NEW YORK — Noah Syndergaard walked slowly off the mound just one out into the third inning, his head bowed and expression blank, blond hair brushing his shoulders. Thor never imagined getting hammered in his return to New York.
He knew after falling behind leadoff batter DJ LeMahieu 3-0 that it might be a long night.
"Something wasn't adding up," Syndergaard said Tuesday night after the Yankees routed the reeling Los Angeles Angels 9-1. "I just kind of noticed how tense my upper body was, and it's kind of hard to deliver a quality pitch when you're really tight out there.