Powerful Yankees head home to face Angels
NEW YORK -- Flight delays and home runs are the best way to describe the last week for the New York Yankees. Since their last appearance at Yankee Stadium on May 13, the Yankees had an originally scheduled eight-game road trip cut down to six games because of a suspended game and rainout in Washington. Then they endured two flight delays from Washington to Kansas City and again from Dallas to New York. In between delays, the Yankees won three of six games and hit 21 home runs, and they will look to continue their power display Friday in the opener of a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees (31-15) will be trying to rebound from their second set of consecutive losses in the last month after dropping two of three in Texas. The Yankees blew a four-run lead and a five-run edge in Wednesday's wild 12-10 loss, negating rookie Gleyber Torres' eighth homer of the season. New York's 21 homers in the last five games tied a major record, matching the feat set by the 1977 Boston Red Sox and the 1999 Cincinnati Reds. It also is the first time the Yankees have homered at least three times in five straight games in team history. "Those guys can hit, so, no, it doesn't amaze me," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "We have a lot of power and guys are going up there and really grinding through at-bats. When you do that consistently with the talent they have and the power they possess, home runs are a lot of times the result." The Yankees enter the series with 79 homers. Four players are in double digits and another approaching his 10th homer. They also enter the series 5-5 in their last 10 games after winning 17 of 18 from April 21 to May 9. "You look at the guys in our lineup, we can hit," Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia said Wednesday. "We hit tonight. We've just got to pitch better." Sabathia isn't wrong at least from a statistical standpoint. During their 17-1 run, the Yankees posted a 2.28 ERA. In the last 10 games, New York's team ERA is 5.36. Part of New York's 17-1 stretch included a three-game sweep of the Angels in Anaheim on April 27-29. Since then, the Angels (28-22) are 14-10. The Angels are 16-5 on the road and their .761 winning percentage in those games leads the majors. After Mike Trout and Albert Pujols homered twice and Shohei Otani doubled twice in Thursday's 8-1 win at Toronto, the Angels are batting .284 (220-for-774) and averaging 5.9 in their road games. "I'm sure it'll even out," said Trout, who is hitting .345 (29-for-84) in road games. "But we just get hot when it seems like we're on the road." The Angels enter the series with at least 12 hits in their last two games after going 11 straight games with nine hits or less. "It was just a matter of time," Angels starter Nick Tropeano said. "When you see all the guys in our lineup, once it starts clicking, it's going to be dangerous." The Angels will try to keep it going against Luis Severino, who is 5-0 with a 1.91 ERA since April 10. Severino last pitched Saturday in an 8-3 win at Kansas City when he allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. The Yankees are 9-1 in his 10 starts and 7-0 with a 1.95 ERA in his last nine home starts since Sept. 3. Severino is 0-1 with a 5.54 ERA in two career starts against the Angels. The right-hander allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings in a no-decision on April 27 in Anaheim and allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings during a 10-5 home loss to the Angels on June 22. Opposing Severino for the second time this season will be Andrew Heaney. Heaney made his season debut on April 27 and took a no-decision after allowing two runs and five hits with nine strikeouts in five-plus innings. Heaney last pitched Saturday against Tampa Bay when he allowed four unearned runs and three hits in six innings. He gave up a grand slam to Daniel Robertson after a throwing error by first baseman Jefry Marte in the second inning. Overall, Heaney is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in two starts against the Yankees. |