Angels’ bullpen comes up big to secure 3rd straight victory over Yankees

NEW YORK — As Connor Brogdon was jogging to the mound, realizing that he was about to face Aaron Judge with the game on the line, his plan to maintain his focus was simple.

“I kind of honestly, just almost blacked out, for lack of a better term,” the Angels right-hander said. “Just knew that it was a matter of executing my pitch.”

Brogdon didn’t quite execute it perfectly, and Judge still hit it 108 mph, but it was straight up in the air, for a routine fly ball to center field. Brogdon then retired Cody Bellinger, and Kenley Jansen worked around an error in the ninth, securing the Angels’ 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night.

The Angels (36-37) have won the first three games of this four-game series in the Bronx, holding the Yankees to just two runs.

The Yankees, and Judge in particular, came into this series in an offensive funk, and Angels pitchers have executed just enough of their pitches to keep them from breaking out.

Judge, the two-time American League MVP and consensus best hitter in the sport, is 1 for 11 with five strikeouts in the series.

When Angels manager Ron Washington gave Brogdon the ball, with Judge coming to the plate, he gave him a quick pep talk.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in this game today,” Washington said of Judge, “but he does make outs. If you execute your pitch, he can make an out. And if you don’t make an out, guess what? He got you.”

Brogdon found himself in that situation because the Angels had used their high-leverage relievers so much in the first two games of the series. Right-hander Hunter Strickland and left-hander Reid Detmers were each unavailable after pitching on Monday and Tuesday. Right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn, who also pitched in both games, was summoned to start the eighth with a one-run lead, but he clearly wasn’t sharp. He walked a batter and hit a batter. After a pop-up, Judge came to the plate, and Washington came to the mound.

Brogdon and Jansen then finished the job started by Jack Kochanowicz, with relievers Brock Burke and Hector Neris filling in to get through the sixth and seventh.

“I think we’ve done a great job,” Brogdon said of the pitching staff. “Shut them out the first two games and then only two runs tonight, and everybody knows they’re a pretty potent lineup. It says a lot about the staff that we have. I think we’re really throwing the ball well right now.”

Kochanowicz pitched one of his best games of the year, allowing just two solo homers and striking out a career-high eight in 5⅓ innings.

The key was his changeup. Kochanowicz said pitching coach Barry Enright showed him a new grip with the pitch before his last start. He started throwing it last Friday against the Baltimore Orioles – a game in which he allowed just two runs before a fifth-inning rain delay ended his night – and it was even more comfortable this time. Kochanowicz said he likes it because it spins the same way as his sinker, which is what he throws most often.

“The new grip definitely changed things,” Kochanowicz said. “It felt great.”

Kochanowicz threw his changeup 21 times against the Yankees, the most he had used the pitch since last month’s game at Dodger Stadium, which was his best game of the season. The Yankees whiffed on seven of their 14 swings at his changeup, including both of his strikeouts of Judge.

The Yankees had a total of 12 whiffs against Kochanowicz, which was one shy of the career high he reached when he pitched against the Yankees last month in Anaheim.

Kochanowicz left in a 2-2 tie, though, because the Angels were wasting their scoring opportunities besides Nolan Schanuel’s homer in the first and Jo Adell’s homer in the fifth.

The Angels were hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position when Adell came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth. Adell seemed to spoil the rally by hitting a routine bouncer to shortstop Anthony Volpe, who should have had a routine inning-ending double play.

But Volpe bobbled it. Once he didn’t field it cleanly, the double play was gone. Volpe then made a bad throw to second and the Yankees didn’t get an out.

Even though the Angels still had the bases loaded with one out, they couldn’t get an insurance run, which left no margin for error for the bullpen. They still got the job done, with Jansen working around a leadoff error by third baseman Luis Rengifo to convert his 15th save of the season.

“In that ninth inning, Kenley saved us,” Washington said. “That’s a team win. A lot of contributions from a lot of people.”