ANAHEIM, Calif. — The day before making his first major-league start, Luis Cessa said having a familiar glove behind the plate could only help.
That glove belonged to Gary Sanchez, whom Cessa pitched to, successfully, for much of this season for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
For one night at least, that success translated to the big leagues for the rookie battery.
Sanchez flexed his muscles with yet another home run and Cessa displayed a refined slider during his six shutout innings on Saturday night, helping the Yankees to a 5-1 victory over the Angels in front of 44,129 at Angel Stadium.
The Yankees (63-59), winners of seven of their last 10, matched their high-water mark at four games over .500 and climbed within four games of the Orioles for the AL’s second wild-card spot.
Cessa, 2-0 with a 5.30 ERA in eight relief appearances with the Yankees, allowed three hits and a walk in six innings-plus. The 24-year-old righthander struck out five and controlled the Angels (51-72) throughout, allowing only one runner to reach second base.
Tyler Clippard replaced Cessa after Jefry Marte led off the seventh with a single. Clippard retired Andrelton Simmons, then gave up a long drive to left off the bat of C.J. Cron. Brett Gardner, who missed five of the previous six games with a bruised right ankle, drifted back and, with much of his body over the short wall in left and in the crowd, robbed Cron of a two-run homer with a catch that electrified the Yankees’ dugout.
The Angels’ Albert Pujols homered on Dellin Betances’ first pitch of the ninth inning to make it 5-1.
Sanchez saw his streak of multi-hit games end at four, but the 23-year-old catcher hit his sixth homer in his last nine games. His two-out solo shot ignited a three-run frame that gave Cessa a 3-0 cushion before he threw a pitch.
Brian McCann had a two-run single in the first inning and Aaron Judge contributed a two-run single in the sixth off Ricky Nolasco to make it 5-0. The Yankees scored all of their runs with two outs.
Nolasco (0-3, 5.22) allowed five runs and seven hits in 6 1⁄3 innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
The Angels righthander retired the first two batters he faced before Sanchez stepped in. The catcher, 10-for-his-last-14 and 16-for-his-last-31 entering the night, hammered a hanging 2-and-2 slider to left for his sixth home run. The blast gave Sanchez 11 extra-base hits out of 22 hits total.
Didi Gregorius followed with a single and Starlin Castro doubled to bring McCann, the DH, to the plate. McCann, who has lost the starting catcher’s job to Sanchez, grounded a hard single to right to make it 3-0.
Cessa retired the first eight batters he faced before former Yankee Gregorio Petit lined a single to center with two outs in the third. Kole Calhoun reached on an infield single but Cessa retired Mike Trout, whom he fanned in the first inning on a slider, on a grounder to short to end the inning.
Nolasco retired 15 of the next 16 batters after McCann’s single in the first. The lone batter to reach in that stretch was Ronald Torreyes on a throwing error by shortstop Andrelton Simmons with one out in the second.
Castro and McCann singled with two outs in the sixth and, with Castro on third, an alert McCann swiped second for his first stolen base of the season. Judge, a California native with plenty of friends and family in the stands this weekend, punched a single to right to make it 5-0.
..... - Newsday