The Yankees ended an up and down road trip by beating the Angels 6-5 on Sunday behind a strong start from C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees had previously lost two games to the Angels and ended their West Coast trip with a 4-6 record.
The story on the weekend was again centered around the Yankees’ struggling offense. The Yankees managed just two runs on Friday and Saturday, putting together a streak of four straight games scoring two runs.
On Friday it was C.J. Wilson who took to the hill, out pitching Andy Pettitte en route to a 5-2 victory. Pettitte allowed a season high 11 hits to the Angels in seven innings of work. Saturday saw Tommy Hanson take his turn, as he combined with a blemish free bullpen to hold the Yanks to just two runs as the Angels downed the Bombers 6-2.
On Sunday the Yankees got a veritable offensive explosion, scoring five runs in the third inning highlighted by a three-run homer by Travis Hafner. Sabathia paced the Yankees by throwing up eight shutout innings before allowing the first two runners in the ninth to reach.
Both of those players would go on to count against Sabathia’s run total as the Angels mounted a furious rally against David Robertson and Mariano Rivera. Peter Bourjos brought the Angels within one on an RBI single before Rivera walked Mike Trout to load the bases for Albert Pujols with two outs.
In a matchup of future Hall of Famers, Rivera got the best of Pujols, striking him out on three pitches to send the Yankees to a much needed Sunday victory.