Shohei Ohtani pitched against Alek Manoah today. In Shohei’s last outing, he suffered from stomach flu. In Alek Manoah’s last outing he plunked Aaron Judge. Was there drama today? We started out with a so-called “delay.” It concerned festivities honoring the 1992 Toronto World Series team.
Inning 1
In the first, David Fletcher reached on a fielding error by Bo Bichette. Mike Trout struck out but Shohei Ohtani drew a walk to put two men on for Luis Rengifo. Rengifo was out on a fly ball to bring up Mike Ford with two outs. Ford grounded out to first to end the Angels half of the first inning. George Springer singled but Vladdy Jr. and Alejandro Kirk made relatively easy outs. Bo Bichette walked. Cavan Biggio lined out to Mike Trout to end the inning.
Inning 2
Jo Adell reached base after being hit by a pitch to lead off the second inning. Ryan Aguilar hit a fly ball out to left. Max Stassi hit a flyout to center. Andrew Velasquez grounded out softly to the pitcher. That was a pretty weak inning. Matt Chapman and Raimel Tapia both struck out as did Santiago Espinal. Ohtani struck out the side in order but he already had thrown 46 pitches at this point.
Inning 3
David Fletcher singled on a line drive to left field to lead off the third inning. Mike Trout then grounded into a double play and Shohei Ohtani struck out. So ended another weak half inning for the Angels. Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out to second. George Springer struck out. Vlad Guerrero Jr. doubled to center field. Alejandro Kirk struck out to end the third inning.
Inning 4
Luis Rengifo struck out to begin the fourth inning. Mike Ford grounded out to second. Jo Adell flied out to Bo Bichette in foul territory. Then Bo Bichette struck out, Cavan Biggio flied out to Andrew Velazquez, and Matt Chapman struck out swinging.
Inning 5
Ryan Aguilar doubled to lead off the fifth inning but then got thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. He went from being a man on second with no outs to making the first out at third base. It appears the third base coach made a bad decision.
Max Stassi flied out to right field and Andrew Velazquez struck out. Raimel Tapia grounded out to first base. Santiago Espinal grounded out to second. Jackie Bradley Jr. grounded out to first to end the inning.
Inning 6
David Fletcher singled to start off the sixth inning. Mike Trout walked. Shohei Ohtani seemingly grounded into a double play to put David Fletcher at third with two outs. The play was challenged and it turned out it was only a force out to put men at first and third with one out. Luis Rengifo singled to score David Fletcher.
Now there were men at first and second with one out and the Angels had the lead. Mike Ford struck out swinging as did Jo Adell. 1-0 Angels.
George Springer popped out to second base. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Grounded out to third base. Alejandro Kirk flied out to right field.
Inning 7
Ryan Aguilar and Max Stassi both struck out looking. Andrew Velazquez grounded out to shortstop Bo Bichette. Bo Bichette came up and struck out looking. Cavan Biggio reached forst on a fielding error by Andrew Velazquez. Matt Chapman struck out swinging. Raimel Tapia flied out to Mike Trout.
Inning 8
Yimi Garcia came in to pitch for Alek Manoah. David Fletcher singled on a ground ball to short. Mike Trout struck out swinging. Shohei Ohtani walked. Luis Rengifo grounded out softly to the pitcher. Mike Ford came up with two outs and men at second and third. He walked to load ’em up for Jo Adell. Blue Jays interim manager John Schneider got himself ejected by the home plate umpire. Jo Adell flied out to right field to end the Angels half of the eighth inning.
Jimmy Herget came in to pitch for Shohei Ohtani. Magneuris Sierra came in as a defensive replacement for Jo Adell. Santiago Espinal grounded out to shortstop Andrew Velazquez. Jackie Bradley Jr. and George Springer both struck out swinging.
Inning 9
Anthony Bass came in to pitch for Yimi Garcia. Ryan Aguilar struck out swinging while Max Stassi struck out looking. Andrew Velazquez then homered to make it 2-0 Angels.
David Fletcher grounded out to second base for the third out in the top of the ninth. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded out to second base. Alejandro Kirk popped out to shortstop Andrew Velazquez. Bo Bichette lined out to right field to end the game. The Angels won a pitcher’s duel 2-0 thanks to a dominant performance by Shohei Ohtani and some of the offense showing up for a change.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
If I’m desperately searching for things to complain about – an Angels victory over a playoff-bound team isn’t going to be one of them.
WIN WIN WIN
Just saw a replay of Ryan Aguilar’s first hit, which turned into just another Angels out. I wonder if it was the coach or the hitter who made that awful decision. Weston’s interview with the dad watching his son thrown out was painful.
I would guess it was the player. The excitement of the moment, thinking he could get that extra base.
It was Gallego (3rd base coach). If you watch the replay, Aguilar looks in while heading into second, picks up the signal, and turns it back (looking a bit surprised). To be fair, it was a better than expected play by the Jays to get that ball in quickly.
10:40 game this morning……Davidson scheduled to start; he is 2-4 so far this season while filling in…..Squid has been hot with the stick-hitting a HR in first two games in Toronto and has lifted his average in the last 2 weeks from .174 to .200 tosay….Fletcher likes Roger Centre, he has had 2 three hit games and looking for another in today’s match up….. Fletch has his BA up to .290 and is a force when healthy. He was off last season because of his hip injury, but still did OK, but this year he has returned to his form of 2018-2020 which is great news…..Aguilar got his MLB going with a double being his first hit in his career…..Just my observation, I think Stassi needs work with hitting mostly his batting stance. His hands are not turning over and he is keeping his head in. ….We keep this winning stuff up and the Lotto Five will not be alive,…..
Tucker had made 3 starts for us. This will be his 4th start in a row against playoff contenders The first start was the meltdown in Seattle but his last 2 starts against TB & Minnehaha he’s competed well with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP in 11 innings. Unfortunately if we want to keep the streak alive we’ll need better today.
Meaningless wins in late August are meaningless.
Give folks their fun. And the meaning I can see is in the quality of starting pitching the Angels are getting from Ohtani, Detmers and Sandoval.
Not meaningless toToronto
It was a thing of beauty watching Sho dominate today.
There aren’t too many pitchers in the game today, or even in past times, who can shut down a team.
Literally, just blow hitters away.
In our Angels past, we’ve been blessed with good pitching, but not great power pitching. Sure, we’ve had Nolan Ryan, MIke Witt, a young Frank Tanana before the surgery, Percy, K-Rod…. and maybe a notch or two below: Chuck Finley, John Lackey, Jared Weaver, Mark Langston (one of my favorites along with Scott Shields), Dean Chance, Clyde Wright, Jim Abbott, Jared Washburn, and so on…
With the Sho, every time he takes the mound, you know the team has more than a chance to win, to perform at a high level, and that something special may happen.
I felt the same way when The Express took the mound.
It is the one anticipation that has made this losing season bearable, and almost worthwhile…..
That’s a great comparison between Ryan and Ohtani, amazing pitchers toiling for pathetic teams.
Hard to put Mike Witt in that group.
Quero 16th HR, 3 RBI-69th tonight.
66ers win.
I love me some Quero….
Something about this young kid.
He’s got this quiet confidence about him. Great approach. 19 years old but plays like an old pro.
AL Team ERA the Angels are 6th but 4th in OBA. They are middle of the pack in QS because they don’t get 6 innings from their starters. However they’re bottom 3 in offensive stats. 100 more Ks than second place Detroit. Defensively fine as well but few assists.
What sunk this team was multiple guys not making contact with the ball. By far, pitching has been their strength.
Perry has to reduce the strike out guys at least in half to be in striking distance of the playoff race. You can’t have 6 regulars taking so many Ks. Trout gets a pass. But can’t have Walsh, Stassi, Velasquez, Marsh, Adell, and insert bench guys all whiffing.
I wonder if Sonny D will get promoted for Sep call up.
I hope the organizational direction will be away from swing for the fences and more towards making contact.
Sonny D is not putting the bat on the ball even if he is still getting on base alot. I just don’t see him making the big club until later 2023. Neto & O’ Hoppe are another matter though. I definitely see O’Hoppe getting a September call up with Stassi suffering from some yet to be determined season ending injury . Logan is only catching every other day at Madison sharing the catching duties with Humphries. I could see O’Hoppe sharing catching duties with Thaiss to close out this year.
If Neto’s defense is legit why not get him a couple of September big league starts?. He very well may have the mentality to handle the show even if hes skipping AAA.
Also I liked to see Aguilar get some starts at First base especially with Ward still stateside and Mickey Moniak possibly returning from the IL. Aguilar has typically played 20 to 30 games at first in the minors so I suspect he can play there. Its been a huge black hole this year and we have virtually no-one in the pipeline (other than possibly Sonny D) at this position and no idea when (or if?) Walshie will return.
Calling up Neto so quickly is risky but would make the end of a meaningless season interesting.
O’Hoppe, too…..
Man, at this point, I’d say open up the floodgates. Let anyone who is worthy in farm system have a shot. Get a look.
We will likely see a lot of AAA/AAAA chaff, but that’s likely because a lot of guys will be losing their spots on MiLB rosters as the lower level guys get promoted next year. So we will probably both NOT see Neto and lose our beloved Plumber.
Plumber needs to come back up now. I don’t think Perry will protect him since he was not protected in the last rule 5 which didn’t happen.
It would be nice to see The Plumber get another shot.
I don’t feel he got a legit first shot. Was simply cycled in and out quickly.
Our pitching can’t be good. Unpossible.
Would love to see O’Hoppe and Neto get a call up but I don’t see them being added to the 40 man roster and starting their clock now with a lost season
In Squid’s last 15 games he’s 15 for 40 with 3 HRs. and 2 doubles. Unfortunately he hasn’t drawn a walk since August 5th while strike out another 15 times over that span.
Still, it’s nice to see Squid get his average up and show some power.
We all love his defense, but a sub .220 avg with a high strike out rate is not going to cut it next year.
The way that Fletch and Rengifo are playing they could secure the middle infield next year without spending big time for a SS.
That would be a big bonus. Imagine if we only had to spend money boosting the bullpen and bench?
Very satisfying win🙂
These last 2 games have made me realize that the Angels have been ruining Stassis future MVP chances! Naw just kidding😂
well he’ll get a chance at redemption next season and the season after that.
Thanks Perry
I detect some Gitchian sarcasm here.
And I share your frustration….
Jeff Biggs is that you?
It’s funny how Ohtani pretends he doesn’t understand and speak English during the press conferences. He has long conversations with everyone on the field now.
That aside, he was awesome again today!
Vladdy and Ichiro were the same way if memory serves.
Standing in front of foreign press that will pick apart every word you say would make any of us not comfortable using our second language.
He probably also doesn’t want Ippei to get fired.
Arte looking to cut costs…..
Ippei is his boy….
But Can he pitch?
Depends on the level – at Goose levels, at Loup levels, or at Shotime levels?
No but he can catch
I think that’s right.
I speak a second language, but I’m not completely fluent.
I can’t imagine getting in front of a television camera and having to speak in my less than perfect Japanese.
I’m sure it’s the same with Sho. Conversational English he can get by with. Formal interviews where misunderstandings or misinterpretations can come up are more daunting..
Very good point.
Exactly, I can have a passable conversation in Korean if I have to, but i’d never do it on national tv lmao.
Been here twice and honestly wish I took more time to study learning the language outside of the very very basic conversational words. I’m sure given my occupation and severe lack of duty locations I’ll be back at least once, if not twice more in the 7 years I have left before 20.
I learned how to say “gimme rice” in Korean. Key phrase.
“pretends?” – lol
Two shut outs in a row!
Toronto is proving unworthy of playoff contention.
Imagine a new owner coming in that can afford to keep Shohei. Love watching this man pitch.
I honestly think that is the key to the ownership change. No owner with any interest should want to buy a team that already ditched Ohtani.
Hence why Arte kiboshed the Ohtani trade talk at the deadline. If Arte would get off his ass and get the new owner on board fairly quickly A record Ohtani deal could still happen.
Hope you’re right.
If the new ownership appears half way competent – a much better version of what Arte M is – it would entice the Sho to stay.
The Sho has only played for two professional team since high school.
I think loyalty plays a part.
Me too. Yet I take solace in the fact that the odds that some dude is going to shell out 2 to 3 billion dollars for this team and then run it like a Frank McCourt or even another Arte 2.0 are probably infinitesimal . But I guess you never know
Yep, you never know
Especially you. The Astros, Nats, and in the NBA that team with a POBBO who beat the Celtics in June. We’re in the second biggest market in the country with MLB’s second richest cable TV deal.
So Arte no allow trade Ohtani bad bad controlling Arte but also Arte must keep Ohtani, so also bad? Can’t imagine how bad if he doesn’t keep Ohtani who he was bad for keeping? What? Huh? Sell.
It’s bad to keep him if Arte planned on keeping the team, but keeping him around to entice a buyer who would like to extend him makes some sense.
When we were shitting on him for not trading him we had no knowledge he was preparing to sell.
With new info opinions can change.
Imagine that.
Probably a main reason Arte kept the Sho….
Better potential selling value for the team
A new owner would presumably not self-impose a $190 million cap, making an Ohtani signing very possible.
Watching the Japanese meadow following in person and all the fans he brings in is amazing. If a new owner can shell out for Ohtani AND not hesitate to keep investing it’d be a dream come true. I was browsing Japanese media coverage of yesterdays game and stumbled upon a 15 minute breakdown on national TV of potential buyer for the Angels. It was awesome.
Shufflebot?
No F’ing way?
Could happen tomorrow!
This starting staff is just so darn good. When little things go the Angels way like today, I felt the win all day. Shohei is just so good, I like his pitching more than his hitting. If he re-signs he is a #1 pitcher, Detmers is #2, Sandy #3 and we need one more very good starter. Suarez and Lorenzen in the mix, maybe a IB and SS and back up 3B and a catcher that can hit .250 and we will then be looking good.
WHAT!!!
WTH are you talking about? There isn’t a silver lining here, plus we’re actually helping the ANTEECHRYST in Seattle to make it into the post season for the first time in 2 decades. They’ve proven to me that they know how to lose close low scoring games which is actually way more common that getting blown out 13-1. This is in no way a good starting rotation at all after last season’s MVP in the rotation. BTW it took Ohtani almost two months to get his 11th win when he had 9 at the AS break.
What are 👉YOU👈 talking about Twooty Two? Cuz Here’s all I’m picking up from your incessant diatribe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ss2hULhXf04
I’m TootyToo and I don’t get this whole baseball thing. Tell me how it works…..
 🤔  🙄  😕  🤔  💪 ? 😟 
I Gess itz all Jo Maddinz fault then…..LOL!!!
But then uhgain CTPG duznt like Nevin eether (He wont be back BTW).
I guess that at best we do not agree, that is too bad. One point I would like to make is I don’t give a darn about what Seattle does or doesn’t do really.
When a Pitching Staff leads the league in Shutouts, I believe there is something very solid going on with that staff. Sure, they went through a rough patch with that 14-game losing streak, but there were 2 reasons why. One was that the prior manager was pulling starters out at 3.1, 4.2 innings and not allowing them to work through figuring things out. Hence the Bullpen was over worked, which then change the game around to it taking longer to work out the kinks and believe is what was being taught to them by the pitching Coach Reed. Now the staff knows that they are not going to get pulled out quick and they are more relaxed and are allowed to pitch how they are being coached.
Secondly, the injury bug that for the last 10 or more years that lurks around every series has not hindered this staff so that PTP has to go to the junk pile to find guys just to eat innings. We have one starter on the IL and one traded and still have Ohtani, Detmers, Sandoval, Saurez, and one or two fill-ins depending on the schedule, and everyone is getting more innings to pitching more in along with going longer in games, credit Reed and Nevin.
16 Shutouts shows that the staff is an all-around strong staff were very few injuries or sickness since Joe has been gone has come together.
One last point, these Starters talk to each other about the lack of offense that backs them up and have reduced the amount of Base on Balls issued compared to past seasons when no one could help themselves walking the leadoff batter.
When the team line up is as weak as ours and cannot score, sometimes pitchers are just not into the game, but very seldom are the Angels blown out of a game and are helpless. I so enjoy these low scoring games that I stay on every pitch and stay away from the remote.
Hey, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, but I do know that I really like our starting staff.
To quote Bill Parcells yet again……“You are what you’re record says you are.” All pitching numbers got better since the 2020 pandemic season or hitting just got worse, so CTPG needs to quit trying to prove to me that a guy with a 4-9 record is a ace (Sandoval a Astro’s system guy BTW). Is he our version of the Dodger’s Tony Gonsolin who was a 2016 9th rd draft pick? Brandon Marsh, Jo Adell, Matt Thaiss,……This is how baseball works in Arte Land. Oh wait Taylor Ward isn’t hitting .300 anymore (.261 and just 46 rbi’s). NEED TO JUST BLOW EVERTHING UP AND START OVER.
You are definitely the smartest person on this blog.
Angels Win!
Love pitching duels.
A Man-duel and a Oh-duels?
Love Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel