ANAHEIM, Calif. — On a day when their starting pitchers took a beating, the Yankees continued to thrive.
Hours after the Yankees announced that Clark Schmidt would be out for four to six weeks with a torn latissimus dorsi muscle, Carlos Rodon remained in top form, pitching six innings and receiving plenty of late-game support in an 8-3 win over the Angels on Thursday night at Angel Stadium.
Rodon allowed a solo home run in the second inning, but remained unfazed and struck out 14 consecutive batters after that, but struggled in the seventh inning.
In the end, it hardly mattered that he was charged with three earned runs, becoming the first Yankees starter to allow more than two runs since May 11 and ending a record-breaking streak of 16 consecutive games in which he pitched at least five innings and allowed two runs or fewer.
The Yankees (39-19) defeated the Angels (21-35) to win the series, marking their 14th victory in the first 18 series of the season and the seventh in franchise history.
The Yankees are scheduled to finish their longest road trip of the season this weekend when they fly to San Francisco after improving to 4-2 on a West Coast road trip that included nine games in 10 days.
Aaron Judge gave the Yankees the lead with a two-run homer in the fourth inning, giving him 18 home runs in the major leagues, tying him for the all-time lead.
It was his 14th home run in his last 31 games and 12th in his last 23 games.
The Yankees sent nine batters to the plate in the seventh inning, turning the tide of the game and adding five more runs.
Alex Verdugo, who extended his hitting streak to 11 games last night, walked as the leadoff batter of the inning before advancing to third base on a hit-and-run by DJ LeMahieu.
Angels relief pitcher Adam Cimber then walked three consecutive batters — Jose Trevino, Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe — to force in two runs.
Volpe’s at-bat came on a night that saw his 21-game hitting streak come to an end, but instead of trying to get a hit, he walked with the count full to extend the lead to 4-1.
Juan Soto came up next and delivered the knockout punch off left-handed relief pitcher José Suárez, smashing a bases-clearing triple down the right field line to put the Yankees ahead, 7–1.
Rodon continued his resurgent season by returning to the spot where he suffered his darkest moment last year, blowing a kiss to a heckling fan behind the dugout after a tough start to the season.
He went seven innings for the fourth time in his last five starts, posting a 2.37 ERA during that time.
In 12 starts this season, the left-hander has a 3.09 ERA.
Long Island native Logan O’Hoppe, who hit the Angels’ lone run of the game off Luis Gil on Wednesday night, did the same off Rodon on Thursday.
But after that, Rodon stayed focused and limited the opposing team to just one hit through the seventh inning.
After a lengthy back-and-forth in the top of the seventh, he walked the leadoff batter in the bottom of the inning, then allowed a single and a double to end the day’s game.
Ian Hamilton came in to protect a 7-2 lead and struck out two before walking the bases loaded. Caleb Ferguson came up next and gave up a single to former Yankee Willie Calhoun, giving up a run and ending a historic winning streak for Yankees starting pitchers, but the Yankees will be happy to celebrate the win.
