Shohei Ohtani leads off and pitches today. NL rules in an AL park has become the norm once a week with the Angels it seems. With the short bench, Ohtani needed to go deep into the game. Going deep at the plate would help as well too. Well, he did both. 8 innings, 8 K, 1 ER, and a home run on 90 pitches.
Shohei doing well was more important than ever a before the game started, Patrick Sandoval got injured. This means we will be seeing more Q I am afraid.
Recap
Skubal came into the game with back to back shutout appearances. Ohtani has been doing well with the pitching himself with great games since that disaster in NY. In fact, Ohtani has been pitching better than he has been hitting in the second half. This could be a pitching duel, or both regress, Baseball is unpredictable after all.
Leadoff Pitcher
Exciting First
Ohtani began his day striking out. A Fletcher pop up and a Gosselin single made it 1 on with 2 outs for Justin Upton. The former Tiger decided to get some pay back by crushing it to the deepest part of the park for a 2 run shot!
Shohei got a strikeout to start his pitching day before giving up back to back singles before getting a flyout for out 2. Jo Adell did more than just catch the ball however, he caught Detroit not paying attention and threw the ball in to double them up! 2-0 Angels after 1.
Groundballs and Strikeouts
Of course Adell lead off next inning, because baseball. He struck out. So did Marsh. Stassi grounded out for a sad top of the 2nd. Ohtani allowed a single but got back to back groundouts for the 3 outs needed. Still 2-0 Angels after 2.
Mayfield flied out to start the 3rd. As did Ohtani. Fletcher doubled however, putting someone in scoring position for Goselin. Unfortunately, he flew out. Ohtani allowed a single, but got out of it without any damage. Still 2-0 Angels after 3.
Upton lead off the 4th with a strikeout. Churches grounded out. Adell grounded out. Yet another quick inning for the offense. Ohtani continued to induce groundouts with 2 more in the bottom of the inning. Still 2-0 Angels after 4.
Marsh flied out, Stassi struck out, and Mayfield failed at bunting for a hit, being thrown out by half a step. The offense had only one hit since the first.
Scoring is Back on the Menu
Ohtani was cruising, getting a strikeout to start the 5th. But the next batter went deep to cut the lead in half. At least it wasn’t Miggy’s 500th. A strikeout and a groundout ended the inning. 2-1 Angels after 5.
Shohei lead off the 6th with a groundout. So did Fletcher. Gosselin got an infield single for only the second hit since the first inning. Unfortunately, Upton struck out to end the threat. It seemed like Skubal was providing that pitching duel with Ohtani after all. Shohei had an easy 6th with a groundout, strikeout, and a strikeout to Miggy to keep it 2-1 Angels after 6.
The Angels started the 7th with Churches groundout. Adell groundout, except no, after further review, the call is overturned! That makes it an infield single for Adell. Marsh followed that up with a single of his own. Stassi grounded out, but both runners were able to move over. With 2 on and 2 out, Skubal was pulled! Unfortunately, Mayfield struck out to end the threat.
Ohtani got 2 outs fast in the 7th with a flyout and a groundout. A 2 out single was the only blemish as the next batter flew out. Still 2-1 Angels after 7.
Shohei started off the top of the 8th against a right hander this time. Maybe that would change things? The answer is yes, yes it would.
Fletcher, Gosselin, and Upton all grounded out to end the half inning. Shohei went back out in the 8th, the deepest he has pitched all season. A flyout, a strikeout, and a flyout and still only 90 pitches. Angels lead 3-1 after 8.
Finish Them
Churches led off the 9th with a groundout. Adell struck out. So did Marsh. The Angels offense was done. And so was Ohtani. 8 innings, 8 K, 1 run, 90 pitches. Instead of letting Shohei finish it off, Maddon went with D-cell to close it out. The first out was a strikeout. Miggy was up next and hit one to the warning track. Strikeout for the last out. ANGELS WIN and get back to .500!
Upcoming
The Angels finish their time in Detroit tomorrow at 10 AM. After that it is off to Cleveland for 3. More yummy AL Central pitching for Ohtani. Please drink responsibly.
Announced today – outdoor crowds of 10,000 or more in CA must show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test within 72 hours. This would include Angel games correct? Starts in mid-September.
That depends, are they using ‘butts in seats’ numbers, or ‘official’ ticket sales.
(But yes, I would think that means the few remaining Angels home games in September).
Its nuts..for being such a mediocre and mostly poorly run franchise for about 12 years we’ve got to witness the GOAT play for 10 years and now being able to watch 1st hand THE best season by a player in the HISTORY of baseball!.. we’re kinda lucky. Mediocre but lucky.
I would watch these two guys if they were playing on any team.
Having them as players on my team is great, but I would rather be a truly contending team from the bottom up. I like watching meaningful games full of highlights, but would prefer if most of the games the Angels played had meaning.
I would even enjoy a truly .500 season, where everything is .500 against all teams. Losing to the better team this much really sucks the life out of cheering for anything on the field.
Reality bites
So…..16 of 30 teams are above .500. Angels have been beaten soundly by such teams while playing substantially winning baseball against sub .500 teams. Usually there is more balance and a team like the Halos will win the occasional series against a team that has a better record and lose a series against a team that is extremely mediocre. This year has been a bit odd with how generally consistent it has been (losing against .500 plus teams and beating sub.500 teams).
I think it gives us a snapshot of what this team truly is – a middle of the pack group with potential- particularly with a healthy Trout and Rendon in the lineup.
This season the team is generally beating the teams it should beat and losing to the teams it should lose to. Which places it squarely in the middle of the pack.
Am I wrong in reading that we are .500 against Boston, the Yankees, and the Dodgers. Also, we have a winning record against the White Sox (.750), and a losing record against Cleveland. So, I am not sure it quite that cut and dry.
Middle of the pack is likely right though – but with the caveat of doing so without our top players (Trout, Rendon).
Well the White Sox sample size was the first 4 games of the season (Angeks won 3). The Angels were a much different team back then.
Cleveland is also a small sample size (3 games with Angels going 1-2) with additional games against Cleveland to come.
The other three .500 records against winning teams are a good point but do not really detract from the fact that the Angels have generally a losing record this season against above .500 teams and have collected most of their 61 wins against sub .500 teams.
They are all small sample sizes, to be fair.
Winning: ARI (3-0), BAL (3-0), CHW (3-1), COL (2-1), DET (5-1), KCR (4-2), MIN (5-2), TEX (8-4), TOR (4-3).
Even: BOS (3-3), LAD (3-3), NYY (2-2).
Losing: CLE (1-2), HOU (4-8), OAK (4-12), SEA (5-8), SFG (1-2), TBR (1-6).
We have a mix of games left.
14 of those we have been winning against (and CLE, per your insight) – DET; CLE, BAL, TEX.
16 against those we have been losing to (and CHW, per your insight). HOU, OAK, SEA (Note, if we win a few games against HOU or SEA we could have winning records there too, right?).
7 against teams we have split or not faced (NYY, SDP). Who knows if we can compete against the Padres – who are losing pitchers faster than we are. Are they like the Dodgers (split?), or like Oakland (we lost more than we win)? We will see.
So, will we do better facing teams we hang with (SEA) rather than the Rays, for example. Can we beat the White Sox again (now that we are hurt and they are ‘good’? Can we continue to beat up on BAL (sweep?) and take 1 of every 3 against HOU and OAK?
This road trip might really give us a look at our chances.
How much does the dynamic change if Trout is back for the stretch from Aug 30 (NYY) and through September?
I don’t see there much difference in the final 40 games with or without Trout – particularly with the injury to Sandoval. Maybe 23-17 at the best and 17-23 at the worst.
Absolutely. I’ve been following the Angels since the very beginning through their start at the Coliseum, Albie Pearson in the outfield, Dean Chance’s 5 inning perfect game, and all of the really bad, bad years of baseball as a loyal fan. And, then 2002 happened. The Angels, miraculously, won the world series. It was a pure baseball high for me – my only sadness being that Gene Autry was not there to see it in person. Watching the Angles in 2002 in the playoffs with games on the line and playing with grit and fervor and passion was a thing of great baseball beauty for me. That was 19 years ago. I can still enjoy watching Angels baseball as a fan and appreciate Sho-Time, Trout when he was playing, the development of young players, Fletch, and so on. But, what pisses me off is Arte Moreno and all of the incompetent GMs he’s hired who can’t put together a decent bullpen. Arte is in it for the money, pure and simple, and as long as he’s generating more and more wealth he’s happy with sub-mediocre Angels baseball. He has no concern for Angels fans, for building a winning franchise, for taking care of his minor league players, and for getting back to the world series. Arte Moreno sucks…………
Minor nitpick, the Angels never played at the Coliseum. Their first season was at Wrigley Field, and then they shared the Latrine with the Doyers before moving to Anaheim.
we like winning and winners.
We lose to the Skanks, postgame gets 52 comments
Jo hits a grand slam to beat the Tigers, 89 comments
Two-Way Superstar Shohei Ohtani Superstars Two Ways, 127 comments and counting.
Super Members on the rise. Come on Jimmy, join the party.
Look
Over
Lonely
Blores
Atop
Here
We should all be super members here. ( except for 2002 I still think he’s kind of an asshat )
kind of?
No name calling Paniolo
No need for name calling, just do this…
TopHat Peach, catchie
Soooo, like Yankee/Doyer fans… but red hats. I did always think Thurman Munson was cool when I read about him….
One of those games to remember.
Ky Bush “WACKER“ 2nd pick 2021
tonight 2 innings, 1 Earned, 1 walk, 4 K’s, 2.70 era 42/26 pitch count,
2 appearances so far 3.1 innings…High A
Another 2021 draftee made his second appearance in professional baseball tonight for the 66ers. 5th round pick Brett Kerry had another mini 2 inning shut out performance. In 4 total innings now he’s given up only 2 hits, 1 BB but no runs while striking out 8 . So draftees from the second greatest MLB draft in Angel history continue to flourish
I’m a fan of Bush
Who isn’t?
We’re watching the greatest season by a player in MLB history
I read on a site this morning that multiple MVP’s will be hard to come by for this guy😋
Assuming he stays healthy, I can see voters getting tired after, say, his third MVP. Kind of like with Trout. After a while they’re looking for new narratives to keep things spicy, and the same guy winning every year can get stale.
This is America brah. Yankees, Cowboys, and Lakers, winning everything all the time is our dream as citizens. Oh yeah. Ohtani is neither a Yankee nor an American.
Comment is not against anyone, just that train of thought.
Derailed. 🚂
https://youtu.be/hBP15lRprPs
You’re talking about teams with large fanbases, which in turn forces media to cover them more. The guys that vote for MVP aren’t akin to the Cowboys fanbase. They’re guys that write about baseball, meaning they not only want new narratives, but need them to keep spewing out content.
When, even in the Trout era, has ‘the same guy [won] every year’?
Soon, Ohtani will be pitching complete games and hitting the “Sayonara Home Run” to win the game two ways with one ball.
That would be really cool. CG and knocks in the only runs.
8 innings, no walks, so beautiful I almost cried.
I’d also like to take this moment to celebrate Phil “the Goose” Gosselin. With your .276 average, 91 OPS+, and -2 overall Rdrs you have officially crossed into just barely above replacement level… a true accomplishment for an Angels bench player, especially one with 220+ PAs and 5 positions played. It’s time for Arte to do the right thing and put out some Goose jerseys for sale.
Goose is like that wild card in a poker hand.
Joining the ranks of J.B. Shuck and Johnny Giovatella in Angels lore.
I think we all did to see Rasiel strut out there for the 9th. Every Save makes him less likely that he will be affordable.
90 tosses facing 31, that’s less than 3 per AB. Efficiency
Thats Madduxesque
GC would have been under 100 at that pace, Maddux
John we need a gif of the Shohei Strut down the stairs and high fiving!
Yes!
Be careful…..
Mr. Morris, is that you? 🤣
LOL, finally, someone with a good sense of humor. Kudo’s.
We’ll need that swag for next year!
I laughed when he did that shoulder thing
I think CBS Sports is east coast prejudiced. The big baseball stories are Freddie Freeman hits for the cycle and “Yankees closing in on sweep of Red Sox”. They seem to be unaware that the game is over.
A cycle is more rare than a no hitter. Deserves and demands our respect!
they wrote an article about the Skanks game, which ended after ours. They still have Ohtani at 39 HR. !!!! ’em
While I was tongue in check, I’m following, bastards! They can kiss Shohei’s MVP trophy. No. 40 and and would love to see the half century mark. Batting first will help.
More rare than a pitcher who hits his 40th HR on the same day he gives up one run in an eight inning stunner?
No comparison, always has been an east coast bias.
I had to rub my eyes (after washing them OF COURSE) while reading this. Then I doused my digits with hand sanitizer.
I would rather see four home runs in a game. It’s the same as going 4-4 in any game. Up there with the RBIz stat for me.
I’d rather see 4 triples. I wonder if thats ever happened.
Looks like 3 triples in a game is the record. Never been 4 in a game.
Let’s go see history Double D.
Come on Shohei! Four Tripples in a game! Tanomu Zo!
Whoa for a minute there I thought it said 4 nipples nit triples. Now that would be special
Udderly sweet
Like a straight royal flush
I’ve heard of a Royal Flush.
Never heard of a straight royal flush.
Is that like a all high cards royal flush?
It’s so rare that i have No idea. 😂
It’s a royal flush with no queens.
Guffah
Watch yourself Red. These thread are gettin sensitive!
That attitude has cost Mike Trout about another three MVPs.
CBS Sports is a college basketball and NFL site
BUZZKILL: Quintana on the bump tomorrow. 😭
he’ll win!
Q has something to prove
And little to prove it with.
“No sweep for you!”
is there a doctor in the house? What’s a spine stress reaction?
Translates to “out for the season”.
Will be back on 2025
Translation for humans = TJS. In equine medicine it’s a trip to the back of the property with a loaded 12 gauge
Duh. When I kill a used up pitcher these days I use a needle and they just drift off to that farm where my childhood dog lives.
Seymour Asses???
You mean they rode the unicorn across the rainbow bridge……
Equine medicine? Ahhh horseshit
Solid answer by Shohei regarding Morris. “I heard it – I’m not offended – he’s a hall of famer and I respect him.”
As a Japanese man and certainly acculturated not to offend what would you expect him to say DD?
And I know you understand Japanese culture and mores. In addition, Morris is an older man so there is the underlying respect for “elders” which comes into play.
Thank you for beautifully explaining Shohei’s exceptionally graceful answer.
Shohei truly understands sticks and stones. He has no beef with someone he never would meet.
or Ohtani truly just doesn’t give a shit what that old man said
Most un-bitch answer possible. I award him full points.
I give Ohtani style points for the response, but what the hell does being a Hall of Famer have to do with saying something really stupid?
It’s actually a very intelligent reply. It means…
1) I really do respect the great players who came before me.
2) This man Morris is one of those (and thus should be better than this).
3) I just gave you an answer with no fuel in it. Now leave me the f*** alone.
IPPEI? Is that you?
Did he jump in front of the camera to use Shohei’s mic?
Respect for the achievement.
OK. Let’s be sure to also reference participation ribbons that likely adorn Morris’ “Wall of Gaylord” when discussing borderline racist comments made in his 50’s.
Sarcasm aside, Ohtani was very deferential to Morris’ accomplishments and respectful of his place in baseball. Ohtani is a class act. I get all that. I just find the linkage of 20+ year-old job accomplishments to getting a pass on what were at best culturally insensitive utterances made today to be “different”.
shade
In the form of a bare tree, sure.
Non-story. Next…
a footnote: Good Heaney tonight. 2 hits. The HR in the first and 1 other. 7 IP, 4 Ks, 2 walks.
Yeah, after than 1st inning HR he settled down.
Don’t worry Yankee fans, it won’t last long, lol.
They’ll be asking the same question. Will we have good Heaney or bad Heaney?
Or is this where he turns into Cy Young?
Time to trade him. Wait…..
Free agent next year…whose in?
I thought he was going to the pen
from today’s box score you’d think we have good pitching. Ohtani 2.79, Iglesias 2.91
If only those 2 could pitch every night.
Spahn and Sain and two days of rain.
ha there’s actually one with the Halos, coined by Enberg (presumably), Tanana and Ryan and 2 days of cryin’
It was Manager Dick Williams not Enberg who said that . Dick Enberg would never denigrate any of the Angel players.
https://www.pe.com/2015/07/25/angels-dick-enberg-makes-the-calls-cooperstown-answers/
Enberg best remembers marveling through innings of Angels pitchers “(Frank) Tanana and (Nolan) Ryan, and two days of cryin’” and coining the catchphrase “And the halo shines tonight!” for the illuminated halo on the Big A after those rare Angels victories.
Pretty sure I have seen video, I think on one the retrospectives of the championship season, where he says it.
https://i.imgur.com/IzK5MDa
That’s absolutely insane!
What site is that hosted on? 😀
#FirePower
I guess a few of them are the hard-hit🔥🔥🔥🔥balls that were hit off of Shohei?
That was fun
we’re average again! And one of the guys is so far above average that he brings up the rest.
Oh Lord, stuck
in Lodiat .500 againhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yA7iGxV6rt4
That was extremely awesome