ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees rotation entered the record books on Tuesday night, but the bullpen and defense could not hold up their end of the bargain to make sure it resulted in a win.
After a fielding error by Anthony Rizzo extended the eighth inning, Clay Holmes entered to protect a one-run lead with two men on, and his first pitch was ripped for a two-run double that sunk the Yankees in a 4-3 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium.
DJ LeMahieu, in his season debut, and Juan Soto both put charges into balls in the top of the ninth, but both fell short of tying the game.
Ex-Yankee Willie Calhoun had led off the bottom of the eighth inning with a single before Luke Weaver retired the next two batters.
But Luis Rengifo came up next and hit a ground ball to Rizzo’s right.
The first baseman knocked it down but could never get a clean handle on it, allowing Rengifo to reach safely.
Holmes then entered the game and promptly gave up the lead when Taylor Ward drilled a two-run double over Alex Verdugo’s head in left field.
The late drama wasted a strong outing from Nestor Cortes, who gave up a pair of runs across 5 1/3 innings.
In the process, the Yankees rotation’s strong run of late turned historic.
Cortes became the 15th straight starter to pitch at least five innings and allow two or fewer runs, breaking the MLB record since 1893 (when the mound moved back to its current distance of 60 feet, six inches).
During that stretch, Yankees starters have combined to post an ERA of 0.99 — all without reigning AL Cy Young winner Gerrit Cole — while going 11-4
Soto went deep and short to provide the Yankees (37-19) their first two runs of the night before falling to the Angels (21-33).
Soto demolished a 424-foot home run in the first inning and later added a bloop RBI single to left field, tying the game 2-2 in the fourth inning.
Austin Wells then put the Yankees ahead in the fifth.
The catcher roped a double to right field, scoring Rizzo from second base for the 3-2 lead, though Gleyber Torres was thrown out at home trying to score from first on the play.
The Yankees came out smoking the ball off Angels right-hander Griffin Canning, even when balls were not falling.
Ten of the 19 balls they put in play off Canning came off the bat harder than 95 mph.
That included Soto’s solo home run in the first inning (at 113.1 mph) and Anthony Volpe’s 96.9 mph single through the right side in the second inning, which extended his career-high hitting streak to 20 games.
It marked the longest hitting streak by a Yankee since Robinson Cano’s 23-game streak in 2012.
It also included LeMahieu’s first at-bat of the season — preceded by a standing ovation from the large portion of Yankees fans in attendance — when he lined out to right field in the second inning after missing the first two months with a non-displaced fracture in his right foot.
But LeMahieu, batting ninth, drew a nine-pitch walk in his second plate appearance, which turned into a run.
He moved to second on Volpe’s single and scored from there on Soto’s two-out flare to left field, looking just fine as he raced home to tie the game.
