Patrick Sandoval shuts down Yankees as Angels jump back to .500 and clinch series win

Patrick Sandoval didn’t want to come out of the game. In the zone and motivated by Griffin Canning’s 120-pitch outing the night before, Sandoval convinced Angels manager Phil Nevin to let him go back out for the eighth inning.

“I had in my mind to take him out,” Nevin said. “I liked what he said.”

“I got [the eight-hole hitter up first], let me get out there,” Sandoval recalled saying to Nevin. “He was like ‘I’m gonna take you out if you get a runner on.’ I was like ‘OK, deal’ and he let me go.”

The Angels clinched a series win against the New York Yankees Tuesday when Sandoval earned a 5-1 victory at Angel Stadium. It was the Angels’ first series win since June 16-18 against Kansas City. They returned to .500 with a 48-48 record.

Sandoval pitched 7⅓ innings, holding the Yankees to just one run on two hits and three walks while striking out seven.

“He was dominating us for one,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Sandoval. “He was good. He was definitely sharp. But we gotta do better.”

Angels

How do the Angels turn things around? Keep the ‘same attitude, same effort, same focus’

The Angels’ recent two wins were encouraging, but they still face long odds. Entering Tuesday, they had an 8.3% shot at making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs.

July 18, 2023

Mickey Moniak got the Angels on the board first with a two-run home run that scored Zach Neto in the first inning. It was enough run support thanks to Sandoval and relievers Jacob Webb and Carlos Estévez. The insurance runs that followed Moniak’s home run gave the Angels some breathing room.

Gleyber Torres got a solo home run off of Sandoval at the top of the third inning. But the Angels got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Yankees starter Domingo Germán walked the bases loaded, and a wild pitch to Taylor Ward allowed Michael Stefanic to score from third base.

The Angels added two runs in the bottom of the fifth after Shohei Ohtani and Moniak batted in runs on a triple and single, respectively.

“Sandy was lights out. Turns out that’s all we needed,” Moniak said. “But to be able to [hit the home run] in the first inning, kind of get some momentum going, it’s definitely huge for the club.”

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