ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Luis Cessa discovered his own remedy to cure the anxiety he experienced before his first major league start Saturday night.

"I felt nervous before the game," the 24-year-old Mexican rookie said. "After I throw the first pitch, I feel like I'm normal again."

After recovering his emotional equilibrium, Cessa pitched six-plus shutout innings to lead the New York Yankees to a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels in front of a sellout crowd of 44,129 at Angel Stadium.

"You always worry about how kids react," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "I thought he handled everything really well."

By giving the Angels their 14th loss in 16 games, the Yankees moved within four games of the Baltimore Orioles in the race for the American League's second wild-card spot.

Cessa (3-0) conceded just three hits, one walk and one hit batter while amassing five strikeouts and inducing eight groundouts in six-plus innings. The right-hander, who made his major league debut April 8, pitched in relief eight times before getting the start.

"I thought he was aggressive and I thought he pitched inside effectively," Girardi said. "He used his fastball extremely well on both sides of the plate. His slider was good and he threw some curveballs early in counts. He was able to show them two different breaking balls."

Brian McCann and Aaron Judge drove in two runs apiece and Gary Sanchez added his sixth home run in the past nine games for New York.

Albert Pujols moved into the top 10 in career home runs and gave Los Angeles its only run with a solo drive in the bottom of the ninth inning. Pujols sent a 96 mph fastball from Dellin Betances down the left-field line for his 23th homer of the season and the 583rd of his career.

Pujols thus tied Mark McGwire for 10th place in career home runs. Hall of Famer Frank Robinson holds ninth place with 586.

"To be tied with Mark is pretty special," Pujols said. "He's a close friend of mine and we stay in touch. He mentored me in my first years in St. Louis, and he always helps me out whenever I go through slumps."

But the Angels had a chance to break the shutout in the bottom of the seventh. With Jefry Marte at first base, C.J. Cron hit a long fly ball down the left-field line that had the distance to be a home run.

However, left fielder Brett Gardner sprinted from left-center field and made a leaping, one-handed catch while leaning backward into the stands at the short fence near the bullpen.

"Off the bat, I thought it was a home run," Girardi said. "Then I saw him get closer and closer and I thought, 'maybe, maybe.' "

Gardner balanced himself on his tailbone to prevent himself from falling into the front rows.

"There was a guy on base, and I wanted to try to stay in play so he couldn't advance," Gardner said. "Maybe a fan kind of helped me out. They were a little nicer to me than they were in Toronto earlier in the year."

Right-hander Ricky Nolasco suffered his fourth successive loss despite retiring 12 consecutive batters between the second and sixth innings and not relinquishing a walk. Nolasco (4-11) allowed five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, collected five strikeouts and threw a season-high 110 pitches.

The veteran has not won since July 18, two weeks before the Minnesota Twins sent him to Los Angeles in a four-player trade for left-hander Hector Santiago.

"His stuff looked good," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I thought he really pitched better than his line score is going to show. But trying to close out innings hurt him."

The Yankees pounced on Nolasco for three runs in the first. With two out, Sanchez propelled Nolasco's 81 mph slider down the left-field line for his sixth home run.

Didi Gregorius followed with a single to right field. Starlin Castro then hit a double down the left-field line to send Gregorius to third base. McCann drove both runners home with a single to right.

Cessa retired the first eight batters he faced before the Angels brought Mike Trout to the plate as the potential tying run in the third.

Gregorio Petit lofted a single to center field with two out, then Kole Calhoun hit an infield single. Gregorius at shortstop dived on the ball in the hole but had no chance to make a play. Trout followed with a ground ball that Gregorius charged before throwing on the run to retire Trout.

Nolasco retired 12 successive batters before New York added two runs in the sixth. Castro hit a two-out single up the middle, then McCann followed suit to send Castro to third base. After McCann stole second, Judge hit a two-run single to right.

Judge's single generated the chant, "Let's go, Yankees" from the sizeable contingent of fans rooting for the visitors.

NOTES: The Angels placed 3B Yunel Escobar on the seven-day disabled list for concussions and designated 2B Johnny Giavotella for assignment. ... The Angels also activated 1B C.J. Cron from the disabled list and recalled INF Kaleb Cowart from Triple-A Salt Lake. ... Angels RHP Garrett Richards played catch from 60 feet Friday and reported no problems. Richards, out since May 1 after tearing his right ulnar collateral ligament, hopes to avoid Tommy John surgery by using stem-cell therapy. ... Former Angels OF Garret Anderson was inducted into the team's hall of fame before the game. Anderson played for the Angels from 1994-2008, leads the club in eight career categories and got the winning hit -- a bases-loaded double -- in Game 7 of the 2002 World Series. ... Yankees RHP Nathan Eovaldi had Tommy John surgery for the second time Friday. Eovaldi underwent the procedure eight years ago as a high school student. ... Yankees 3B Chase Headley missed the opening lineup for the second consecutive game because of Achilles tendinitis. ... New York's pitchers lead the American League with 1,077 strikeouts.