Yankees beat Angels 6-3 for 4-game sweep, back at .500

NEW YORK (AP) Getting back to .500 for only the second time since mid-April was costly for the New York Yankees. A night after homering twice in his first

NEW YORK (AP) Getting back to .500 for only the second time since mid-April was costly for the New York Yankees.

A night after homering twice in his first Yankees start, Chris Parmelee hit a tying single, then hurt his right hamstring and needed to be assisted off the field. After New York beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-3 Thursday to complete a four-game sweep, manager Joe Girardi said Parmelee will become the Yankees' fourth first baseman on the disabled list, joining Mark Teixeira, Greg Bird and Dustin Ackley.

''I would be completely shocked if he's a player for us,'' Girardi said.

Parmelee was celebrated in New York on Thursday: The Daily News ran a headline: ''PARM HERO!''

He tied the score with an opposite-field single to left in the fifth, then two innings later got hurt while stretching into a split to grab shortstop Didi Gregorius' throw on an inning-ending groundout. Parmelee could not put any weight on the leg and had arms wrapped around the shoulders of Girardi and assistant athletic trainer Tim Lentych when he was helped back to the dugout.

Girardi said an MRI will determine the extent of the injury. Rookie Rob Refsnyder, hitting .208 in 24 at-bats, is likely to be the everyday first baseman.

''He's done a good job over there,'' Girardi said. ''The plays that he's had to make, he's made them.''

Nick Swisher could be brought up from Triple-A as a backup.

Carlos Beltran hit a tiebreaking, two-run double in the five-run fifth, and Ivan Nova (5-3) won his second straight start, allowing three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman combined for two-hit relief, with Chapman getting three outs for his 11th save in 12 chances. The Yankees are 8-0 when all three pitch.

Beltran is hitting .351 in his last 20 games and became the first Yankees player with at least two RBIs in every game of a four-game series since Chris Chambliss against the Angels in August 1977, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Brett Gardner had his second straight three-hit night, and New York swept a four-game series from the Angels for the first time since July 1994. When the Yankees (30-30) host Detroit on Friday, they can move over .500 for the first time since they were 4-3.

''We played good baseball this series,'' Beltran said. ''We just need to continue to find a way to play the same way we've been doing.''

Since an early season losing streak, the only other time the Yankees reached .500 was at 22-22 on May 24.

''I think it's important,'' Girardi said. ''You can't get to over .500 until you get there.''

Los Angeles is going in the other direction - physically and numerically. The Angels completed a 2-5 trip and dropped to 26-34, matching a season-worst eight games under .500. Jhoulys Chacin (1-2) lost his command against left-handed hitters in the fifth and wound up allowing five runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Mike Trout put the Angels ahead when he doubled leading off the fourth, stole third base and came home on C.J. Cron's single to left past a drawn-in infield.

New York hit only one ball out on the infield before Parmelee's single. Beltran's double gave him a team-leading 43 RBIs, Alex Rodriguez followed with a sacrifice fly and Brian McCann added an RBI double for a 5-1 lead.

Jefry Marte's two-run homer, the first home run by an Angels pinch hitter this year, chased Nova in the seventh and cut the gap to 5-3. Rodriguez added an RBI double in the bottom half off Cory Rasmus, who was activated from the disabled list before the game.

''We want to be in first place,'' Starlin Castro said. ''If we keep like we are right now, we're going to be in good shape.''

WEB GEM

Gregorius made a diving stop in the shortstop hole on Kole Calhoun's sixth-inning grounder and while nearly horizontal made an off-balance throw to second that forced Yunel Escobar.

OVERTURNED

Gregorio Petit's one-out single in the third sent Carlos Perez to third base ahead of Jacoby Ellsbury's throw from center, but third base umpire Clint Fagan's call was overturned in a video review.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: RHP Luis Severino allowed three hits in six scoreless innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday night, his second start since his demotion to Triple-A. ''He threw some better sliders, some better changeups, but I still think there's work to be done: the location of fastball and consistency of his offspeed,'' said Girardi, who watched video of the outing.

UP NEXT

Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (3-4, 2.58) starts Friday's series opener against Detroit and RHP Mike Pelfrey (1-5, 4.76). Sabathia is 20-13 against the Tigers.