ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) _ Erick Aybar homered and drove in two runs, and Albert Pujols added two more RBIs in the Los Angeles Angels’ 6-2 victory over the Yankees on Saturday night that sent New York to its fifth straight defeat.
Tommy Hanson (4-2) recorded a season-high eight strikeouts while pitching five-hit ball into the seventh inning for the Angels, who have won three straight after a four-game skid. Josh Hamilton had an RBI double, and Aybar hit an early homer before delivering a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth.
Brett Gardner had an RBI triple for the Yankees, who matched their worst skid of the season. Mark Teixeira also left in the fourth inning with an aggravated right wrist.
Howie Kendrick had three hits and drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh for the Angels.
Mike Trout drew three walks and scored two runs during another productive day for the Angels’ inconsistent offense, which has 25 hits in the first two games of this weekend series.
Hanson delivered his strongest start since returning from a lengthy stint on the Angels’ restricted list in May, walking just one and allowing the second-fewest hits in any start of his debut season with Los Angeles. Hanson has won all three of his career starts against the Yankees.
David Phelps (4-4) yielded nine hits and four runs while pitching into the seventh for the Yankees, taking a small step back from outstanding work in his two previous starts. Jayson Nix drove in Gardner in the third inning, but New York managed just two more hits in the final six innings _ both by Ichiro Suzuki, who also made two outstanding catches in right field.
The Yankees have lost 27 of their last 39 games at the Big A, and their overall skid got even more foreboding with the latest injury setback for Teixeira, their $180 million slugger.
Teixeira flied out to right and popped out to third before leaving in the fourth inning when David Adams replaced him at first base. Teixeira is hitless in his last 12 at-bats, and is just 8 for 53 since coming off the disabled list on May 31 with a torn sheath on his right wrist.
Teixeira is in a 4-for-35 slump on New York’s road trip. He will be examined by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad in New York on Sunday.
Aybar put the Angels ahead in the second inning with a low drive that barely cleared the short fence in the right-field corner for the shortstop’s second homer of the season.
New York went ahead in the third when Gardner tripled and scored on Nix’s single, but Teixeira stranded two runners with a foul pop.
Trout singled, stole second, advanced on a grounder and scored on Pujols’ broken-bat single in the third. Pujols extended his hitting streak to six games.
After Aybar drove in Mark Trumbo with the go-ahead run in the sixth, Hamilton bounced an RBI double down the first-base line in the seventh against reliever Shawn Kelley. Kendrick worked a full count before bringing home Trout with his bases-loaded walk.
NOTES: Kendrick had his fourth straight multi-hit game. He is batting .500 in June (24 for 48). … The Yankees stole four bases against Hanson, who has yielded 14 stolen bases this season. … Suzuki doubled in the fourth inning, but was caught trying to steal third base. Television replays showed Suzuki might have been safe even though Hank Conger’s throw beat him to the bag, and Yankees manager Joe Girardi had an animated argument with umpire Manny Gonzalez. … Yankees LHP Andy Pettitte turned 41 on Saturday, and Eduardo Perez turned 26. … CC Sabathia faces Los Angeles starter Jered Weaver on Sunday when the Yankees wrap up their 10-game West Coast road trip.
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