Even with two tennis elbows bothering him for a lot of final season, Giancarlo Stanton nonetheless led all gamers in common bat velocity at 81.2 mph. His 94.6-mph common exit velocity and 12.4 barrels per plate look ranked fourth, and his 120-mph most exit velo ranked second.
If there have been any fears that Stanton’s hard-hitting habits would dissipate after his elbows price him all of spring coaching and the primary few months of the 2025 season, he eased these considerations in his first sport of the 12 months, an 11-inning, 1-0 Yankees loss to the Angels on Monday. The night noticed the designated hitter, batting fifth, go 2-for-4 with a double.
That double rocketed down the left subject line at 102.9 mph to steer off the ninth inning of a scoreless sport. However Jasson Domínguez pinch-ran for Stanton earlier than a superbly positioned Anthony Volpe grounder, mixed with a stolen base try, allowed the Angels to file an out at third.
The deflating play noticed Domínguez slide head-first by means of the legs of Luis Rengifo. As The Martian went in, the third baseman utilized the tag as he obtained clipped on his ankle, inflicting Rengifo to hop round in ache.
A couple of innings later, Nolan Schanuel drove within the first run of the sport with a double off Jonathan Loáisiga within the eleventh. The Yankees have been unable to even issues up within the backside of the body, their twentieth consecutive scoreless inning, leading to a series-opening loss.
The ultimate half-inning noticed Aaron Choose take his second intentional stroll of the night time earlier than Cody Bellinger roped an extended sac fly to proper to offer the Yankees runners on the corners. Nonetheless, Domínguez hit a broken-bat tapper, leading to an out on the plate. Jazz Chisholm Jr. then reached on a misplayed infield single to load the bases, however Volpe grounded right into a drive out to finish the sport.
Lengthy earlier than extras, Stanton heard an enthusiastic ovation at Yankee Stadium earlier than grounding out within the first inning, the results of his first plate look because the 2024 World Sequence. The out got here with two runners in scoring place, but in addition at 101.5 mph.
Stanton then recorded his first hit of the season, a single to left, within the fourth inning. That ball was smoked at 111.1 mph off a 97.4-mph sinker from José Soriano.
The Angels right-hander, who threw seven scoreless innings, obtained Stanton to chase a knuckle-curve for a strikeout within the sixth.
Sadly for the Yankees, Stanton’s return didn’t reinvigorate an offense that scored simply 4 instances over three video games whereas getting swept by the Pink Sox over the weekend. That collection included a shutout on Sunday.
The Angels opener marked the fifth straight sport that the Yankees didn’t give their beginning pitcher any run assist.
Monday’s fortunate pitcher, Clarke Schmidt, pitched into the eighth body for the primary time this season as he held the sub-.500 Halos scoreless. The righty solely struck out three Angels over 7.2 innings and 97 pitches, however he permitted simply 4 hits and didn’t stroll a batter for the primary time this season.
Schmidt has now logged six-plus innings in six of his final eight begins, and he’s thrown a minimum of six scoreless in three of his final 4 outings. His ERA dropped to three.16.
The Angels did threaten Schmidt’s scoreless night time on the finish, as Brooklyn product Christian Moore recorded a triple for his first-career hit when Choose made an ill-advised lunge within the eighth. Nonetheless, Ferndano Cruz entered and saved Los Angeles off the board by putting out Zach Neto.
With Stanton again and the series-opener out of the way in which, the Yankees will ship Will Warren to the mound on Tuesday. The rookie will probably be opposed by the veteran Kyle Hendricks because the Yanks look to get their bats going.
