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ANAHEIM, Calif .– The Yankees imagined Corey Kluber would make some big starts and Zack Britton would pitch even more in the eighth inning.
But as the Yankees lost a third straight game Monday night, they saw Kluber implode in the fourth inning and Britton’s substitutes drop the green light in the eighth in an 8-7 loss to the Angels at Angel Stadium.
And with the Rays now the hottest team in sport – after winning eight straight games, the Yankees have seen their deficit increase to seven games in the AL East.
DJ LeMahieu said this is the time of year when players are starting to pay attention to the standings and he remained confident in the Yankees’ chances.
“If we take care of the business, we’ll be in a very good position at the end of the day,” said LeMahieu. “It’s a good division.
“Our focus is not changing,” Gary Sanchez said through an interpreter. “It’s gaining the East, no matter what.”
To do that, the Yankees will need to find out what they have in Kluber down the home stretch.
Returning from a shoulder injury that had sidelined him since May, the right-hander did not allow a hit for the first three innings before allowing five runs in the fourth.
A home and away game remained tied until the end of the eighth, when ex-Met Juan Lagares delivered a two-strikeout RBI single against Clay Holmes for the go-ahead and the Yankees were unable to respond to the ninth because the Angels used seven pitchers in the win.
It was the first time since June 30-July 4 that the Yankees have lost three times in a row.
Aaron Boone defended the decision to keep Kluber in the game despite three straight singles, a center line-up and a run before Jack Mayfield crushed a grand slam.
“A mistake really hit him,” said Boone.
Kluber was encouraged by how he was feeling and, like Boone, just regretted Mayfield’s beat.
“I pitched badly in a big spot,” Kluber said. “This is land I wish I could reclaim.”
The result marred a resurgent performance of a Yankees offense that had been held up for most of the previous two games at Oakland.
LeMahieu doubled on the left to open the match and came back on Anthony Rizzo’s double in the opposite field on the left.
Aaron Judge called with a sharp single to leave the runners in the corners for Giancarlo Stanton, who had a double play.
Rizzo scored on the play, but that’s all the Yankees would get from Angels Mike Mayers’ opener.
Given a 2-0 lead early on, Kluber struck out 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, with just a walk of two strikeouts to Phil Gosselin in the first.
But Kluber, barely reaching 90 mph, faltered in the fourth.
The Yankees scored three runs with two strikeouts in the fifth to tie the game.
A LeMahieu single hit Brett Gardner. Rizzo scored in the middle and moved up to second on a Marsh error. The judge delivered a hit into the field to make it 5-4 and Stanton called with a single down the middle to tie the game.
With runners in the corners, struggling Joey Gallo pulled out holds.
Andrew Heaney took over from Kluber to start low in the fifth and immediately gave up a towering blast to Shohei Ohtani to put the Angels ahead by a point.
A triple RBI with two strikeouts by Lagares gave the Angels another run in the sixth.
Stanton continued his tear at home plate by hitting one into the rocks above the center field fence, a two-point shot measured at 457 feet that tied him again.
Peralta threw a scoreless seventh and gave Marsh a start in the eighth. Marsh moved up to third on a pair of Groundouts before scoring on Lagares’ RBI single against Holmes.
“We play a very good ball,” said LeMahieu. “We’ve just gotten off the short side of things for the past three days.”
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