ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Yankees kicked sand in the faces of the geeks at the beach.
Now they are in the weight room competing against thick biceps and blood is gushing from the nose.
After copping five straight from the putrid Royals and A’s, the Yankees have dropped two in a row to the resurgent Angels and supported the voices that guarded against the winning streak meaning much because of who it was against.
Last night at Angel Stadium the Yankees and Andy Pettitte dropped a 5-1 decision that was witnessed by 42,065. With right-hander Ernesto Frieri replacing Scott Downs to start the ninth, the Yankees put together a threat that loaded the bases without a hit but died when Robinson Cano fanned on a 94-mph fastball.
Cano also was called out on strikes in the third with the bases full.
Failure with the bags juiced isn’t new for the Yankees. They are 8-for-53 (.151) and are hitless in their last 15 at-bats.
After scoring eight runs and losing Monday, the Yankees were held to a run by Dan Haren, who in seven-plus innings allowed eight hits.
Working against the first lineup with real muscles since coming out of retirement, Pettitte gave up five runs and nine hits in seven-plus innings and is 2-2.
Pettitte lamented two mistakes that Albert Pujols hit for a two-run homer and Mike Trumbo crushed for a solo blast that traveled 443 feet.
“You pride yourself on keeping the ball in the yard,’’ said Pettitte, who has given up six homers in four games. “It’s a loss and I am not happy with it. I have to get better, that’s all there is to it.’’
Pujols punished a fastball in the middle of the plate in the three-run third. Trumbo, who won Monday night’s 9-8 debacle with a leadoff homer in the ninth, reached the silly-looking rock formation in the sixth off Pettitte.
It wasn’t a shock Haren handcuffed the Yankees. He started the night with a 5-1 record and 3.43 ERA in 11 career starts against them. Last Sept. 10 he threw a complete-game shutout.
Haren received plenty of defensive help. Left fielder Mike Trout robbed Nick Swisher of an extra base hit with a jumping catch at the wall in the second. Center fielder Peter Bourjos made a running catch in right-center on another Swisher drive in the seventh. Trout added a diving catch in the ninth on Curtis Granderson’s sinking liner. And shortstop Erick Aybar turned Derek Jeter’s leadoff grounder up the middle into an out with an acrobatic play.
“What are you going to do?’’ Swisher said. “I felt like I was swinging the bat super well and had nothing to show for it. If [Trout] can’t run he can’t get to the ball. Speed is something you are blessed with, and he has a whole lot of it.’’
Haren improved to 3-5, and the Angels won their eighth straight.
The Yankees are 15-17 against teams that were .500 or better and 11-6 versus clubs with losing records.
So, after sweeping the A’s in three games to start a nine-tilt trip that ends in Detroit this weekend, the Yankees need a win tonight to avoid being ushered out of Southern California with a broom.
But that’s what happens when a team with a losing record against winning teams no longer has the geeks to bully.