TLDR: The Yankees are still chasing October. The Angels are playing out a rebuild with nothing but roster spots to prove. Wednesday's the kind of game that only matters to one side of the field.
+Snapped a 7-game skid with a 10-1 win over this same team
+Rodriguez's last start was actually clean, 1 run in 5.2 innings
+Rookie arms like Ureña have looked legit down the stretch
−53-85, sold off talent at the deadline
−Rodriguez still carries a 6.03 ERA on the year
−1-4 in their last 5 outside of Monday's outlier
First pitch is 6:38 PM PT at Angel Stadium, and the arms couldn't be further apart. Gerrit Cole takes the ball for New York fresh off his return from Tommy John surgery, while Grayson Rodriguez tries to find something in a season that's given the Angels almost nothing from him.
Gerrit Cole
(8-9)·3.67 ERA
Aug 27 vs Astros
L
6.0IP
3ER
5K
1BB
79P
09/01 Lineup
Grayson Rodriguez
(4-7)·6.10 ERA
Aug 26 vs Guardians
ND
5.2IP
1ER
4K
1BB
92P
09/01 Lineup
Cole is 7-7 with a 3.19 ERA this year, but his last start against Houston was more grind than gem — 6 innings, 3 earned runs, 5 strikeouts on 79 pitches, a loss on the ledger. Rodriguez, for his part, actually flashed something useful his last time out against Cleveland: 5.2 innings, 1 earned run, 4 strikeouts, no decision. It's a small sample against a 6.03 season ERA, but it's the version of Rodriguez the Angels traded for.
New York is still without Aaron Judge, though Aaron Boone has him targeted for activation during the Yankees' upcoming homestand — not this trip. Ryan McMahon is close behind him, expected back after a thumb issue, and George Lombard Jr. is day-to-day with a knee problem that's already cost him a start in this series. None of it fixes what happened the night before: the Angels snapped a 7-game skid by hanging 10 runs on the Yankees, with Vaughn Grissom driving in 4 and Mike Trout adding a 2-run single.
The Angels aren't hiding what this season is anymore — they sold at the trade deadline and have leaned on arms like rookie Walbert Ureña, who tossed 7 strong innings in that win over the Yankees. It's evaluation baseball at 53-85, and beating a $300 million roster once doesn't change that. For the Yankees at 78-60, this series is a speed bump on a West Coast trip, and Cole's the guy they trust to keep it that way.
Yankees 7, Angels 3: Final Score & Odds Recap — Cole and the Yankees Try to Avoid a Sweep Setup in Anaheim
