The Angels muscled their way out of the Bronx with a four-game split on Thursday, finishing the set with an 11-4 thumping of the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mike Trout and former Yankee Oswald Peraza did most of the damage, while New York’s pitching staff, starters and relievers alike, kept getting dragged back into traffic. The series turned into a high-scoring grind, full of late swings, crooked numbers and a bullpen that kept handing the Angels extra chances.
Trout’s historic power surge
Mike Trout homered in every game of the four-game set and walked out of town with five long balls, the most by a visiting player in a series against the Yankees. He also became the first visiting player to homer on four straight days at any version of Yankee Stadium, according to MLB.com. His 446-foot blast in the seventh inning of the finale put the Angels in front for good and capped a loud, relentless week of power in the Bronx.
Peraza’s Bronx revenge
Oswald Peraza, the 25-year-old infielder the Yankees traded away last summer, spent the series reminding his old team exactly what they gave up. He logged a three-hit night earlier in the set, including a solo homer, as documented by ESPN, then closed out the finale with timely knocks and three RBIs, per New York Daily News. Peraza’s mix of pop and speed forced New York to juggle matchups and defensive alignments for four straight games, and the adjustments never really caught up to him.
Yankees pitching under strain
Max Fried took the loss in the finale after giving up five earned runs in 5.1 innings, and New York’s relief corps kept getting tagged for late damage. Manager Aaron Boone did not sugarcoat things after the series, saying of Trout that "he was right in the middle of hurting us tonight" and later adding that Peraza "killed us," as reported by New York Daily News. The outlet also noted that the Yankees bullpen surrendered 14 runs in 17 innings during the four-game set, a brutal clip that turned every tight spot into a fire drill.
What comes next
The Yankees head into their next stretch searching for quick fixes to a pitching staff that has been boom or bust early in the season, while the Angels will haul a confidence-boosting offensive performance back to Anaheim. If this Bronx swing proved anything, it is that veteran bats and ticked-off ex-players can flip a short series in a hurry and force a pitching staff living on thin margins to come up with answers fast.
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