Jose Trevino had a three-run double in a five-run first inning and the New York Yankees cruised to a 9-3 win against the visiting Los Angeles Angels in the rubber game of their three-game series on Thursday afternoon.
Anthony Rizzo went 3-for-3, scored two runs and drove in another, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Oswald Peraza each contributed two RBIs for the Yankees.
New York starter Nestor Cortes (3-0) allowed three runs and four hits, striking out seven and walking two in six innings.
For the Angels, Logan O’Hoppe had three hits and two RBIs, Luis Rengifo scored two runs and Patrick Sandoval (1-1) allowed five runs and four hits in four innings. He struck out five and matched his career high of six walks.
The Angels’ Tuesday starter, Jose Suarez, also walked six batters in a 5-2 win in the series opener.
Sandoval needed 39 pitches to get through the first inning Thursday.
Anthony Volpe opened with a walk and moved to third on a single by Aaron Judge. Rizzo then drove in Volpe with a single to center, giving New York a 1-0 lead after three batters.
DJ LeMahieu walked on four pitches to load the bases with one out, and Peraza followed with another walk to force in a run and make it 2-0.
After Sandoval got the second out, he surrendered a full-count double to Trevino that cleared the bases and stretched the lead to 5-0.
The Angels didn’t get a base hit through the first four innings against Cortes, but Brandon Drury singled to lead off the fifth and Rengifo doubled to put runners on second and third.
After O’Hoppe came through with an RBI single to make it 5-1, Kiner-Falefa made a diving catch in center field on Taylor Ward’s fly ball, resulting in a sacrifice fly that trimmed the deficit to 5-2.
Cortes departed after walking Rengifo to start the seventh. O’Hoppe hit the first pitch from Ron Marinaccio down the left-field line for a run-scoring double to make it 5-3.
New York provided its bullpen some breathing room by scoring three runs in the seventh on an RBI double by LeMahieu and a two-run single by Kiner-Falefa to make it 8-3. Peraza drove in Judge for his second run of the game during the eighth.
–Field Level Media
