ANAHEIM -- Center fielder Mike Trout helped the Angels complete an unusual double play that started with an incredible running grab in center to rob Brett Gardner of extra bases in the seventh inning of Wednesday's eventual 6-5 loss to the Yankees.
Trout raced back on a deep drive to center from Gardner with two runners on and one out and made the snag on the ball over his head. Trout threw back into the infield, and shortstop Andrelton Simmons tagged Tyler Wade at second base as he briefly came off the bag.
Simmons immediately pointed to the umpire after applying the tag and the Angels challenged the play, as Wade was initially ruled safe by second-base umpire Mike Everitt. After a review, the call was overturned, giving the Angels a crucial inning-ending double play to help reliever Ty Buttrey escape the jam.
"I was sure of it," Simmons said. "I wasn't sure the replay was going to have an angle, so I'm just happy they made the right call."
Angels manager Brad Ausmus lauded Simmons for making the heads-up play and said they didn't initially see the tag on replay, but they trusted Simmons when he motioned to them it was worth reviewing.
"He signaled to me to look at it," Ausmus said. "We didn't get an answer from our instant replay, but with it being the seventh inning, I just trusted Simba and decided to have them take a look."
It helped the Angels keep the game tied at 5 after the Yankees scored three runs earlier in the inning after loading the bases with nobody out. Luis García issued three walks in the inning, including one with the bases loaded before Buttrey allowed a run on a sacrifice fly to left. Luke Voit tied the game with an RBI grounder to Simmons, who threw home but it wasn't in time to get the runner.
Wade said he didn't know that Simmons had the ball when he was tagged out, but he was told by Yankees coaches before the game that Simmons likes to come from behind runners to tag them while they're on the bag just in case their foot comes off it.
"I should have known," Wade said. "We went over it and it was in the back of my head. I just have to keep my feet on the bag."
The Angels and Buttrey were helped by another strong defensive play in the ninth, when Kole Calhoun made a leaping catch near the right-field wall on a deep drive from Mike Tauchman for the second out. But the Yankees took the lead two batters later with Wade reaching on a single, stealing second and scoring on a single from DJ LeMahieu.
Calhoun needed to go 102 feet in 5.7 seconds to make the play, giving it a catch probability of 45 percent, per Statcast, which ranks it as a four-star play.
"That's an unbelievable play to pick me up like that," Buttrey said. "That was a slider kind of down and in and he kind of back-footed it. It's nice having Kole out there doing stuff like that."