Yankees and Angels: A Cliffhanger


The Yankees and Angels were supposed to play a day game on July 1st -- until a rain storm that never materialized forced postponement. Believe me, this is one game that was worth a six-and-a-half-week wait.
The intensity began from Monday night's very first pitch, with Gerrit Cole facing Shohei Ohtani... and continued for close to three hours.


While Ohtani -- the two-way sensation with 39 home runs and an OPS over 1.000 -- struck out leading off the game, veteran Justin Upton put the guys from Anaheim on top two batters later.

Cole then slammed the door, striking out nine in his first game back after testing positive for COVID 19. While the Yankees won 9 of 13 games while he was away, it was good to have their ace dealing once again. There were plenty of co-stars in Monday night's 2-1 victory. The "two" came on a rocket of a home run by Joey Gallo.

Ever since Babe Ruth, lefthanded hitters have loved that cozy right field porch.

Another crucial moment came in the top of the 5th, when Angels top prospect Jo Adell crushed a Cole fastball -- and Jonathan Davis showed why the Yankees made room for him (.129 batting average notwithstanding).

Paraphrasing Sunset Boulevard, "Davis is ready for his closeup."
The Yankee bullpen did its job -- keeping the Angels off the board over the final 3-1/3 innings. It came down to Chad Green facing Phil Gosselin with two outs and one in the top of the 9th.
Ballgame over... the Yankees win!!!












 

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