NYY Recap: Four Homers Power Yankees Past Angels 12-6

The Yankees defeated the Angels for the third straight game with a 12-6 drubbing Wednesday evening. Chris Parmelee got to be the hero in his first start in pinstripes, mashing home runs in back-to-back innings during the team’s go-ahead rally in the sixth and seventh.

Yankees fans are not accustomed to watching slug-fests in 2016, but that is exactly what they got in Wednesday night’s victory. Their 12 runs were the most the team has scored since the second game of the season on April 6, and only their third time reaching double digit runs all year. New York’s offense has now scored five or more runs in six of their last seven games. If you squint, you can see some potential remaining of the contender many of us expected this club to be.

The two teams traded blows back and forth in the early going. An RBI single by Mike Trout opened the night in the first. New York answered in the bottom of the inning with back-to-back doubles by Jacoby Ellsbury and Brett Gardner. A looping single to center by Alex Rodriguez gave the Yanks their first lead of the night, scoring Gardner.

A massive, no-doubt two-run shot by Gregorio Petit put the Angels back in front the very next inning. On the YES broadcast, Al Leiter noted that Nathan Eovaldi’s splitter didn’t seem to have its usual sharp break Wednesday night, which may have been the reason for his struggles. That pitch has been the primary factor in his 2016 success, and without it he is much less effective. Jefry Marte added a solo homer in the third to give the Angels their only double-digit lead of the contest.

Jacoby Ellsbury cut LA’s margin to 4-3 with a solo-shot to the second deck in right field to lead off the bottom of the third. In the fourth, a double by Parmelee and a single by Gardner knotted the score once again. Albert Pujols ripped a double off the wall in right to drive in Trout in the fifth, making it 5-4. That would be the Angels last lead of the night.

A lead-off homer to Chris Parmelee and a walk to Ellsbury in the 6th knocked Jered Weaver from the game, allowing the team the chance to beat up on the mediocre LA bullpen. Carlos Beltran followed a single by Gardner with a sharp line drive double to left field, scoring Ellsbury. A two-RBI single by Brian McCann made it 8-5.

Parmelee and Beltran added two more home runs in the seventh inning. It was an extremely memorable debut start for Parmelee. He has certainly earned another look at first base and should push Rob Refsnyder for some playing time. For Beltran, it was his 12th longball since the beginning of May. He has a .661 SLG and 163 wRC+ in that stretch. He is basically a one man offense at this point. The fact that he is tied for third in the American League for home runs at age 39 is incredible.

New York will try and complete the sweep of this four game series Thursday night as Ivan Nova faces off against Jhoulys Chacin at 7:05 pm ET.

Notes:

• For the sixth time this season, Jacoby Ellsbury reached on a catcher’s interference in the fourth inning. Amazingly, no other player in the majors has more than two of these calls in 2016. Ellsbury is second on the all-time list for reaching base this way behind Pete Rose.
• The blow-out win allowed the Yankees to give their Big Three relievers a much-needed day off Wednesday. Prior to the game, Mike Axisa of River Avenue Blues pointed out that Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller, and Dellin Betances had each been used in four of the team’s six previous game, with Miller being called on to warm up on the other two nights as well.
• Chad Jennings of The Journal News reports that top prospect Gary Sanchez has been cleared to resume baseball activities after missing two weeks with a cracked right thumb.