Yankees kiss hellish road trip goodbye as Angels sweep – The Denver Post

ANAHEIM — After falling to the Angels one last time, the Yankees find themselves in hell.

The Halos beat the stumbling Yankees, 7-3, on Wednesday at Angel Stadium, thus completing their first sweep over New York since July 2009. The loss brought an end to a hellish road trip that also saw the Yankees lose 2-of-3 to the Rockies, the worst team in the National League, immediately following the All-Star break.

“We’re not very good right now,” Aaron Boone said. “We understand that. And certainly, this is a low point for us. The silver lining in it all is it is in front of us, and we control that, and we understand that. So acknowledging that we’re not in a good place as a team right now. We’re not playing anywhere near the ball we need to be able to play to put ourselves in a good position at the end of the season. But understanding that we are in the fight and we need to continue to stay in the fight and understand that we control all this with our play. This doesn’t feel good when you’re getting your teeth kicked in and you have a bad road trip where you’re going through a tough stretch. But we gotta deal with it.”

The Yankees will fly home in last place in the American League East after Carlos Rodon endured his worst start since signing a six-year, $162 million contract in December. The southpaw surrendered four hits, six earned runs and two homers over 4.1 innings while walking five and striking out three.

The pitcher said he wanted to “shut it down” with the Yankees reeling, but “it totally backfired in my face.”

“The way I was moving, I just didn’t get that rhythm that I like to find,” Rodon added. “I felt like they had a good plan and I wasn’t in the zone. And when I was in the zone, they did damage. They just kicked my teeth in today, and it wasn’t good.

“It sucks. I didn’t do my job today and didn’t give my team a chance.”

The homers, hit by Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo, gave the Angles a 4-0 lead after just two innings. As Rodon left the mound after the second frame, he was caught blowing a kiss in response to jeering Yankees fans behind the club’s dugout.

Boone said he would prefer it if Rodon avoided such gestures, but he understood the pitcher’s frustration.

“That probably prevented him from doing something that he didn’t want to do, which is yell at a fan or yell at somebody,” the manager said. “Not the reaction you want, and we’ve talked about it. But when you’re in the arena and you’re going through it, sometimes you do things you don’t necessarily want to engage in. Hopefully he’ll learn from that and move on, but I think it was better than getting into a shouting match or doing something that he would regret.”

Rodon reached the same conclusion, explaining that the kiss was “the best reaction I could give” before admitting that it would’ve been best to give no reaction at all.

He wasn’t sure what was said to him, but he owned up to letting his emotions get the best of him.

“A fan was angry, as they should be,” Rodon said. “I’m angry, too. And I was just angry with myself and blew a kiss, unfortunately.”

Rodon, who also gave up an RBI single to Mickey Moniak, later heard light booing when he left the mound for good. After having his season delayed by forearm and back injuries, Rodon hasn’t gotten off to the sharpest start. The Yankees’ biggest offseason addition owns a 7.36 ERA through his first three outings with the franchise.

Speaking of dull, Wednesday’s game featured another abysmal offensive performance for the Yankees, as Angels righty Chase Silseth set a career-high with 10 strikeouts.

Silseth entered the game with a 5.30 ERA, but that didn’t stop him from working the Yankees for 5.2 innings. The 23-year-old held the team to one run — a Giancarlo Stanton homer in the sixth — while only allowing four hits and two walks.

The Angels had one of the 10-worst rotation ERAs in baseball when this series began, but starters Silseth, Patrick Sandoval and Griffin Canning limited the Yankees’ lifeless bats to just four earned runs over 18.2 innings. They combined for 29 strikeouts, as Canning also set a career-high with 12 on Monday.

Overall, the Yankees struck out 42 times in the three-game series.

“We stink right now. We acknowledge that,” Boone said. “We gotta be better. We understand that.”

The Angels series continued a stretch that has seen the Yankees flop against average and subpar starters. In Colorado, Austin Gomber and Chase Anderson combined for 11 innings and two earned runs despite having ERAs over 6.00, while Jameson Taillon and his 6.93 ERA blanked the Yankees for eight innings before the All-Star break.

The Bombers have scored 22 runs in six games since firing hitting coach Dillon Lawson and replacing him with Sean Casey.

On Wednesday, the Yankees’ second run came on an RBI single from Kyle Higashioka in the sixth, while Franchy Cordero added a solo shot in the eighth. But a hole had already been dug — on the scoreboard and in the standings — and the Angels added another run in their half of the eighth off Tommy Kahnle.

Kahnle, who has allowed five earned runs in his last three appearances following a lengthy scoreless streak, became furious with himself in the Yankees’ dugout afterward. The reliever chucked his glove at a fan, knocking it over. He then stomped on it repeatedly before having a talk with Boone.

“I know we all care a lot, and sometimes in this game, when you get beat up a little bit and you’re taking your lumps, it comes out in certain ways,” Boone said. “Obviously, there’s a line. You got to be a professional, right? But everyone reacts a little bit different sometimes.”

With the trade deadline approaching and the Yankees in the cellar, they will try to correct course at home after a Thursday off day. They have a great opportunity to rebound against an awful Royals team on Friday, but the Yanks haven’t exactly handled lesser opponents the way they’re expected to.

Since June 6, the Yankees have gone 1-2 against the White Sox, 1-2 against the Mets, 2-1 against the A’s, 1-2 against the Cardinals, 1-2 against the Cubs, and 1-2 against the Rockies. All of those teams are in last place and/or under .500.

The Angels were below .500 when their series with the Yankees began.

“We got to acknowledge where we’re at and come ready to compete our ass off on Friday and believe that that’s the day we turn it around,” Boone said. “And if it’s not, we keep going. And that’s the focus. Acknowledging where we’re at. We’re nowhere near where we want to be. But understanding that we are capable and we control the story. And that’s on us.”

()