Yankees’ bullpen shuts down Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout in key moments

The Yankees’ bullpen punched out baseball’s best 1-2 punch.

Three times.

Each one bigger than the last.

Michael King struck out Shohei Ohtani with the tying run on third base to end the fifth inning, Wandy Peralta struck out Ohtani with the tying- and go-ahead runs on base to end the seventh, and Clay Holmes struck out Mike Trout with the go-ahead run in scoring position to end the ninth as the three high-leverage relief pitchers bought enough time Wednesday night for the Yankees to beat the Angels, 3-2, on a 10th-inning walk-off sacrifice fly.

“The pitching was big-time picking us up,” manager Aaron Boone said. “The first thing is we kept them in the ballpark. It’s about as tough as you’re going to face.”

Bouncing back from a disastrous start last time out, Jhony Brito protected a 2-0 lead into the fifth, when he handed off to King with the two runners in scoring position and one out.

King induced a run-scoring groundout but struck out Ohtani on a 95 mph sinker.

“You lock in more when he’s in the box,” King told The Post, “especially when there are runners on base and the crowd is going nuts and it’s a one-run game.”

King was lights-out for the fourth straight appearance — all lasting at least two innings — but he authored a script for disaster as his pitch count climbed into the 30s.

He walked the No. 8 batter and hit the No. 9 batter to allow Ohtani another plate appearance to do big damage.

Peralta became a Sho’-stopper by getting Ohtani to swing through a low-and-inside changeup.

It continued a frustrating night that began when Ohtani’s should-be 411-foot home run to straightaway center field was robbed by a leaping Aaron Judge.

“It gets very contagious,” King said of relievers’ succeeding one after another. “I also think having [catcher Jose Trevino] back there knowing what Ohtani is not seeing that day is a big thing. He knows our go-to’s, and he also knows Ohtani’s very few holes that he has, and he was able to exploit them late.”

Peralta surrendered the lead on a strange set of two-out circumstances in the eighth: A two-out single, a balk and a RBI single by former Yankee Gio Urshela.

The next magic act belonged to Holmes, who won a high-intensity two-on two-out battle against Trout when first-base umpire Will Little ruled that Trout didn’t check his swing on a 3-2 pitch.

Not to be outdone, Ian Hamilton worked a scoreless 10th and stranded the ghost runner after he advanced to third with one out.

“You have to focus in and just go at it in that spot,” Hamilton said. “Throughout the whole game, you could feel — not tension — but you knew it was close. Lots of big plays from everybody.”

Hamilton earned his first MLB win since 2018. He was given the wrestling belt for the team-voted player of the game.

“He’s pitched good innings, meaningful innings, with us,” King said, “but those moments almost establish yourself on the team. He gets a ‘W’ next to his name and was basically the reason we won, so I’m proud of him.”