Sandoval hangs with Yankees in bounce-back start

ANAHEIM -- Despite being the Angels' Opening Day starter, it's mostly been a frustrating struggle of a season for left-hander Patrick Sandoval.

It was never more evident than after his last start against the Guardians on Friday, when Sandoval allowed a season-worst eight runs over just 3 2/3 innings. But the lefty responded on Thursday night, turning in one of his best outings of the year in an 8-3 loss to the AL-leading Yankees at Angel Stadium. He wasn't perfect, but he went six innings and allowed two runs on just two hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

“It feels good to flush that one,” Sandoval said, "and have a pretty solid one today.”

It was a step in the right direction for Sandoval, who entered with a 5.60 ERA in 11 outings, but had a 2.63 ERA through his first four starts this month before his debacle against Cleveland. He was seemingly hurt by just one bad pitch in the fourth after a leadoff walk from Juan Soto.

Sandoval surrendered a go-ahead, two-run blast to Yankees superstar Aaron Judge on a 2-1 sweeper that caught too much of the plate.

“It was a mistake pitch that he got to,” Sandoval said. “I probably shouldn’t have thrown it. Logan [O’Hoppe] called for a changeup, but I just didn’t have much confidence in it. I felt more confident in my sweeper because I got him out with it last time, but I just left it down the middle.”

It was the first hit of the night allowed by Sandoval, who surrendered a single to Alex Verdugo one out later before wrapping the frame by getting DJ LeMahieu to ground into a double play.

He came back out for the sixth on 79 pitches and found himself in trouble after walking Soto with one out. He struck out Judge on a perfectly placed changeup at the bottom of the zone, but uncorked a wild pitch with Giancarlo Stanton at the plate to allow Soto to get to second base. Sandoval recovered to retire Stanton on a sharp lineout to right field, and was noticeably pumped up on his way back to the dugout.

“I knew my time was coming to an end and my pitch count was getting up there, so I really wanted to get out of that inning,” Sandoval said. “So I was pretty excited.”

Sandoval kept his team in the game but didn’t receive much run support, as O’Hoppe connected on a solo blast off Carlos Rodón in the second -- but it was the Angels' only hit until the seventh.

By then, the wheels had fallen off for the Angels, as they allowed five runs in the top of the inning after reliever Adam Cimber struggled with his command -- aided by a seemingly tight strike zone from home-plate umpire Edwin Moscoso. Cimber walked four of the six batters he faced, including Oswaldo Cabrera and Anthony Volpe with the bases loaded. It was the second rough showing in three outings for Cimber, who looks headed for a lower-leverage role.

“Even though Cimber walked four, he was only one pitch from getting out of the inning. I’ve seen him do that many times, but he just couldn’t do it,” manager Ron Washington said. “We might need to go back to the drawing board and start putting him in some situations where he can get his game back together. And we might have to pull someone else out of that bullpen and see if they can step up in those situations.”

José Suarez was brought in to limit the damage with the bases loaded and one out, but promptly gave up a three-run triple to Soto to give the Yankees a six-run lead. Suarez, though, was otherwise solid, allowing one run on two hits over 2 2/3 innings in long relief while striking out three, including Judge twice.

The Angels again tried to make it interesting after their late comeback on Tuesday and near comeback on Wednesday, as Kevin Pillar helped spark a rally with an RBI double in the seventh. The Angels had the tying run at the plate after Willie Calhoun connected on an RBI single with the bases loaded, but Kyren Paris grounded out to end the scoring threat. They also put two on in the eighth but couldn’t score, with Pillar hitting into a double play.

“We kept coming,” Washington said. “Once again, we just couldn’t get the big hit to extend the inning.”