Angels fall to the Yankees, 4-3

New York Yankees 4, Angels 3

KEY MOMENT: There were two for Albert Pujols, who singled twice in his first two at-bats and leads the major leagues with nine homers. With two on, one out and the Angels trailing, 4-3, in the seventh, Pujols popped out to left field on a 2-and-0 fastball from reliever Shawn Kelley. After Mike Trout singled and stole second with one out in the ninth, Pujols flied to left on a full-count pitch from closer David Robertson.

AT THE PLATE: Mike Trout hit his sixth homer of the season, a solo shot to right-center in the first, and Chris Iannetta keyed a two-run fourth with a score-tying RBI double, but the Angels went two for 14 with runners in scoring position in the game, and 0 for 8 in the final five innings. John Ryan Murphy, the Yankees’ No. 9 hitter, stroked a two-out, two-run single in the second and a game-winning solo homer, the first of his career, in the fifth.

ON THE MOUND: Control problems hampered Angels left-hander Hector Santiago, who hit a batter and walked a batter in a three-run second. Santiago (0-4) was pulled in the fifth despite having thrown only 77 pitches. Right-hander Dellin Betances, who threw two scoreless, one-hit innings, striking out three, keyed a strong 4 2/3-inning relief effort for the Yankees.

CROSSED UP: Santiago, admittedly flustered by a bases-loaded balk in the second, was about to release a changeup to Murphy when he saw catcher Chris Iannetta set up inside, which he thought odd. It turns out, Iannetta had actually called for a fastball. Murphy hit the changeup to right-center for a two-run single. “I don’t know where the confusion came from, my part or his,” Santiago said. “But the balk call was definitely in the back of your head, and you’re not fully in on that pitch right there.”

EXTRA BASES: Six of the Angels’ 12 losses this season have come by one run. … The Angels have had five chances to push their record above .500 for the first time since the 2013 season opener. They are 0-5 in those games.

UP NEXT: Right-hander Garrett Richards (2-0, 2.52 ERA) will oppose Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka (3-0, 2.15 ERA) at Yankee Stadium on Sunday at 5 p.m. PDT. On the air: ESPN. Radio: 830 AM.