July twenty fourth, 2023
ANAHEIM — After the Angels have been shut out for simply the fourth time this season in a irritating loss on Saturday, two-way celebrity Shohei Ohtani shortly made positive it wouldn’t occur for a second straight sport.
Ohtani crushed his MLB-leading thirty sixth homer within the first inning Sunday to spark a giant day from the offense, as Luis Rengifo additionally went deep twice and Andrew Velazquez hit his first blast of the season in a 7-5 win over the Pirates at Angel Stadium. It accomplished a strong homestand for the Angels, who went 6-3 to enhance to 51-49.
“It was a pleasant stretch at dwelling, completely,” Angels supervisor Phil Nevin mentioned. “The blokes are responding nicely. They perceive the whole lot’s nonetheless in entrance of us.”
They gained consecutive sequence over the Yankees and Pirates after shedding two of three to the Astros out of the All-Star break. The Angels will now look to experience that momentum into their crucial three-city street journey to Detroit, Toronto and Atlanta with the Aug. 1 Commerce Deadline looming. The Halos are four games back of the Blue Jays for the third and last AL Wild Card spot, making their three-game set in Toronto an important one for a crew that’s trying to keep away from being a vendor, and in flip, not transfer Ohtani.
“It’s just like the playoffs proper now for us,” Velazquez mentioned. “That’s why, going into this street journey, successful this sequence was crucial.”
Ohtani, who has been the topic of commerce rumors if the Angels fall out of competition, is ready to start out the opener of that sequence in Toronto. He confirmed off his immense energy Sunday with a low liner for a solo blast within the first inning off Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller. Ohtani labored the rely full earlier than smacking a cutter over the center-field fence for his first homer since Monday. It left the bat at a low launch angle of 19 levels and went a projected 410 toes, in keeping with Statcast. He’s on tempo to hit 58 homers this season.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen a ball hit like that — a golf ball possibly,” Nevin mentioned. “I assumed he lined out to heart. I actually did. Or possibly it will get over his head or hits the wall. However it disappeared into the bushes. Day-after-day, he does one thing completely different to impress you.”
His solo shot set the tone for a bounce-back efficiency from the offense and tied the sport after lefty Tyler Anderson gave up a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds within the opening body. The Angels took the lead within the second on an RBI single from Eduardo Escobar and pulled away with a four-run fifth.
“It was one massive inning for us and that’s sort of been the MO for us the final week as we’ve been taking part in nicely,” Nevin mentioned. “It’s why final night time, once we left them loaded with no one out, it was a giant one. However we responded rather well.”
Velazquez and Rengifo related on back-to-back blasts to open the inning earlier than Taylor Ward added an RBI single and Matt Thaiss delivered a sacrifice fly. Rengifo gave the Angels an insurance coverage run with a solo shot off lefty reliever Angel Perdomo within the sixth. It marked Rengifo’s third profession multihomer sport and the second time he homered from all sides of the plate.
He was the final Angel to perform that feat when he did it on Sept. 16, 2022, towards the Mariners. Similar to final season, Rengifo has been heating up within the second half. He’s slashing .302/.388/.674 with 5 homers and eight RBIs in 15 video games in July.
“Crucial factor proper now’s to attempt to assist the crew win and do my job,” Rengifo mentioned. “We actually really feel good as a crew. We simply have to remain collectively. We simply must preserve successful video games. Attending to the playoffs is our purpose.”
These additional runs turned out to be key, as Anderson went again out for the seventh at 86 pitches and a six-run lead, however he gave up a single, a double and a stroll earlier than being eliminated for reliever Jacob Webb. A run scored on an errant throw again to Webb from Thaiss earlier than Carlos Santana roped a two-run double to make it a two-run sport. However the Angels shut it down the remainder of the way in which with Carlos Estévez getting his twenty third save with a scoreless ninth.
“It meant so much, particularly with how we completed the primary half,” Estévez mentioned. “We discovered a technique to flip it on throughout the homestand. We really feel actually good.”
