Clarke Schmidt delivered his strongest outing of the season, and the Yankees’ bullpen held firm as New York edged the Los Angeles Angels, 1-0, on Wednesday night in Anaheim to complete the three-game sweep and improve to a season-high 15 games over .500 at 35-20.
New York got on the board early thanks to some aggressive strategy from the Angels. With a runner on second and one out in the first, Los Angeles issued an intentional walk to Aaron Judge. Cody Bellinger followed with another walk, and Anthony Volpe brought in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly. That early edge proved to be enough.
Despite putting traffic on the bases throughout the night, seven hits and five walks in total, the Yankees couldn’t add on, going just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10.
On the mound, Schmidt bounced back from recent struggles with six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out four. The right-hander navigated early trouble in the second but settled in nicely.
The bullpen was short-handed but sharp. Ian Hamilton handled the seventh and most of the eighth before Tim Hill came in to retire Nolan Schanuel and end a scoring threat. Mark Leiter Jr. closed it out in the ninth with two strikeouts to earn his second save.
The Yankees will get the day off Thursday before continuing their road trip on Friday night when they open a three-game series with the Dodgers in LA. Max Fried (7-0, 1.29) will take the ball for New York, opposite Tony Gonsolin (2-1, 4.68 ERA), with the first pitch set for 10:10 p.m.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].