Three walks and two singles already had southpaw Patrick Sandoval and the Angels in a 2-0 hole when Yankees catcher Jose Trevino stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning on Thursday.
Trevino, off to a quiet start this season, then drove a pitch to the bottom of Yankee Stadium’s left field wall. The two-out rope cleared the bases and capped a five-run first for the Bombers, which paved the way for a 9-3 rubber match win.
The clutch extra-base hit also handed Trevino’s battery mate, Nestor Cortes, an early lead to work with.
“It puts me on the attack,” Cortes said of the cushion. “We’re trying to get out there with the least pitches possible because we have a five-run lead.”
The lefty Cortes fared better than his Angels counterpart, allowing four hits and three earned runs over six innings of work and 94 pitches. Cortes, who owns a 3.09 ERA after four starts, also walked two while tying his season-high for strikeouts with seven.
Cortes felt he was locked in early, but he left some offerings out over the plate as the game went on. His manager felt the same way, but was still impressed with Cortes’ performance.
“I didn’t think he was great Nestor today, but he was really good at times,” Aaron Boone said. “And he’s Nestor. Six strong on a day when he was a little bit in and out. The stuff was good at times. But he can just really pitch.
“He made some mistakes, and he’s still able to have that kind of an outing, which just speaks to the kind of pitcher he is.”
The Yankees’ bullpen flirted with some trouble after Cortes departed, but the team never lost its lead. DJ LeMahieu added an RBI double in the seventh inning, while Isiah Kiner-Falefa — who also made a few fun plays under a bright sun in center field after picking the position up in spring training — followed up with a two-run single.
“I’m not off to the best start offensively,” said Kiner-Falefa, who’s hitting .138 this year, “but it definitely felt really good to make some plays out there. All that preparation out there isn’t going to waste.”
Oswald Peraza, who also shined on defense, drove in another run in the eighth. The Yankees’ first two runs came on an Anthony Rizzo single and a Peraza walk with the bases loaded. Rizzo reached base in each of his five plate appearances, recording three singles and two walks.
He is now hitting .344 with a 1.027 OPS this season.
“He’s just been rock solid for us,” Boone said of the first baseman, adding that Rizzo feels healthy and found his stroke just at the end of spring training.
Sandoval settled in after the first, but he only went four innings and issued six walks.
Two of the Angels’ three runs were driven in by Long Island native Logan O’Hoppe, who went 3-for-4 on the day before exiting in the ninth inning with an injury. Taylor Ward plated the Halos’ other run.
With Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles out of the way, the Yankees will turn their attention to a division rival when they begin a three-game set with the Blue Jays on Friday night. Toronto will throw left-hander Yusei Kikuchi in the opener, while Domingo German will pitch for the Yankees.
German is coming off what was easily his most successful — and controversial — start of the year, as he struck out 11 Twins while allowing one earned run over 6.1 innings on April 15 despite multiple checks for sticky stuff.
Saturday’s game features a matchup between two aces, as Alek Manoah is opposing Gerrit Cole. Cole is off to a sensational start with a 4-0 record, 0.95 ERA and 32 strikeouts. Manoah has struggled in a few starts, however. He brings an ERA just below 7.00 into the American League East showdown.
The Blue Jays have an edge on the mound Sunday, when Kevin Gausman is set to face Clarke Schmidt in the series finale.
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