ANAHEIM, Calif. — If nothing else, the Angels showed Wednesday night that they have an ability to come back.
That's actually something new. One month ago, they couldn't have done it. Two weeks ago, they couldn't have done it.
Now they can. And that's something that may serve them well going forward, certainly as they approach a three-game series with the Texas Rangers starting Friday night at Angel Stadium.
Their eight-game winning streak came to an end, but they're still riding high despite losing 6-5 to the New York Yankees. They overcame a 5-1 deficit to tie the game in the fourth inning and had the winning run on base when Mark Trumbo broke his bat on a fly ball out to left field.
So they can feel good about that.
"Awesome," Trumbo said. "Not the fact we lost, but going down early to those guys, we fought back and gave them one heck of a ballgame."
Now they're likely to have some residual momentum as they take Thursday off before facing the American League West-leading Rangers, who were crushed by the Seattle Mariners 21-8 Wednesday and come to town on a two-game losing streak.
Although starter Ervin Santana had trouble making pitches at the right time, his offensive support provided the runs to leave him with a no-decision. But he gave up homers to Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano and has allowed an AL-high 15 homers in 11 starts.
"Home run balls have been part of his past even when he's pitching well," manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's a byproduct of challenging guys, which Ervin does. He's very aggressive in the zone with all his pitches. That's a powerful lineup over there. You make mistakes and they're not going to miss them all."
Santana gave up 10 home runs in his first four starts, then allowed just three in his next six starts.
"I'm a home-run pitcher, a power pitcher," Santana said. "If they make good contact, that's where they're going to end up."
Trumbo helped bring the Angels back with a two-run homer off Yankees starter Ivan Nova in the fourth. Trumbo has hit home runs in four consecutive games, the longest streak by an Angels hitter since Rex Hudler homered in four games in a row in 1996.
With two runners on base in the ninth, Trumbo fouled off a couple of pitches from Yankees reliever Rafael Soriano before lifting a slider to left field, ending the game.
"It was a great at-bat," Scioscia said. "Mark is just having a great year. In the batter's box he's got a great feel. He battled and just missed it."
Trumbo was 3 for 4, improving his team-leading batting average to .348. Now, he and his teammates await the Rangers with some momentum, even if their winning streak is no longer alive.
"The last 10 or 12 games have been outstanding," Trumbo said. "The numbers say you're probably not going to win all of them, but we sure gave it a great run as far as trying to do that."
