Angels Avoid Sweep. Shut Out Yanks, 2-0, NY Fails to Get to Five Over .500 Again

For the eighth time this season, the Yankees failed to win the deciding final game of a series that would have otherwise resulted in a series sweep. Chad Green took the mound for New York this afternoon and pitched extremely well for the second consecutive outing. Unfortunately for the righty, however, zero contributions from his offense led him to fall to 2-3 while actually lowering his ERA to 3.66 during his second straight quality start. Getting the call and the win for Anaheim was Jhoulys Chacin, who improved to 4-8 while also lowering his ERA to 5.61 with his rare near six inning shutout performance today.

While the Yankees did their damage last night with two outs, it was some two-out Angels offense that put the first run of the game on the board in the bottom of the first. Albert Pujols hit a two-out single to center, advancing to second when C.J. Cron walked. Andrelton Simmons then found a hole on the left side of the infield for a single, plating Pujols to put the Halos up 1-0.

It's not like the Yankees didn't have their chances to score on Chacin in the first four innings. But, a Gardner double-play to end the scoring threat in the third and a fourth inning two-out Teixeira bases-loaded fly out to Trout squandered both of the opportunities to either tie the game or take the lead.

For the second straight game, Yankee fans were treated to another Yankee outfielder robbing an Angel of a homerun. Last night, Brett Gardner stole a round-tripper from C.J. Cron to prevent the Angels from getting back into the ballgame. And this afternoon, Jacoby Ellsbury robbed Albert Pujols of a blast that would've put LAA up by three. If only their bats could have got going.

The Halos added another run in the bottom of the eighth to give themselves a two run lead headed into the top of the ninth. With one out, Mike Trout walked and was gunned out at second base trying to steal off of the rocket right arm of Gary Sanchez. Albert Pujols recorded his third hit of the game, a single passed a diving Gregorius, advancing to third on a C.J. Cron single. Another Andrelton Simmons "seeing-eye" single passed a diving Castro would score Pujols to make it a 2-0 ball game, where the score would unfortunately remain for the rest of the game.

Every time the Yankees try to reach their high watermark of the season at five games over .500, they shoot themselves in the foot with a poor pitching performance or, as in today's game, an inability to put any offensive threat together in support of a tremendous outing by there starting pitcher. Green was awesome today, tossing six innings of one run ball, allowing just five hits while walking one and striking out five. But once again, the Bomber bats were silenced and the Yankees failed to sweep yet another series.

The Pinstripers head to Seattle to begin a three-game set with the Seattle Mariners tomorrow, with first pitch scheduled for 10:10 PM/EST.