Anthony Rizzo’s error costs Yankees in 4-3 loss to Angels

Anthony Rizzo‘s error in the eighth inning opened the door for the Angels to take the lead as the Yankees fell to Los Angeles, 4-3, on Tuesday night.

Willie Calhoun led off with a single, and Luis Rengifo reached on a fielding error when Rizzo booted a grounded with two outs to extend the inning. Clay Holmes came in to preserve the lead for Luke Weaver but Taylor Ward ambushed the reliever and sent a sinker over the head of Alex Verdugo to drive in two and give the Angels a 4-3 lead.

The Yankees went down in order in the ninth and fell to 37-19 on the year.

Here are the takeaways…

–Juan Soto wasted no time to get the scoring going for the Yankees. In the second inning, the outfielder took a 95 mph fastball from Griffin Canning over the right field wall. The blast was Soto’s 15th of the season and went 424 feet.

Soto would strike again in the fourth with the Yankees down 2-1. He blooped a single to left field to allow DJ LeMahieu to score with two outs. The Angels got Gleyber Torres out at home trying to score another run.

The Yankees slugger finished 2-for-5 with the home run and two RBI.

–Nestor Cortes continued the Yankees’ impressive streak of starters having solid starts. While the left-hander didn’t have his best start, he gutted through 5.1 innings (88 strikes/59 pitches) giving up just two runs on five hits and without walking a batter. He did pick up four strikeouts en route to his fourth win of the season. His one mistake was the two-run shot he gave up to Kevin Pillar in the first inning.

Cortes’ outing extended the Yankees’ streak of 15 consecutive games of a starting pitcher going 5-plus innings and allowing two runs or fewer. It’s an MLB record, per Elias.

–Austin Wells gave the Yankees the lead in the fifth inning when he cracked a double to right-center field. Wells was on the Angels’ pitching as he narrowly missed a home run in his first at-bat. It went 363 feet and would have been a home run 26 parks.

The backup catcher finished 1-for-4.

-LeMahieu made his 2024 debut on Tuesday and was busy. He finished 0-for-3 but had a walk and scored the tying run on Soto’s single.

Anthony Volpe extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a single in his second at-bat. He finished 2-for-5.

Game MVP: Taylor Ward

Ward took Holmes by surprise and launched the first pitch he saw in the eighth into left field for the deciding two-run double.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees continue their three-game series with the Angels on Wednesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 9:38 p.m.

Luis Gil (6-1, 2.11 ERA) will take on Tyler Anderson (5-4, 2.52 ERA).