ANAHEIM, Calif. — They left home a game out of first place in the AL East and lost four of seven during a two-city tour of Houston and Anaheim.
Yet, the Yankees return home closer to the top of the standings than before opening the trip.
Thanks to a 3-1 victory Wednesday over the Angels in front of 40,938 at Angel Stadium, the Yankees avoided dropping five of seven that would have been absorbed as a sign they were ready for a free fall.
Nathan Eovaldi’s third straight solid outing since being embarrassed in Miami on May 16 was backed by Chase Headley’s RBI single in the second, Garrett Jones’ homer in the sixth and exceptional relief pitching by Chasen Shreve and Dellin Betances.