NEW YORK — The walk-off energy from Monday night evaporated before the first out was recorded Tuesday. The Angels came to Yankee Stadium ready to swing from the heels. The Yankees offense, which had exploded for 11 runs just 24 hours earlier, went almost completely silent in a 7-1 loss that exposed just how fragile this team’s footing still is.
New York dropped to 9-8 and has now lost six of its last seven games. The Yankees have been held to four runs or fewer in five of those six defeats. Tuesday night, the offense was never a factor.
Weathers gets torched by Angels in stunning first inning
Ryan Weathers entered the game having faced 68 batters without allowing a home run across his first three starts. That changed with one out in the first inning and did not stop there.
Mike Trout launched a low fastball 432 feet to left-center field. Jo Adell followed on the very next pitch with a 445-foot drive to the opposite side. Three pitches later, Jorge Soler put the Yankees down 3-0 with a solo shot to left. Three up, three gone, five pitches total. The Angels had matched their entire home run total from the first 16 Yankees games combined in one chaotic inning.
All three blasts came on low fastballs, the kind of command misses that Weathers immediately owned after the game. The Yankees lefty went on to strike out 10 batters across five-plus innings but could not erase what happened before he had even found a rhythm.
“Obviously, it’s not a good idea to misfire a heater down the middle to one of the best hitters that has ever played this game,” Weathers said. “Three misfires against a good low-ball hitting team is not a good start.”
According to ESPN Insights, Weathers became the first pitcher since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893 to allow four home runs while recording 10 or more strikeouts in five or fewer innings. He is also the first Yankees starter to accomplish that grim combination in franchise history.
Detmers, Peraza pile on as Yankees bats go quiet
While Yankees fans tried to process what had just happened on the mound, Angels lefty Reid Detmers made sure the offense never had a chance to respond. He retired 15 consecutive Yankees hitters at one point, finished with nine strikeouts and zero walks, and allowed just two hits over seven-plus innings. New York could not advance a runner to second base until the eighth.
Manager Aaron Boone sat Ben Rice, the major league OPS leader, against the left-hander, starting Paul Goldschmidt in his place. Goldschmidt went 0-for-4.
“We know we got to do a better job of creating some things,” Boone said. “Credit to him, though. He didn’t walk anyone. He was coming after us.”
Former Yankees infielder Oswald Peraza, traded to the Angels last July for prospect Wilberson De Pena, made his return to the Bronx memorable. Peraza went 3-for-3 and extended a fourth plate appearance to 12 pitches before drawing a walk. His fourth-inning solo shot off Weathers made it 4-0 and drew a pointed response from the Yankees manager.
“He killed us,” Boone said. “He stung three balls and then worked a 12-pitch walk. He was right in the middle of hurting us tonight.”
Weathers exited with a leadoff walk in the sixth. Paul Blackburn entered and allowed four straight baserunners, pushing the lead to 6-0. Yoan Moncada added a solo home run off Yerry De los Santos in the eighth to complete the 7-0 advantage before the Yankees managed their only run.
Yankees finally get on the board, but far too late
Randal Grichuk snapped an 0-for-15 start to the season with a double in the eighth inning. Austin Wells singled, and Rice came off the bench to deliver a sacrifice fly that ended the shutout. It was the first run the Yankees had scored with Weathers as the pitcher of record in any of his four starts this season.
Goldschmidt spoke for a clubhouse that has been through enough tight losses to know the difference between a rough patch and a genuine concern.
“I think you see how streaky this game is,” Goldschmidt said. “When things are going good, you can’t think you got it all figured out. When we’re struggling, you can’t get down on yourself. You never know what tomorrow’s going to bring.”
The Yankees will send Luis Gil to the mound Wednesday in a series finale that now carries real weight. A Yankees team that looked like a legitimate contender at 8-2 has a lot of ground to recover. The Yankees need answers fast. The next 24 hours will say something about what this group is capable of.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
Sara….once again you obviously don’t pay much attention to the Yankees…today’s game is not the finale…it is a 4 game set…you are always making mistakes…you can blame it in AI I guess that is who is writing your articles.