ANAHEIM, Calif. — Yangervis Solarte drew first blood from Hiroki Kuroda with a fielding error that led to two unearned runs. Next it was Shawn Kelley flushing Kuroda’s win with a blown save in the eighth inning.
Surely, Kuroda’s gem would be lost in a defeat because that’s what happens to teams in a rut. Yet it was Brian Roberts’ first homer as a Yankee that lifted the visitors to a pulsating, 4-3 victory over the Angels Tuesday night that was witnessed by 40,106 at Angel Stadium.
With two outs and Ernesto Frieri throwing bullets, Roberts didn’t think too much.
“I am not sure I have looked for anything else,’’ said Roberts, who lofted the first pitch fastball above the right-field wall. “My approach has been see it and hit it.’’
Making it a little harder is all the information Roberts had on Frieri was what he saw on the scoreboard.
“I didn’t know a whole lot,’’ said Roberts, who drove in a run in the fifth with a single. “I looked at the scoreboard and saw 95 mph. I figured I had to get my bat ready.’’
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Kuroda deserved much better than a no-decision since he allowed one unearned run and five hits in 7 ²/₃ innings. Nevertheless, the performance soothed the jangled nerves of the Yankees universe after three poor outings.
“The best thing for me was that the team won,’’ said Kuroda, who left after giving up a two-out, opposite-field triple to Mike Trout in the eighth.
Because Joe Girardi wanted to avoid using closer David Robertson for more than three outs, the manager summoned Kelley, who threw 34 pitches Monday night when he was ejected, to face Albert Pujols. Kelley’s first three pitches were balls and followed by two strikes. After a loud foul down the left-field line, Pujols served an 83-mph pitch into left-center for an RBI single that scored Trout and tied the score, 3-3.
“We all know how good of a hitter he is,’’ Kuroda said of Trout, whom he fanned with two on in the fifth with a splitter. “That was the biggest moment of the game for me.’’
Robertson recorded the final three outs for his fifth save.
Kuroda’s previous three starts were poor enough to wonder if at 39 the right-hander was at the end of the line. After all, he was 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA and allowed 24 hits in 16¹/₃ innings.
Tuesday night’s outing should keep the panic button from being pushed.
According to Roberts, he and Derek Jeter (1-for-2) talked in the outfield before the game.
“We joked about who was going to be the last one to hit a homer,’’ Roberts said. “I put the pressure on him.’’
Jeter didn’t see Roberts’ clutch homer because he was in the dugout bathroom when it was hit.
“I missed it, I heard the crowd,’’ Jeter said of the gathering that for the second straight night was dominated by Yankees fans. “I heard, ‘Ahhhh.’ Then I heard cheers and then our dugout. The dugout gave it away.’’
Following a slow start that Girardi admitted he might have fueled by overusing Roberts, who battled injuries the past four years with Baltimore, the second baseman’s bat has shown signs of life. He has five hits in the last 10 at-bats.
None bigger than Tuesday night’s homer.