NEW YORK _ The Yankees did something on Wednesday they hadn't done in nine days.
They celebrated a victory.
Putting an end to a seven-game losing streak, the Yankees broke out for 12 hits on their way to a 8-4 win over the Angels in front of 39,911 at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.
Didi Gregorius hit a two-run homer and Matt Holliday had a solo shot, while Austin Romine had a key two-run double in the sixth.
Jordan Montgomery pitched 5 2/3 solid innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.
Chad Green pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, while Dellin Betances struck out two batters in the eighth.
Tyler Clippard, who had been struggling and entered the game with a 12.27 ERA in his previous five appearances, came in to pitch the ninth.
But he showed no improvement.
Andrelton Simmons led off with a double, and Clippard then surrendered a two-run homer to Martin Maldonado.
So Girardi again went to the bullpen, this time bringing in closer Aroldis Chapman.
The flame-throwing lefty retired all three batters he faced to seal the win.
The Yankees entered the game losers of seven straight and desperately trying to get a much-needed victory.
"The difference between winning a game and losing a game usually comes down a couple mistakes," manager Joe Girardi said before the game. "Whether it's you pull off a ball a little bit, you make base-running error, you make a fielding error, you make a bad pitch. It comes down to a few plays during the course of a game and usually the winner of those plays is the team that wins the game."
So the Yankees turned to Montgomery hoping he could turn in a solid outing to stop the skid.
"I think it's important for our club," Girardi said before the game. "But it would tell me that the moment's not too big for him, that he has the ability to be a stopper and go out and pitch at a really high level."
Montgomery delivered a solid performance, yielding just two runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five in the 97-pitch outing.
Montgomery allowed a one-out double to Maldonado in the second, but Maldonado was caught in a rundown attempting to steal third and was ultimately tagged out.
But Maldonado made up for it in the fourth.
Andrelton Simmons singled with two outs before Maldonado crushed an 85-mph slider to left for a two-run home run.
Montgomery's night ended when Simmons singled with two outs in the sixth.
The Yankees had taken an early lead as Gary Sanchez singled with one out in the second before Gregorius blasted his eighth home run to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead.
The Yankees added another in the fifth as Holliday, who started at first base, slugged his 15th home run into the right-field stands.
The Yankees tacked on from there.
Sanchez led off the sixth with a single and Headley walked with one out, which knocked Ricky Nolasco from the game.
Romine then hit a two-run double off reliever Mike Morin to put the Yankees up, 5-2.
Romine tagged up on Gardner's flyout to center and then scored on Aaron Hicks' RBI infield single.
Holliday then led off the seventh with a double before Starlin Castro drove him in with a single. A two-out RBI single from Headley gave the Yankees a six-run lead as they marched closer earning a win they badly needed.
