The Rangers have been annoyingly great this year, which means everyone needed their A game.
Sadly, Tyler Anderson forgot about the balk rule and did balk, which is not what you should do. Oh and also gave up 5 runs. That is not ideal. It was actually not nearly as bad as it could have been as well, since he gave up a ton of hits as well. 6 innings, 5 runs, 8 hits, 7 k, and 2 BB for Anderson today is sadly better than what we expected.
At the plate the Angels weren’t the best either. Sure they got baserunners, but stranded a lot of them, something you cannot do in Texas. Luckily, luck was on their side as the Rangers would shoot themselves in the foot as bad throws gifted the Angels 2 runs.
So despite the shaky performance, it was actually a close game going into the late innings, meaning this was a battle of the bullpens. SInce the Angels have the 7th best bullpen in the majors, this was going just as planned.
Highlighted Recap
The Rangers scored first when Anderson allowed a 3 run jimmy jack in the 2nd.
Trout responded with an RBI single in the 3rd.
A run that was given right back.
Yet another run scored as Anderson was not having a good time.
Yet the bats came through as Ohtani hit a sac fly to get the 2nd run for the Angels.
Then, Texas unraveled by making stupid errors. First, a bad throw allowed a run to score.
And then, Dunning threw a wild pitch to allow yet another run to score in the 5th.
While the Texas defense was being stupid, Neto decided to show off in the 6th by making a ridiculous catch that was made harder than it should have been just to show off.
The energy got Ohtani excited enough to send a ball outa here in the 7th.
The bullpen did their job, pitching 3 scoreless innings and sending the the game to extras.
And for the second time in a week, the Angels get screwed over by the home plate up with a bad strike 3 call. Drury got thrown out for complaining about it.
In the bottom half, it was yet another bad call by the ump as replay showed the runner was out but the call stood.
It was fine, as Rengifo threw out the next runner at home.
Neto and Ward sent the game to the 11th.
Angels blanked in the top half. Besides the gift runs, the Angels only scored 3 in the 11 innings they played, 2 from Ohtani, one from Trout.
But, the bullpen WAS that good, pitching yet another shutout inning to give the bats another chance in the 12. And by bats I mean Ohtani as he hit his 20th home run of the year!
Loup was warming up so a 2 run lead was not enough. So Chad Wallach said “Fine, I will do it myself” and Chad-ed all over the place for 2 more runs.
With a 9-5 lead, it was now slightly safer for Loup to come in. ONLY SLIGHTLY.
Neto threw the ball away to allow a run, the first run by the bullpen today. Well, by Neto, but still.
Angels win! Loup didn’t blow it!
Upcoming
Now at 37-31, the Angels gain a game on Texas. Angels face Texas again tomorrow. Jaime Barria vs some guy, whoever it will be, it won’t be Jon Gray as he got injured with a finger blister.
I love how Nevin teased everyone with Loup warming up for like 3 innings before he finally brought him in. I imagine all the Angels in the dugout were thinking along with the rest of us “Oh God. Not Loup! I better step it up and get us some insurance.”
Worried about tonight because of the Angels trAdition of letting no name pitchers have the best outing of their careers. They’re so supportive! Ambassadors of the game really.
Yes, it was a move designed to motivate the team to score runs. It finally worked in the 12th inning.
I’m so glad I went ahead and watched the entire game. What a monster game for Ohtani!
It is so nice to have a SS. (Yes, that error was not like him but he’s been so solid and making so many plays). But that play, to pick up the bobbled ball on his glove side and release it quick and still throw 94 from that position, shows what a laser he really has. He may not win the GG, but he’s a GG caliber fielder.
Agreed, but I do think he showed his inexperience last night. It was the first high pressure game he’s been in. Not unlike a playoff atmosphere. And in the midst of that, Neto bobbled grounder, threw wildly, and misjudged a pop up. Yes, he did it all with style and the damage was minimal, but still it should not be ignored that he was definitely pressing in an important game, at least defensively. At the plate he was in command.
I was playing in a pickleball league and was following the game on my cell phone. When it was 5-1, I decided that Texas was just too good for us. But we battled back and won. To me, the best win of the year.
I stayed off the gamethread after pickleball because I did not want to jinx things. One game at a time, let’s win tonight.
Agree. DEFINITELY the best win of the year considering everything that happened.
It feels like a defining win. I know you didn’t watch, but the team was hyped up. They seemed to know they were coming back for this win.
Down 4-0 I was definitely thinking “no problem, they can come back.” Haven’t felt this confident in the Angels in a looong time.
We score nine runs and win another awesome game, while the cleanup hitter is responsible for none of them, while making five outs in four at bats.
And we can’t win without him
I thought before the season we had the talent to win 90 and should finally make the playoffs if played to our potential. But if you told me Sandoval would be 2-4 4.52, Anderson 5.80, and Detmers 1-5 4.80. That offensively Walsh wouldn’t play then hit .120; Rendon would solidify himself as without a doubt the worst FA signing in angels history which is saying something, and that trouts decline in middle of his prime would be worse than even i thought, and that ohoppe be out for year, then that’s another 75 win season. Absolutely no way would we be rolling at 37-31 with momentum.
But we have Ohtani far and away the best player alive 3 years and counting, Neto a revelation, Thaiss stepping, bullpen complete 180, drury urshela nice signings, and moniak. Maybe we can move ward to 1B put moniak LF. And I do think Detmers been pitching better than his numbers so gives me hope. Sandoval idk
Kind of ironic that the SP is what we expected to be solid and the bullpen terrible. The reverse has been the case… Actually, I think it is better to have a solid bullpen. Especially when you have a very good offensive club you can still win games… It is hard to win with a bad bullpen. And on top of that there is nothing more demoralizing than fighting hard for 7 or 8 innings to get a lead and then have the bullpen blow 2 plus hrs of work in the matter of ten to fifteen minutes late in the game. I would much rather have a strong pen and have to overcome average SP.
This times 100.
There is a reason we are leading MLB in comeback wins.
Rally Monkey?
That was a hell of a pick for a guy that doesn’t play there. It wasn’t a simple short hop, that was slightly in between.
Worst free agent signing has to be Hamilton.
Hamilton was paid $125 mil to do nothing, Rendon $245 mil to do nothing. Rendon has provided $120 mil more worth of production? Rendon in 4 years hasn’t even equaled hamiltons .266 31 123 53 doubles in 2 years yet is getting paid basically twice as much $245 mil
Hamilton was a cancer who killed us in the playoffs.
2 HRs by Ohtani deserves another GIF
I recorded the game like I often do, and I’m glad I stayed up until 1 to finish it.
I obviously wasn’t in the game thread… were any of our commenters taken to the hospital when Loup came in? When I realized it was Semien up as the tying run, I was freaking out.
Good job Loup.
I was grabbing for my anxiety medicine as soon as I saw him in the bullpen.
Huge comeback win!
Still marveling at the pick by Ward at first base. Got some luck there. A Trout steal brought back good memories,. What an odd, fun and wild game. Chemistry builder.
Just a quick shout out for our catchers. Between O’Hoppe, Thaiss, and Wallach that is some serious offensive production.
Stassi who?
Angels season seemed at peril when O’Hoppe dislocated his left shoulder in Yankees stadium in April. Thaiss has fully taken advantage of the unfortunate situation, and he has performed bravely and marvelously with his bat and catcher’s mitt. Out of options, he could have been DFA’s if it weren’t for O’Hoppe’s injury. So happy for Thaiss. Wallach has also been a pleasant surprise, fast learner as Shohei’s designated catcher with occasional pop (5 homeruns).
“Trade Ohtani”
“Tbh I’m over Ohtani, happy for him and his next team”
LOL
Shohei Goatani leading us to the promised land. SPECIAL SEASON
Renfroe, Tepera and Loup’s contracts going + Ohtani’s current 30M salary means we have plenty of room to resign him.
That leads me to another question. I am aware Japanese TV stations pay a lot of money to broadcast Angels games. Who gets that? Does BSW/Arte keep the money or does the money go to MLB, who in turn reimburse part of it to the Angels. I haven’t researched deeply, but I saw a twitter saying that NHK (BBC of Japan) pays MLB $22MM annually. There are other TV stations who rotate to broadcast Angels games, so either MLB and/or BSW are getting good amount of money as a whole. So, in some way, if BSW is getting some money from the broadcast rights, Japanese may be supplementing Ohtani’s income.
Personally, I’d prefer we re-sign him. 😋
Plus Moniak means we won’t have to go pricey to replace Renfroe next season. That also makes more room for Ohtani money.
Neto is for real. Buy his rookie card. He’s the next Jeter.
Remember when we could just ask Jeets?
He solved all our problems
Is this Neto Kid for real?!?!?
Indeed he is.
I loved the foul ball catch. Energy & Swagger is contagious….
Even Trout seemed to have a little more juice.
I have no inside info to support this but I’ll say it anyway, I think he’s going thru some personal, probably marriage related, issues. Either way, it was nice
to see him energized.
Terry Smith on KLAA called Neto as Spider Man catch. I thought it was appropriate that we have a reliever named Webb, who also pitched today.
I betcha Spiderman is Neto’s favorite Superhero. Gubie should ask him tomorrow for Gubie Tuesday.
I have a feeling that Erica Weston is already on it.
Such a fun game because this team is starting to become the Fun & Pretty Damn Good team that some of us thought possible.
I guess our farm system wasn’t as barren as was bloviated about by MLB pundits, eh?
Thinking about Shohei. He’s a truly transcendent Super Star that MUST have a chance to shine in the postseason whilst in his prime.
The league office would be wise to nudge the umps to call Angel games more…..favorably….
Show-Hei in the playoffs is $$$$$
Also ¥¥¥¥¥
Indeed Sir, indeed.
I think Trout & Renfro better dial up Shohei’s slump buster “service” ASAP.
Imagine if one or both of these guys get going…..
I thought they are married. I do not wish to have them violate the sacred marriage vows. Shohei is still single and may utilize Slump Buster as often as necessary without breaking the moral code.
Now that whole MLB notice Shohei’s bat is heating up, he will face many IBBs. So, it behooves Trout and Rendon to start displaying their power to protect Shohei at bat.
I’d settle for simply not screwing us on a daily basis.
Great win. I don’t think it was a bad call, he looked safe at 1st to me.
I thought it was a tie, thus safe.
Eat it Texas! You can’t so tough!
Happiest Donkey ++
大谷翔平の今季最長140m弾「どうやって飛ばしたんだ？」 米騒然の「ムーンショット」Japanese newspaper sports section: Shohei hits his longest of the season. American media asking how he managed to hit it that long?
“With my bat stupid.” – Translated via Yippie or what ever his name is….
When it comes to American media, never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
AHHHRRR MAHHHH GIRRRD! WHURST 37-31 team EVAHHH!!! I HALF CONCERNZ UH!
Sooooo…. how many times have we won since Rendon came back? Is this a thing? Ward looks like he is immune to “real Angels fan” piss juju. Neto. Calm down man, you didn’t have to jump into a fence for that. Are we still waiting for Estevez and Devenski not be real MLB bullpen material or is that not a thing anymore? Hell, even Loup has like a 2.25ERA and 1.25 WHIP lately. I still have faith that Anderson will get back to being fairly good meh. Moore’s coming back soon.
It’s looking more and more likely that it will be worth it to be “buyers” at the deadline. If we make it to the playoffs (slight chuckle) are we gonna owe it all to…. Griffin Canning and Jaime Barria? Of the “this team can’t develop anyone” farm? And Thaiss? And Neto? WTF?
Trout, Rendon, Renfroe. Walsh, Anderson and Detmers…. guys, why not start playing really well right now here in Texas? You’ll have a great time, I promise.
Happy donkeys hee haww yeee haw!
The Angels got screwed over by a bad third strike call and they also only tied it because if a bad call on what should have been strike 3 in the 5th inning.
You win some, you lose some.
Though if I’m a Rangers fan, I’m probably lamenting more than just a call or two.
The “balk” – it was crummy on both sides
Yep, good thing it was crummier for Texans