Yankees at the Angels: Halos get a little payback
Listen to this articleIf you read the news this week you heard about the troubles in the Los Angeles Angels organization, between players, coaches and management. It was first a rumor that general manager Jerry DiPoto had been fired after a fued with manager Mike Scioscia finally came to a boiling point. But, as it turned out DiPoto resigned. Management, Angels President John Carpino, said DiPoto wasn’t forced to resign, that it was his own decision.
But don’t think the trouble is spilling into the dugout and on to the field. The team is on a four-game winning streak, having beaten the Mariners at home twice and then the Yankees in two games of their three-game series, here at Angels Stadium in Anaheim.
For the Angels it’s been a bumpy first half of the season. Early in June the Yankees swept the Angels in New York and Alex Rodriguez had been hitting Angels pitching like it was batting practice. But the Angels are improving and find themselves with a winning record and just four games out of first.
For the first time in 20 years when you look over to the New York dugout, you won’t see Derek Jeter. Instead we see Didi Gregorius, from Amsterdam, Netherlands. He’s doing a good job in the slot, and at the plate he’s hitting 238 with an on base percentage of 290. Against the Angels Didi has three runs, five hits and a batting average of 417. He’s the guy the Yankees wanted in the lineup for this series.
Right now the Yankees are just a half game out of first, trailing the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays. They had to win the last game of the series to keep pace with Baltimore and Tampa Bay, and the Toronto Blue Jays, who trailed New York by a game.
It’s been hot here in Anaheim, and Mike Trout has been too hot for the Yankees. In the first game he had a homerun and a stolen base, plus some highlight worthy catches in the outfield. In game two he had two hits in four at-bats.
The Angels also had back to back home runs from Albert Pujols and Erick Aybar to win game two, 2-1. This was Pujols 24th home run of the season. He leads the American League in homers.
For the last game of the series the Yankees kept themselves from being swept. Chase Headley and Gregarious got run-scoring singles and Garrett Jones got a homer in the sixth.
They also worked out of a sixth inning jam after Johnny Giavotella got a hit and both Mike Trout an Albert Pujols got on base with walks. Chasen Shreve relieved Nathan Eovaldi and got Erick Aybar to pop up and David Freese to ground out.
You can catch parts of the interviews and press conferences in my video below.
(All photos by Claudia Gestro)
Claudia is of Peruvian and Italian descent, having been born in a small town, in the North of Peru, South America. She was raised by her grandmother from an early age, living in poverty until Claudia’s mother brought her to America. She landed in Miami, FL and started her new life, playing high school basketball and eventually becoming a United States citizen. Claudia completed her education at Florida International University with a BA in Broadcast Journalism and became a model to supplement her income. Since graduating from FIU Claudia has worked with many of the Spanish Language broadcasting companies, including Telemundo, Univision and most recently Spanish Language channels on SiriusXM satellite radio and PasTV Deportes in Venezuela.She encourages you to follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Her content appears here under a shared content agreement with her Spanish television clients.