ANAHEIM, Calif. _ On a night that Eric Young Jr. continued to make Los Angeles Angels' fans wonder what the team will do with him when Mike Trout comes back, Matt Shoemaker showed why you can never look too far ahead in this game.
Shoemaker left the game in the fourth inning with tightness in his forearm. There was no further word on the severity of his injury.
The good news was that the Angels still won, beating the New York Yankees, 7-5, with Andrelton Simmons providing the go-ahead runs with a two-run homer in the seventh.
The lesson, though, is that it's pointless to try to predict roster moves too far in the future, because each day brings the potential of another injury that changes the variables.
In Shoemaker's case, the Angels have Doug Fister throwing at Triple-A, scheduled to start on Friday and with a June 21 out in his contract. If Shoemaker needs to miss a start, Fister would seem to be the obvious one to take his spot.
As for Young, he has been a revelation for the Angels ever since he came to the big leagues to take Trout's spot. A night after he had the game-tying and game-winning hits, the 32-year-old journeyman provided the go-ahead RBI, threw out a runner at the plate and made a diving catch.
Just after his catch in the top of the seventh preserved a tie, Simmons ripped a homer in the bottom of the inning. His seventh homer of the year put the Angels ahead, 7-5, in a game in which they had trailed 4-0 before even coming to bat.
Shoemaker gave up four runs in the first, three on a Gary Sanchez 441-foot homer. After that, though, he settled down. He escaped without damage in the second and third.
In the fourth, after he had allowed two singles, one an infield hit, to start the inning, the Angels summoned trainer Eric Munson to the mound to check on him. After some discussion, Shoemaker left the game.
Meanwhile, the Angels chipped away at Michael Pineda to get the lead.
They scored one in the first, but they nearly tied it. Luis Valbuena blasted a drive to straightaway center with the bases loaded. Aaron Hicks leapt at the fence and snagged it, perhaps robbing Valbuena of a grand slam. He settled for a sacrifice fly.
In the second, Danny Espinosa blasted a two-run homer, as he continues to dig out of an early season hole. Espinosa came into Wednesday's game hitting .257 in his previous 11 games, with a homer and two doubles. It's progress for a player whose average has been well under .200 all season.
Young's RBI single capped a two-run third to give the Angels the lead, but the Yankees tied it with an unearned run in the sixth.
