Shohei Ohtani makes Yankees pay as bullpen collapses once more in extra-inning loss to Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees deliberately walked Shohei Ohtani to load the bases however escape a jam within the fifth inning Monday evening.

Two innings later, they pitched to the Angels celebrity and acquired a reminder of why each contending crew is dreaming concerning the probability to probably land him on the commerce deadline.

Ohtani crushed his thirty fifth house run of the season, a two-run shot off Michael King that tied it within the seventh earlier than the Angels dealt the Yankees the identical, excruciating destiny for the second straight recreation.

Pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic delivered the ultimate blow within the backside of the tenth, roping a walk-off single in opposition to Nick Ramirez to elevate the Angels to a 4-3 win over the Yankees at Angel Stadium.

Within the prime of the tenth, the Yankees had their automated runner on third base with one out however couldn’t get him in as Harrison Bader and Anthony Volpe struck out.

The Yankees truly dared to pitch to Ohtani once more to steer off the underside of the ninth inning, however Ramirez acquired him to whiff at three straight pitches for the short strikeout.

Ramirez, who gave up a game-tying house run within the eleventh inning of Sunday’s loss to the Rockies, acquired the ninth inning on Monday on an evening when the bullpen didn’t have a few of its key relievers obtainable due to latest workloads.

The Angels, who had misplaced 11 of their final 13 video games, went on to place two runners on with two outs within the ninth earlier than Ramirez struck out Matt Thaiss to ship the sport to extras.

The Yankees struck out 17 occasions — together with 12 in 5 ²/₃ innings in opposition to starter Griffin Canning — as they continued to scuffle offensively and provides their pitching workers little to no margin for error.

Ohtani’s 403-foot blast, which was punctuated with a powerful bat flip, got here with two outs within the seventh inning of a recreation the Yankees led 3-1.

King had harm himself by strolling No. 9 hitter Eduardo Escobar with one out earlier than pitching coach Matt Blake paid a mound go to with Ohtani coming to the plate, although the Yankees finally determined to take their probabilities and pitch to him.

With a 1-2 depend, King threw a 97 mph fastball on the outer third that Ohtani jumped on and deposited past the wall in left-center subject.

Two innings earlier, the Yankees had chosen a unique route in what was then a scoreless recreation. With two outs and runners on the corners, the Yankees deliberately walked Ohtani to load the bases.

The transfer labored out as Severino acquired Mickey Moniak, with a full depend and the buzzing crowd of 41,180 on its toes, to fly out to finish the menace.

The Yankees then took a 2-0 lead within the prime of the sixth when Oswaldo Cabrera got here up with the bases loaded and roped a ground-rule double to left-center subject.

The one run that Severino allowed all evening got here within the backside of the sixth, when he gave up a solo shot to Thaiss.

However the Yankees acquired that run again within the prime of the seventh when Oswald Peraza — who turned in sturdy plate appearances all evening and reached base 5 occasions — drew one in every of his 4 walks, stole second, took third on a wild pitch after which scored on Gleyber Torres’ sacrifice fly.

Severino was removed from good throughout his six innings of labor, usually having to work round visitors whereas scattering six hits and three walks, however he made some actual progress after the Yankees used the All-Star break to attempt to repair the right-hander.

Coming into the evening, Severino had a 7.38 ERA. His final two begins earlier than the All-Star break have been particularly tough, combining to surrender 16 runs (14 earned) on 19 hits throughout 6 ²/₃ innings in opposition to the Cardinals and Orioles.

“Effectively positive there’s concern — we’re making an attempt to deal with that,” supervisor Aaron Boone stated of Severino earlier than the sport. “The one factor is we do really feel like he’s wholesome and the stuff’s there. If that’s the case, he’s acquired a fairly good observe file of success. He’s carried out some good work right here in between the final begin and now, clearly having some downtime with the break. Hopefully the small changes that he’s making will unlock him.