ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Gerrit Cole racked up a season-high 15 strikeouts over seven excellent innings to earn his AL-leading 14th victory, and the New York Yankees snapped their four-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.
Aaron Judge hit his 30th homer and Luke Voit had a two-run single for the Yankees, who had won 13 straight before their skid.
Cole (14-6) pitched the final game of that winning streak, and the ace ended New York's slide in his next start with another performance befitting his mammoth contract. Cole yielded four hits and didn't walk a batter while posting his biggest strikeout total since joining the Yankees.
The right-hander was outstanding throughout his first start in his native Orange County since he spurned the Angels' big-money offer in free agency two years ago for New York's even bigger $324 million deal.
Cole, who went to high school 4 miles from Angel Stadium, improved to 4-0 with 48 strikeouts, a 2.37 ERA and an 0.99 WHIP over five career starts at the ballpark where his family had season tickets during his childhood in nearby Newport Beach.
Cole extended his career-best scoreless streak to 21 2/3 innings before David Fletcher delivered an RBI double in the sixth for the Angels, whose three-game winning streak ended as New York avoided being swept in the three-game series.
Shohei Ohtani struck out three times against Cole, who has fanned the major league homers leader seven times in 17 career at-bats.
Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth for his 25th save.
Packy Naughton (0-1) yielded six hits and three runs while pitching into the fourth inning of his first major league start and third appearance for the Angels, who acquired him from Cincinnati last year in a trade for Brian Goodwin.
New York mounted a two-out rally in the third with two walks and Anthony Rizzo's catchable line drive off Jared Walsh's glove at first. Voit drove in two runs with a grounder against the shift that rolled right through where a second baseman would normally stand.
Brett Gardner chased Naughton in the fourth with an RBI single.
Walsh's double was the only hard-hit ball in the first five innings by the Angels. Jack Mayfield singled leading off the sixth and scored on a double off the wall by Fletcher, but Cole struck out the next three Angels.
Judge connected off Steve Cishek in the eighth for his 30th homer.
Yankees: INF Gio Urshela was out of the starting lineup with soreness in his left wrist. He fell on his hand after throwing home Tuesday in a failed attempt to stop Ohtani from stealing home.
Angels: LHP Patrick Sandoval says he expects to be ready for spring training after being shut down for this season with a stress fracture in his lower back. Sandoval pitched his way into the Halos' rotation with a 3.39 ERA in 14 starts.
Yankees: Nestor Cortes Jr. (2-2, 2.77 ERA) takes the mound at Yankee Stadium on Friday against lowly Baltimore.
Angels: Ohtani (8-1, 3.00 ERA) will return to the mound Friday for the opener of a four-game home series against Texas. The two-way superstar was scheduled to start Tuesday against the Yankees, but it was pushed back when he got hit on the hand with a pitch last weekend.