New York Yankees Make History In Frustrating Loss

The New York Yankees extended two historic streaks in Tuesday's loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

May 28, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Nestor Cortes (65) reacts after giving up a home run. / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday was a frustrating night for the New York Yankees. Despite making history both on the mound and at the plate, the Yankees still came up short against the Los Angeles Angels in their series opener, 4-3.

With a chance to extend its lead in the AL East over the Baltimore Orioles (who lost to the Boston Red Sox earlier in the evening), New York squandered another solid performance from Nestor Cortes, who delivered 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball. Cortes yielded a two-run homer to Kevin Pillar in the bottom of the first but quickly settled in, throwing 59 of his 88 pitches for strikes and lowering his ERA to 3.30.

For the Yankees, it was their MLB-record 15th straight game of a starter going at least five innings and allowing two runs or fewer, breaking a four-way tie with 1907 Philadelphia Phillies, 1968 Pittsburgh Pirates and 2022 New York Mets.

With that, Yankees starters have now gone 15 straight games throwing at least five innings with two runs or less, which sets a new @MLB record. Previous marks of 14 were shared by the 1907 Phillies, 1968 Pirates and 2022 Mets.

— Bryan Hoch ⚾️ (@BryanHoch) May 29, 2024

Cortes left with a 3-2 lead, but New York's bullpen wasn't able to hold it, surrendering two runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and blowing the game.

At the plate, Juan Soto swatted his 15th homer and shortstop Anthony Volpe stayed hot, going 2-for-5 from the leadoff spot. The pair of hits extended his hitting streak to 20 games -- the longest by a Yankees player since 2012. Volpe is batting .337 over the course of the streak, raising his season average to .285.

In the end, however, it wasn't enough to beat the last-place and Mike Trout-less Angels in Anaheim. New York left eight men on base and failed to put any crooked numbers on the scoreboard. It also missed out on a key insurance run when Gleyber Torres was cut down at the plate to end the top of the fifth.

After losing their previous game against the San Diego Padres as well, the first-place Yankees will look to bounce back on Wednesday night behind Luis Gil, who's been phenomenal this year (6-1, 2.11 ERA, 11.4 K/9). He'll be opposed by lefty Tyler Anderson, who's off to a good start as well (5-4, 2.52 ERA).