Angels 6 Orioles 5
Ohtani opened up scoring with his team leading (tied with Renfroe) 10th home run:
Tyler Anderson loaded up the bases with birds in the bottom of the 1st thanks to a lead off single and a pair of walks, but no harm, no fowl – he managed to escape with the bases juiced.
Not to be outdone, Michael Nelson Trout joined the Angels 10 home run club with a 2 run shot in the 3rd:
For his part, Tyler Anderson was cruising after that bases loaded jam. Nothing super mind blowing, but he didn’t give up a hit with an exit velocity over 95 MPH until a game-tying Anthony Santander HR in the 5th that exited his bat at 107MPH.
This game was not without excitement as the lead changed hands several times.
Angels take the lead
Orioles take the lead
Angels take the lead
Hunter Renfroe may have saved this game with this amazing outfield assist:
A split is better than a series loss. We’ll take the W’s where we can get them!
Today showed the impact of luck turning the Angels way. The ball Renfroe fielded and then made the incredible throw on took a lucky hop up rather than to the right Or left which would have resulted in an easy double or even a triple. That runner would have then scored on the ensuing double – game tied and then who knows what happens.
Renfroe was able to field it in the air because of some good luck. He then turned and threw a strike to 2B. An incredible throw and play with an assist to some good luck.
That is why luck plays a role in baseball and it is good to see some of it go the Angels way!
“Luck is the residue of design,” said Branch Rickey back in the day. Roughly translated, it means generally that luck isn’t that lucky and good teams seem to get a disproportional amount of it. That said, I’m glad we had a “lucky” game, but I don’t expect too much more of it in the future.
Walsh has been absolutely destroying triple A. Can’t imagine he won’t be brought up when we get home.
Who goes down? Any ready injuries?
Probably Soto, though he hasn’t really gotten a chance this time round.
I think your right
Kinda lucky that Rendon went down ; that means that Urshula and Drury can still get regular playing time when Walsh comes back …
And there it is. Frosty’s Friday Rendon Flogging has taken flight.
Dude You’re an Angel fan. I doubt you have a clue of what being lucky is.
Good point.
I just noticed that the LATimes doesn’t cover the Angels anymore. They use AP wire copy to cover the game, they don’t send their own reporter. Pathetic paper.
The LA Slimes is pathetic for many reasons beyond lack of Angels coverage. I’m from LA and spent most of my life there (moved to OC a few years ago, thank God)
Probably an intentional blackout because Arte didnt sell the team to the current LA Times owner since Arte took the team off of the market.
Great win. Fully expected an early morning loss. Especially after losing the middle games. Is this the 1st series against a good team that we dint lose? Baby steps… 5 or 6 series in a row, consecitively, where we win the first game and lose the next 2. Keep winning the 1st game and we’re bound to win a series or 2 down the road. Captain Obvious, out
If you are talking about “baby steps” then how about let’s focus on trying to win this upcoming series against the Twins ? Or better yet, “let’s do our best to win on Friday night.”
BTW, we have series AT the RANGERS and AT the ASTROS coming up… Do you really think we’ll win either of those series ??
I don’t.
A win Tonight will be tough. We’re facing the Twins ace who has not really had a bad outing this year . Even his sole loss was a quality outing
I am fully aware of the fact we’re facing Ryan. He has been similarly dominant to his namesake who threw 4 No No’s for us…
So, yeah, that is why I said “try” to win on Friday night..
Today
Adell 3-5, 6 RBI, 1 HR, 1 2B, 2 runs scored.
Wowwwww
I think it’s time to option the Ward down to the great Salt Lake to regain his power stroke and then bring up Adell to platoon with Moniak in Left .
It’s a really nice problem to have that I totally dig Ward and feel confident he’ll be an .800 OPS guy by the end, but I’m also totally into the hairbrained fantasy that BOTH Adell and Moniak will turn out to be really good for us.
It’s like the looking “issues” we have at catcher. I suffer so.
Not a bad idea.
Video game numbers.
What’s his s/o rate?
Also what is his BB rate?
11%
38%, fugly
Correction, 33%
And therein lies the problem.
That is easily 40% in Anaheim and the power numbers will almost certainly dip….
Good kid by all accounts, but I fear he’s the classic minor
league All-Star and that’s it.
Too bad.
In Wards last 32 games hes batting .212/.282/.283 Do you really think a Moniak/Adell Platoon could do worse?
I’m OK with kicking the tires on the idea. If guys aren’t producing, they can take a seat. The point of “depth” is not only about injury insurance.
I simply doubt that Adell is going to produce at this level – with the caveat that I’ll happily eat crow later if I’m wrong.
His exit velo and barrel rate have been fantastic this year which I really think is the reason for the increased average and slugging numbers.
Even if he continues his high K rate, if he can continue to hit the ball that hard at this level he will be a welcome asset to the team.
Not sure about bringing up Adell yet. Needs to get those strike outs down.
But definitely think Moniak should be starting every day. Let Ward sit more if need be.
Almost time for the defense around 1st base to get an upgrade.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1659335290593443841?s=20
Walsh today in a 13-0 SL win
3-3, 4 runs scored, 1 RBI, 1 double, 2BB, 0 K’s
Incredible!!!
This translates to 1-4 at the next level.
Snark aside, getting a productive Walsh back in the lineup would be a boon on both sides.
I’d assume Drury is the most impacted in terms of AB’s?
Actually Rendon’s injury means Drury can get AB’s at 3B. I like the idea of splitting those games between Urshula and him … Both better defensively than Rengifo of course..
117 games left and we’re 2 games out of a playoff spot. That’s not bad.
Last year, as you recall, we hit that horrible losing streak starting in game #45. Well today was 2023’s game #45 and we won. Let’s see where we are after 58 games. The 58th game was the end of that losing streak and put us at 27-31.
Also, speaking of last year, besides that 14 game losing streak we also had a 2-14 stretch, eventually going 12-38 over a 50 game span. So that wasn’t good, but it doesn’t feel like anything like that will happen this season.
After losing those last two games it was easy to be critical, but I realize we just split with one of the best teams in baseball, so I guess that isn’t bad.
It’s just those games we let slip away that get me.
Those two losses in Cleveland are the ones that really hurt ; we played well enough to sweep that series if not for a bullpen meltdown in the two losses…
I know that I enjoy mediocrity far far more than the average man, but I was honestly stoked to escape Baltimore with a split. That team was hot when we were coming in.
Holding serve on the road against good teams is definitionally a Win.
We didn’t “hold serve” in Cleveland. Should have won that series.
Last year is some benchmark year we need to compare to?
It’s as good as any. Many times I forget what happened 30 minutes ago
I think we need a higher bar. There is nothing about last year that makes me want to reminisce
Given that a bunch of the basement toads around here act like this team is the same team from last year, yeah it’s a reference point.
Eric, I wanted to answer your earlier question regarding how many times did Trout and Ohtani hit homeruns in the same game. I know I can depend on Japanese newspaper to keep track of that. 25 games thus far and Angels won 17 times when Troutani occurs, at 68% of the time. I conclude that is a pretty good omen when they hit homeruns in the same game.
Someone tell TrouTani to hit HR’s every game.
Our problems are solved !!!
He’s looked a little better lately, but…
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1659240591308500992?s=20
Glad the Blumster had an original thought that wasn’t just “Arte is a bad man for not taking my questions and banning me from Writers roundtable.”
I know 2022 was a career year for him. I saw a good chunk of his starts last year and it’s laughable the difference…Dodgers are great at squeezing premium results with almost everyone much of the time….the Angels? Opposite of that. Still don’t understand what their secret sauce is. And why can’t we just steal some of it.
I know Farhan came out of the Doyers org and AA was with them for a short period of time between GM gigs, but the Doyers dont seem to spawn alot of successful front office execs like other teams like the Rays and the Trashstros.
Well, the Doyer fans have maintained that “Stadium fighting Championship Belt” for decades. Fan GRiT.. Another thing we’re not good at.
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/brawl-caught-on-camera-outside-dodger-stadium/3155828/
His final thoughts were… “Look at this soft white guy, I’ll just charge him and he’ll ****pfffft*****”
Better hydrate. When you get KTFO like that you let all the pee pee out. Stay classy and go for duh Doyers yo!
Fat, drunk vato got knocked the f*ck out !!!
Dodgers are a great team and good pitching is contagious. Signed on a 1-yr deal, it was a great spot for Anderson to play to improve his FA stock. I loved Anderson in 2022 as an under the radar FA but no chance I give him that deal in 20023. I don’t like the way Perry reads the room on his FA signs.
My new ritual is to check Crashingthepearlygates to see the after game thread since not really watching games due to limited viewing opportunities. If the title is good, I watch the highlights. If the title is bad, I continue on with my business and could care less. Renfroe made an amazing play in the 9th. Nice win!
No Tungsten day!!!
Mike still looks sore Shohei struck him out
Solid win vs. a very good Baltimore team. This is why relief is so important. Wantz, Moore, and Estevez did their job but it’s a lot to ask of Devenski with that type of offense. They need more arms so they can utilize Devenski if less critical situations
I hear you.
Perry stuck out with Loupy and Teppy last year.
But, so far, Moore and Estevez have been great.
The problem is not so much Devenski, it’s the fact that we don’t have 3 additional guys better than Devesnki.
He’s already given us more than we had a right to expect IMO.
The other guys get paid too.
I’m not against him, but in a tight game/series, I’d like to turn to another arm at that moment going forward. I think he’s done okay. But when the game gets tighter vs winning teams, you’d want a little more out there. Just think, had they lost the game/series what you and everyone else would’ve thought and said. “Can’t beat winning teams etc…”
Totally agree, the problem is that Devenski should be our 6th best reliever vs. our 3/4 best reliever.
If your 6th best reliever has a .794 WHIP and a K/BB rate of infinity that would be a really good bullpen.
I doubt we can produce 3 relievers better than Devenski right now unless you consider Wantz to be an upgrade and somehow Loup is going to regain his status. There are some intriguing options in the minors though.
Yovan will probably be up with the big club before too long. Soriano is being groomed as a reliever in AA after a disastrous attempt at starting. Torres Murphy & Joyce have all suffered mightily from the Sweaty balls so their BB rates ( and HBP rates) are distortedly high but have been better lately with the LHP Torres probably getting the nod sooner than later
Loup’er back soon in a stadium near you!!
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/05/18/angels-lefty-aaron-loup-plans-to-return-to-what-made-him-successful
Well you know what I think of his execution.
now now. We’re civilized in the 21st century
You, me, and John McKay….
All in favor….
Aaron. We can all look up every pitch you’ve thrown this year now if we want to. It’s called the internet. STFU and stop giving up hits.
Hope Loup is right.
It would be great to have him come back and be effective again.
I never thought his fastballs were the key to his effectiveness, however.
He always seemed like a Rick Honeycutt kind of off speed pitcher.
At this point, he’s blowing smoke out of his you know what because he wants to keep his job.
This is the stage of suck known as “the finger-pointing phase.” He’ll be gone soon.
Ok, he is talking big, let’s see what he’s got. He’s on the clock.
As long as that clock doesn’t run after 6th inning Im ok with that.
I’d be willing to give him 3-5 outings, if shit dont turnaround, bye
He may not even get that. ask poor Ryan over there……
Rengifo needs to be in the lineup more often. Hard to defend speed. He got us a run with his legs today
Rengifo reminds me of Mark McLemore, whom I followed on Seattle Mariners team when Ichiro came to the US. He was a switch hitter, played multiple positions, and had decent speed. If I remember correctly, Mark’s defense was much more steady than that of Rengifo. I was also surprised to see McLemore played for Angels before Mariners.
Actually I would say his playing time should be limited, he is a defensive liability in the field, his baseball instincts are terrible, except for last year he can’t hit the floor if he falls out of bed. At best he is a low end bench piece in the major leagues.
Mark McLemore was a much be much better hitter and fielder than Rengifo ever dreamed of being.
A better Hitter? hmmmmm.
McLemore was definitely a better singer.
Based on Baseball Reference, In 2001, when Mariners won 116 games, McLemore hit .286 BA .316 SLG .790 OPS (which was his career best). He stole 39 successfully 7 unsuccessfully. He had 12 fielding errors including 7 at 3B. It is of note that Brett Boone, who had his career year with Mariners in the same year, was probably taking PEDs, though not formally proven, I would not be surprised if McLemore was on them. He looked really buffed.
I know I only picked year 2001, but his records as Angels were not that impressive, especially offensively. My conclusion, it is a wash except for baseball IQ thing. I will let people decide who has higher IQ.
Based upon baseball reference , in 5 years with the Angels , McLemore slashed .231/.302/.300 Those were dreadful numbers even compared to Rengifo.
Mclemore did ultimately learn to be a serviceable offensive player in 2001 and 2002 after he turned 35 years of age. These were the only seasons he posted an OPS+ over 100.(Roids anyone?) But He really never learned to hit form the right side of the plate .
Theres still much more hope for Rengifo at his young age. although his platoon problems are in reverse of Mclemore’s.
You did not answer the question who has higher IQ, ha!
I do remember McLemore struggled from the right side. Without looking up in Reference, what does your eye tell you which side Rengifo hits better, left or right?
Right by far.
I am little surprised by your answer. Gubi also said right. But when you look at homeruns that he hit on major level, he hit total of 33, 17 of which were last year, 18 from right handed pitcher, 15 from left handed pitcher. This year, he has hit 2 homeruns from left side. I don’t see him as a homerun hitter; in fact, he swings too hard in some situations where he needs to just meet the baseball, but I appreciate his occasional pop, and I seem to remember him hitting with more authority from left side.
I know this is off subject, but both of my sons played baseball. My older one was definitely a better more athletic player, who batted and threw left only. Younger one, who is naturally right handed, seeing his beloved brother always batting left, batted left, never right. Their coaches never tried to make them into switch hitter, but I think the younger would have been a decent switch hitter. Now, my older son is an amazing amateur golfer with single handicap; he swings from right side. Kind of opposite of Phil Mickelson.
From BB Ref:
Career Rengifo platoon splits
RHB:.251/.296/.406
LHB:.225/.294/.342
Now this year thru today:
RHB:.273/.368/.333
LHB:.200/..307/.280
It’s interesting that even though Rengifo is walking alot more the delta in OPS between Left and Right is still drastic. But his power numbers are definitely down across the board this year a. Im actually ok with this since in the long run this will help his game.
Thank you so much for your information, Cowboy26-Sensei! You are my second person on this site to be esteemed with Sensei.
You must have paid subscription to Baseball Reference, I am too cheep to find those statistics you listed.
I’m not sure I would say Rengifo is a better hitter than McLemore.
Rengifo (career) Avg. 236 OBP 297 SLG 365 OPS 662 5 years (including this year)
McLemore (career) Avg. 259 OPB 349 SLG 321 OPS 690 19 years
Now I’m not saying McLemore was anything special, but I would bet that is career numbers will end up higher (maybe a lot higher) than Rengifo.
As far as fielding we have seen Rengifo already cost us two, three games because of errors and he has made some base running errors also, his baseball IQ is just not very high, it’s been a long time since I saw McLemore play but I remember him as decent at second, not the best range, but good at turning the double play. But it been a while and my memory is not what it used to be.
Ungh. Baseball IQ…. right up there with “grit”. I know both are a thing. I also know that old white dudes watching a TV broadcast generally don’t know dick about it.
Baseball ID is knowing where to make the play when in the field, when to try and take the extra base, when to hold up. If it’s the right situation to try to take that extra base or hold up, to try to steal a base or wait, when to lay down a bunt to move the runners along. Baseball IQ has nothing to do with “grit” now you can have a high baseball ID (I think Trout has a high baseball IQ he does not throw to the wrong base, does not make errors when on base, but I am not sure I would call him gitty.
I guess what I am saying is I am an old white dude and I know when a player makes good baseball decisions that help his team win and don’t cause them to lose players like Al Kaline, Tim Salmon, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, many others. Grit is something that I can’t really say what that is and if it helps win or causes them to lose.
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/2b2caee0-73e0-4e92-bfc1-f3a89b3d299a
I am 172 years old and have been around baseball long enough to know that “He has a great baseball IQ” is something that is usually slapped onto “player I like who is not obviously horrible at defense” and not slapped onto players that don’t make my feelz warm. As in “Tinkers Evers and Chance deserve to be in the Hall of Fame” or “Derek Jeter.”.
I like me some grit with my Jimmy Dean sausage in the morning….
Cowboy26 is too smart to take a bait of IQ question, whose answer can be misconstrued as racist remark.
I notice you also have grit in your username, Gritcho-Sensei. There is a Japanese word, KONJO, which means character as strong as a giant tree base. Grit (or intestinal fortitude) would be probably considered as the appropriate translation for KONJO. Many Japanese baseball players like to use this word. Hard working players possess lots of KONJO whereas players who lallygag lack in KONJO.
It is funny now that Japanese were taught in school during World War II that American are incapable of having or developing KONJO. I came to find out how wrong they were.
Not the R word!!!!
ramekin?
Interesting information. thank you !!!
WTF?
McLemore is Irish and Rengifo is not. 🤷🤷🏿
When I was taught in Japanese school that America is a melting pot with color blindness, I thought they were talking about Fondue dish with white cheese and black chocolate.
Daijobu. Jodan ( 冗談 ) desu
I think someone may have made this exact same comment last year…. and then kept repeating it… even as he became exactly average on defense and above average with the bat as the season bled out.
Rengifo plays multiple positions – often during the same game. I’d wager that impacts him a tad.
So hes a master of none for a reason?
Perhaps.
I’m apparently in the minority here, but I like the players. He’s definitely worthy of a roster spot and still has some upsidePo, IMO.
I would respond to that by saying maybe it is not best if he plays multiple positions especially in the same game if he get’s confused.
While I’d like to agree, he’s been bad defensively and has regressed some offensively. Maybe a tad more often, but trade him for BP help instead. My reasoning is he’s moved down the team depth chart. If Fletch makes it back, his defense will supersede Gifo.
I think Rengifo will also have better numbers on a longer timeline, too.
Rengifo career steals: 15
Rengifo’s career caught stealing: 9
I like Rengifo but I don’t like him trying to steal.
That Renfroe throw…GD! What a play. I think more runners will realize that you do NOT run on Renfroe.
Words been out on Renfroe’s arm for years. Just some runners mistake him for Trout and try to take one on him.
OF’s gunning down base runners is one of the most underrated and exciting plays in baseball.
In the big picture, I don’t know how much the team needed that win, but I personally needed that win. I hope we can build off of it. I’ll leave it at that because I want to stay positive.
BUILD BABY! BUILD!
That Estevez guy might just be okay.
Queue Rolling Stones gif. He’s been painting black every time I watch him. He doesn’t waste pitches and attacks hitters. That’s what you want from a closer. Guys are trying to get a read and see pitches, and before they know it, they’re behind 0-1, 0-2.
I like him. He makes me miss healthy Quesadilla though…..
Quesadilla….. does this make Estevez the carne asada our bullpen of Mexican food?
Add in some Jaime Birria and – DAMN I’m getting hungry
Well f’ing played.
I never (Looks around office to see who heard me yelling) had any doubts we’d win.
That was a needed win. Prediction: The Angels don’t fall below .500 this year again and head into the All Star break sitting at 50-41. This does just enough to make them hold Shohei and become July buyers. A tough second half schedule to start throws them in brief flux, but they end up scraping it together and get the last WC spot. And then- who knows? Maybe they promptly lose in the WC round and Shohei leaves to the Dodgers- maybe they win the world series!
Dig your enthusiasm…we’ll see.
Now Dont you be bogarting that Hopium Spirdy. make sure to pass it around
Nice team win, but the big boys stepped up. Hopefully Trout is going on a long tear as his home numbers are historically better.
SP is still subpar beyond Shoehei and maaaaaybe Sandoval.
3 out 4 BP pieces did their job.
Reinforcements in the form
of Walsh or Cabbage incoming?
One game over .500 after a rough 3-8 stretch is reason for cautious optimism IMO.
Renfroe throw was unbelievable. On his back foot!
While pointing his front foot towards Home. It was incredible. But man, we got the most perfect bounce off of the wall to make that play.
Absolutely. The ball came right back to him
In this game, sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.
I wish I had a better understanding of this luck thing you are talking about.
Same here. I only know it by definition.
https://youtu.be/ONRLZIY7gbs
True, but even with that perfect bounce, I don’t think most OF’s make that throw.
The Trout homer was more of a tension reliever, but that Renfroe throw was the most exciting play of the day.
It was a great throw. But he did get a very lucky hop (just saw that Cowboy mentioned this as well) that went right to him.. If that ball hits the ground first there is no way he gets Frazier at 2nd.
A TrAditional Angel right fielder would have fumbled that ball coming off the Wall and not even had an opportunity to make a throw
Ward would have dove for it after running a shitty route.
Oh he woulda thrown it, a rainbow trajectory that would have rolled to a stop in the outfield grass which would have invited an argument by the infielders as to who should get the ball.