ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees will have a good head of steam as they bus 30 miles up the 5 Freeway for their World Series rematch against the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend.
New York’s 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night gave the AL East leaders 16 wins in 20 games.
Clarke Schmidt continued a six-week stretch of superb starting pitching with six shutout innings, and Anthony Volpe drove in the only run with a first-inning sacrifice fly as the Yankees (35-20) completed a three-game sweep and sent the Angels (25-30) to their fifth straight loss.
A Yankees rotation that lost ace Gerrit Cole to season-ending elbow surgery and has two other starters – Luis Gil and Marcus Stroman – on the injured list has a major league-best 2.54 ERA over the last 40 games and has limited opponents to one run or less in 22 of those starts.
Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough allowed one run and two hits in six innings of Monday night´s 5-1 win over the Angels, left-hander Carlos Rodon gave up five hits in seven scoreless innings of Tuesday´s 3-2 win, and Schmidt, a right-hander, gave up four hits in his six shutout innings Wednesday night.
Left-hander Max Fried, who is 7-0 with a 1.29 ERA in 11 starts, will pitch Friday night´s series opener against the Dodgers, and right-hander Will Warren, who is 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA in 11 starts, is scheduled to pitch Saturday.
