Mickey Moniak and Patrick Sandoval Propel Angels to Victory Against Yankees

 

Mickey Moniak had a standout performance, going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs. Left-hander Patrick Sandoval was in excellent form, pitching 7 1/3 innings of two-hit ball, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 5-1 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday in Anaheim, Calif.

Yankees right-hander Domingo German, who achieved a perfect game on June 28, faced a setback in his bid for another perfect game when Angels' Zach Neto hit a broken-bat single into right field after just two pitches.

Moniak, the Angels' first overall pick in the 2016 draft and a rising star this season, smashed a 413-foot fastball into the right field bleachers, securing his 11th home run and giving the Angels a 2-0 lead.

Sandoval had experienced difficulties in recent starts, suffering six losses in his last nine games, with opponents capitalizing on his off-speed pitches, which he throws about 70 percent of the time.

The Yankees managed to get a run back in the third inning when Gleyber Torres homered off an elevated breaking ball from Sandoval, a 404-foot shot inside the left field foul pole.

However, German's control wavered in the third inning as he walked the bases loaded, and the Angels extended their lead to 3-1 when Michael Stefanic scored on a wild pitch to the backstop.

After Torres' home run, Sandoval settled in and retired the next nine Yankees, even striking out the side in the fifth inning.

The Angels further extended their lead in the bottom of the fifth when Shohei Ohtani hit a 110 mph liner into the right field corner, resulting in his major-league-leading seventh triple of the year and driving in Neto. Moniak followed with a single through the right side of the Yankees' drawn-in infield, scoring Ohtani and bringing the score to 5-1 in favor of the Angels.

Sandoval (5-7) threw 99 pitches, struck out seven, and walked three, getting 13 ground-ball outs before being relieved by Jacob Webb and Carlos Estevez to close out the game.

German (5-6) allowed five runs on four hits and three walks, despite recording nine strikeouts in six innings.

With this victory, the Angels secured their first series win since mid-June and returned to the .500 mark after a challenging stretch where they went 3-11 since June 27.

On the other hand, the Yankees suffered their third consecutive loss and fell to 2-8 in their last 10 games.