Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton both hit home runs on April 17, but the New York Yankees lost 11-4 to the Los Angeles Angels as Mike Trout delivered a standout performance at Yankee Stadium.
The game highlighted the rare occasion when Judge and Stanton homered in the same game but did not secure a win for their team. Usually, this combination leads to victory for the Yankees, who had won 53 of the previous 60 games where both players went deep. However, Trout’s dominance changed that pattern during this series.
Trout became the first player since George Bell in 1990 to hit five home runs in a series against the Yankees, an achievement never before accomplished by a visiting player in New York. “It’s unreal. Cool showing from him and Judgie all series,” Stanton said. “Obviously, you don’t want that against us, but you’ve got to acknowledge the greatness.”
Pitcher Max Fried said after struggling with command that “we obviously haven’t been playing to our standards, but we know the kind of club that we are, especially the way we started off. That standard that we have, we’re going to get back to it.” Manager Aaron Boone acknowledged Oswald Peraza’s strong performance against his former team: “He looked like what we were excited about several years ago,” Boone said. “He absolutely hurt us.”
Trout continued his hot streak by hitting his fifth homer of the series during Angel Chivilli’s debut for New York. He has now homered in five straight games against the Yankees dating back to last season and credited family support for his strong showing at Yankee Stadium: “It was definitely fun, from the beginning of the game to the end,” Trout said. “It just felt like we were going back and forth with each other.” José Caballero added: “He’s one of the greatest in sport, and he’s showing it.”
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki remarked on watching two star sluggers compete: “It’s good for the game, watching those two guys,” Suzuki said. “I don’t want Judge to hit home runs like that against us all time, but it was an impressive show by those two.”
Despite their loss and bullpen struggles noted by Boone—who called it “a work in progress”—the Yankees saw Judge tie Jordan Walker for most home runs in Major League Baseball with eight so far this season.
