Yankees' scoreless streak reaches shocking 29 innings with 4-0 loss to Angels

The Yankees couldn’t muster up a single run for a third straight game, as they fell to the Angels, 4-0, on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium for a fifth straight loss.

Here are the takeaways…

— Will Warren looked comfortable from the jump. The Yankees’ rookie starter retired the first five batters with three strikeouts and pushed his fastball velocity to 96.3 mph, up an average of 2.1 mph. But his groove didn’t last long, as the Angels took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single from Luis Rengifo that narrowly missed DJ LeMahieu‘s glove on a diving attempt and trickled into right field. Warren gave up more soft contact in the third, and while facing a bases-loaded jam, Taylor Ward pushed the Angels’ lead to 3-0 with a two-run single to left that deflected off Jazz Chisholm Jr. at third.

The early mistakes didn’t faze Warren. He quickly settled back in after the two-run single, retiring 11 straight on 46 pitches. The impressive bounceback effort allowed him to complete six innings for the first time since May 9, and he registered the quality start with a career-high 11 punchouts and zero walks across 93 total pitches. Warren also threw first-pitch strikes to 18 of 24 batters, fell into a full count only twice, and induced four groundouts.

— Unfortunately for Warren, his strong performance was spoiled by a dormant offense. The Yanks entered Tuesday riding a jarring 20-inning scoreless streak, and the skid confoundingly reached 26 after six shutout frames and a season-high nine strikeouts from Angels starter Kyle Hendricks. Their struggles against Hendricks defied expectations, as the veteran right-hander took the mound with the second-worst ERA among all MLB starters.

— Ian Hamilton took over for Warren in the seventh, and the Angels took advantage of the welcome pitching change by producing another bases-loaded rally on a single from Rengifo, a catcher’s interference error from Austin Wells, and a hit by pitch to Zach Neto. With one out, Nolan Schanuel grounded out to second, driving in Rengifo and bumping the Angels’ lead to 4-0.

— The Yankees had no answers for the trio of Angels relievers that entered after Hendricks’ exit. They went down in order during the seventh and eighth, and only managed to reach base once in the ninth on a walk. Overall, they struck out 12 times and produced just four hits. The ugly loss marked their first time being shut out in three straight games since 2016. It’s happened just six times before.

— Jasson Dominguez, who was penciled in to the leadoff spot for the first time this season, finished 1-for-4 with a single. The only Yankee with a multi-hit night was Giancarlo Stanton, who went 2-for-4. The sample size is somewhat small, but call the past week a slump for Aaron Judge — he’s hitting .125 (3-for-24) over his last seven games.

Game MVP: Will Warren

Sure, this accolade could belong to Ward, who delivered a back-breaking, two-run single in the third that essentially put the game out of reach. But the terrific performance from Warren can’t be ignored. Despite the early blunders, he recorded a career-high 11 punchouts across six innings.

Highlights

What’s next

The Yankees (42-30) will continue their four-game set against the Angels on Wednesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Ryan Yarbrough (3-1, 3.96 ERA) is slated to take the mound, opposite Jack Kochanowicz (3-8, 5.53 ERA).

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