surgery.
UP NEXT
Angels: LHP David Huff will come up from Triple-A Salt Lake to start Tuesday night for injury-depleted Los Angeles at Yankee Stadium. He's 25-28 in seven seasons with Cleveland, the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers. He was in the minors with Kansas City earlier this year, and is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts for Salt Lake.
Yankees: Michael Pineda (2-6, 6.41 ERA) has been struggling to stay in the rotation. He pitched well in his last start, striking out eight and walking none in a no-decision at Detroit.
(Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
