Reid Detmers came to pitch today. How did he pitch? How did Framber Valdez pitch? Well, everybody was doing fine until Chris Devensky came in to pitch. That was embarrassing. Matt Moore also sucked.
Inning 1:
The defensive highlight of this inning was Matt Thaiss gunning down Mauricio Dubon trying to steal second base.
Framber Valdez struck out Zach Neto and Shohei Ohtani. Taylor Ward doubled. Mickey Moniak lined out directly to the first baseman.
Inning 2:
Corey Julks doubled past Escobar at third. It didn’t matter. Detmers got out of the inning with two strikeouts and a fly out. Hunter Renfroe got a two out walk and Matt Thaiss got a hit to keep the inning alive. Luis Rengifo hit a three run homer. 3-0 Angels. It was initially ruled a double. I guess the international umpire conspiracy dropped the ball when this became a home run.
Inning 3:
Chas McCormick walked and Mauricio Dubon got a one out double to put men at first and second with one out. Jeremy Pena grounded out to advance the runners. Kyle Tucker singled to drive in two runs. Mike Moustakas made a nice play on an Alex Bregman pop up to end the Astros half of the third. It’s 3-2 Angels here. Shohei grounded out. Taylor Ward struck out. Mickey Moniak also struck out.
Inning 4:
Reid Detmers struck out two guys but walked Yainer Diaz. There was a mound visit. He then walked Chas McCormick. Martin Maldonado came up and doubled to make it 4-3 Astros. Dubon hit a fly out. This is not a major melt down, but it is not what the Angels want to see during a losing streak while they are up against the opponent’s ace. Eduardo Escobar reached on an error by Alex Bregman. Mike Moustakas struck out. Hunter Renfroe doubled but Escobar was gunned down at home plate after what seemed like a brain fart by the Angels third base coach. Matt Thaiss struck out to end the inning.
Inning 5:
Jeremy Pena grounded out Neto to Moustakas. Kyle Tucker hit a fly ball out to center. Alex Bregman grounded out to short. Rengifo then grounded out. Zach Neto struck out. Shohei Ohtani also struck out.
Inning 6:
Jose Abreu lined out to Zach Neto. Corey Julks flied out to right. Yainer Diaz struck out. Taylor Ward came up and singled to center. Mickey Moniak got his first hit of the year against a left handed pitcher. It was a single to left that barely cleared the infield. Eduardo Escobar notched his second strikeout of the evening. Moustakas also struck out. Hunter Renfroe grounded into a force out to end the inning.
Inning 7:
Chris Devenski came in to pitch for Reid Detmers. Chas McCormick singled on a ball that bonked off of the glove of Luis Rengifo. Martin Maldonado executed a perfect hit and run play. The Astros now had men at first and third with no outs. Mauricio Dubon singled to drive in a run and Maldonado went from first to third. 5-3 Astros. There was a mound visit, for what that’s worth. Jeremy Pena struck out. Kyle Tucker almost hit a homer which fortunately was caught by Mickey Moniak. It served as a sacrifice fly, though. 6-3 Astros.
Alex Bregman singled to center sending Dubon to third. Jose Abreu homered. 9-3 Astros.
Now Zack Weiss came in to replace Chris Devensky on the mound. Devensky was doing so well. I guess we need to save his strength for future games. Weiss got Corey Julks to ground out to third to end the Astros half of the inning. Matt Thaiss walked. Luis Rengifo grounded into a force out. There was one out and a man at first. Zach Neto homered to make it 9-5 Astros.
Ryne Stanek came in to replace Framber Valdez facing Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani struck out. Taylor Ward walked to bring up Mickey Moniak, who singled to center. Eduardo Escobar singled to right and Taylor Ward scored. 9-6 Astros.
Mike Moustakas came up, at which point the Astros brought in Bryan Abreu to pitch. Mike Moustakas homered to make it 9-9. Thank you Bryan Abreu. Hunter Renfroe then struck out to bring us back to Earth.
Inning 8:
Matt Moore came in to pitch. I might have linked “More More More” by Andrea True but Yainer Diaz singled and Chas McCormick homered while I was finding it. Now I’m looking for “Less Less Less” by Weird Al Yankovik if it exists. 11-9 Astros. Martin Maldonado grounded out. Mauricio Dubon lined out although he burned up 9 pitches to do so. Jeremy Pena singled to right. Now Tucker Davidson came in to replace Moore. Mercifully, Kyle Tucker struck out.
Matt Thaiss came up with Hector Neris pitching. He grounded out softly to the pitcher. Luis Rengifo struck out. Zach Neto hit a fly ball out to center to end the inning.
Inning 9:
Tucker Davidson came back out to pitch the ninth. He got Alex Bregman to ground out. Jose Abreu singled and advanced to second on a throwing error by Eduardo Escobar. Corey Julks lined out to Moniak in center. Yainer Diaz singled to drive in Jose Abreu. 12-9 Astros. Chas McCormick singled to third. Martin Maldonado popped out.
Can the Angels mount another one of their famous comebacks? Ryan Pressly came in to replace Neris on the mound. Shohei Ohtani homered to make it 12-10.
Taylor Ward singled to left. Mickey Moniak singled to center sending Ward to second. Andrew Velazquez came in to pinch run for Moniak. Eduardo Escobar singled to center to load them up for Moustakas with no outs. Martin Maldonado suffered a passed ball that scored Taylor Ward. 12-11 Angels.
Moustakas grounded out but Hunter Renfroe singled to tie the game.
Matt Thaiss struck out. Trey Cabbage came in to pinch hit for Luis Rengifo. He was out on a fly ball to center.
Inning 10:
Now Carlos Estevez came in to pitch. Martin Maldonado is standing on second. Mauricio Dubon flied out to right. Jeremy Pena struck out. Carlos Estevez intentionally walked Kyle Tucker. Then Alex Bregman popped out to end the Astros half of the tenth inning. Phil Maton came in to pitch with Trey Cabbage standing at second base. Zach Neto flied out to right and then the Astros intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani. Taylor Ward walked it off with what was a throwing error by Grae Kessenger. 13-12 Angels.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Not worried about Sho’s AL MVP because he does not pitch, but his countryman Masataka Yoshida hit his 2nd grand salami in addition to a 2RBI triple today. Yoshida might win BA (0.315) crown in AL this season. Didn’t expect him to hit this well, but he would have been the ideal lead off hitter for Angels this season. (At $18MM x 5 year)
With likely devastating loss of Cubs(8 GB in division and 8.5 GB of WC3), I believe the talk of Stroman and Bellinger becoming available for trade will intensity for the upcoming week. Should Angels consider trade for either/both of them?
Absolutely not.
Trading away young assets for a “win-now” trade is what I think is the worst move we could make.
Followed by standing pat and hoping we make the playoffs with Ohtani.
We should trade away everyone we can with an eye towards making 2025 and onwards a much better team.
I understand. It is almost always who the Angels are willing to lose. Especially with less than 10% odds of making playoffs as of today, and not likely to improve significantly before deadline, standing pat is the most prudent strategy.
Pass on Bellinger — we don’t need an OF already have a glut once Adell and later Trout come back … HOWEVER, I would be interested in picking up Stroman, depending upon what the Cubs were asking…
His contract for this year is $25MM (so it will be little more than $10MM for short rental). Next year is player option, so he is essentially FA. Don’t have to get him before August 1, but I do remember he said something positive about playing on the same team with Sho, it will be an interesting discussion off season.
Masataka Yoshida hits .331 at Fenway and .295 elsewhere. Not sure how his bat would translate to the Big A (although I think that stupid yellow line in right might make Anaheim a better hitters’ park than before)
I agree. He is perfect for Fenway because he likes to hit oppo anyway. He is just an average OF, doesn’t make too many mistakes, but not spectacular. Red Sux is using him in 2, 3, and 4 hole. Red Sux fans are now overjoyed to have him, sharp contrast to early in the season when they were ready to have him commit harakiri.
Yeah, my nihonjin pal who loves Boston did exactly that flip-flop, and now no longer wants to see Chaim come to harm through mob violence
Fenway Park has definitely boosted his batting stats. But he’s such a great contact hitter, and that skill plays well in any park.
I see that the updated for Rendon’s return is now “possibly late July” which implies that this could slide to August. What an unfortunate mess.
To put last night into perspective which makes this even more impressive with the DPV
https://twitter.com/OptaSTATS/status/1680445456134881281
Wow!
Ha ha. I was going to post this exact same Twitter factum Cowboy… Saw it a little over an hour ago… Something (probably laziness) stopped me from doing it… So you got the pleasure of putting it out in the Halosphere.
Are You more GA than me Frosty? I didn’t think that was possible
Could be …But I always felt that GA was unfairly called lazy and in fact was a better outfielder than most Angels fans realized …
BannedinLA almost got it !00%. Impressive.
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1680654185577213952
Damnit, Rengifo again. Screw you Nevin, you keep playing with fire and you get burned, but you still don’t learn your lesson.
Instead of DFA, it’s starter.
I really dislike Rengifo but I think he is the right guy to go with over the Plumber. Drury will come back and man 2nd and that should end that. Maybe Perry ordered Phil to start Gafo to showcase for the Chunichi Dragon.
In the meantime, Minasian needs to look for a replacement for Rengifo on roster, someone who can play 2B on days Drury isn’t.
The fix is already on the roster ML
Maybe pulling him from the game is the spark he needed. It worked for Wander Franco ( No I realize they aren’t remotely close to the same player so chillax) and if we are forced to start Rengiblows because of all the other injuries. S I say lets stick a boot of his ass to get maximum effort until other players return or he goes all Bump Bailey on us (RIP) .
Another thing about Rengifo is his ability to hold short memory (which one can argue is mostly his detriment). Hee-fo can let bad errors and horrible at bats fall off his back. Thus, he is unpredictable, and opponent pitchers relax after facing Sho and POW, he hits 3 run homer off Valdez, arguably one of the best pitchers in current MLB yesterday.
On the other hand, I remember the horror Plumber had on his face when he popped up the bunt attempt that resulted in double play, which obliterated any momentum we had on Friday and when he failed to convert an out on Houston steal by simply catching the beautiful throw by Wallach to him at 2B. Many of us know he survived many obstacles to come up to the ‘show’, and he was given precious few opportunities to succeed. Unfortunately, the stage is still too nerve racking for him to perform without gripping too hard.
short memory – lack of awareness – indifference = Rengafo.
All involve a lack of thinking.
Totally agreed, but in this comparison, you are making my point, ‘lack of thinking Rengifo’ > ‘too much thinking Plumber’
Glad to see that Phil is going with the “hot hands” in Ward & Renfroe. It’s an approach I tend to agree with as baseball players are streaky by definition.
Our agreement was delayed by a day…get the series tonight!!!
2 out of 3 versus the Astros is always acceptable when you consider how much they’ve “big brothered” for the last decade+
Not only that, but we will be 4-6 for the season with 3 games to go and a chance of winning the season series with them. That would a huge psychological booster.
Why are you all talking about a series win as if it has already happened ?
11:43 am on Sunday, and still no word of Rengifo being DFA’d. Let’s go, drop the DFA hammer and move forward!!
Rengifo is like Digitalis, cardiac medication for arrhythmia, if used sparingly and carefully, highly effective, but toxic and deadly if ingested in excessive amount. It comes from beautiful fox glove plant, called Digitalis Lanata.
When I think of Rengafo and medicine, I think of GoLYTELY, the stuff you drink before a colonoscopy.
The Poup energy drink?
Should I go to an optometrist?
Maybe folks here don’t want to dwell on the negative after such a great, unButtercupish comeback win, but let’s not forget how badly Nevin mismanaged the game.
Whether inserting a pinch-runner for the best hitter on the team, calling for bunts in non-bunt situations, subbing a rookie for Rengifo in a clutch situation, and other malfeasance, Nevin has shown himself to be inept and incapable of leading the team.
I agree with every point you make, and I would add Haselman to your list for sending Escobar with Renfroe’s double early in the game. We might say the Angels won despite the coaches. Or shall we say we won because Asstros made just one more error than the Angels.
By counting the number of wins and losses when Neto played, 32 – 25. I am suddenly buoyed by this fact. That is exactly 90 win pace. Welcome back, Neto.
Escobar proved his slothiness on that play. Considering his importanceas the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, Phillip shot his wad too early by forcing a baserunner upgrade that really went an upgrade. It would have been much much better for us to have Squid run for Escobar but Phillip was out of viable options there.
Agreed. When I rewatched the play, and how poorly Escobar made the turn at 3rd base nauseated me. (Trout would have made perfect rounding 3rd base if he were the runner.) I hope that Haselman noticed it and coach up Escobar or hold him at 3B in future similar situations. The only good thing about that play was that Escobar did not break his pelvic bone like Urshela did.
I agree, as well, and although I think the Angels won by displaying some grit, it was also because they made one less error than the Astros.. I think Nevin needs to go. This site seems pretty much unanimous in agreeing on how horrible the moves he makes are.
Also, I don’t understand why Fletcher was dfa’d instead of some others, namely the plumber.
Fletch is back on Salt Lake Bees roster after clearing waivers though he has not played past 2 days. Either physical, or perhaps mental issues associated with the recent loss of his father. No information is available, and I am certain the Angels will honor his privacy.
By the way, it was totally accident that I posted something about Digitalis Lanata earlier. I still maintain you are one of our bright, beautiful flowers amongst grizzly baseball fanatics with testosterone stench, but I never meant you can be toxic. 😉
Haha, no hard feelings and I try to hide my toxicity.
Because unfortunately Fletch is a shell of his former self and has been for some time. The Angels needed his 40 man roster spot and with their monetary commitment to him there was no threat of losing him.
Watching him run, I still dont think hes healthy and I believe what ever lingering effects he has from the hip issue have impacted every aspect of his game including his hitting. Also, contributing to his problems, his unorthodox approach of hitting has been exploited by opposing pitchers and defenses making him even more a liability on the roster.
This is not Perry hates Fletch thing. Perry extended him with that ill advised contract so this is a bad reflection on him as much as Fletch if Fletch continues to falter
Alrighty then 😬
Along with the student managers and coaches we have, Angels also won in-spite of horrible defense.
Agreed. I have missed Urshela terribly.
Haselman is awful. Full stop.
Nevin could definitely improve his in-game strategies more.
Moniak is not Kendrys Morales. There was no need to take him out in that situation. And I know he took out Rengifo because he was going to bat LH against RHP Pressly, but…hot hands.
In 2019, he stole 18 bases between two minor league stops. He’s just fine as a baserunner, and definitely was not worth the lineup downgrades replacing Moniak required.
Yes, the Angels won last night depsite Nevin, certainly not because of him …
it was a DPV (Despite Phillip Victory). It is certainly not the first one of the year by any stretch of the imagination.
Seriously weird stuff I witnessed. The Squid for Moniak move was so damn odd. Bunting down by 3. There was more.
Looking forward to an entire new coaching staff and GM. Sweep out the barn after Ohtani leaves.
I forgot about the bunt. Nevin has no idea what he’s doing.
Houaton buttercupped themselves with that throwing error and the routine DP to end the game.
SS – Neto
DH – Ohtani
CF – Moniak
LF – Ward
3B – Moose
C – Thaiss
RF – Renfroe
1B – Cabbage
2B – Stafanic
Alternate scenario is that Rengifo starts either at one of these spots – probably either 2B or RF.
Moose and Ward are heating up so Phil keeps those two in the lineup either way.
Papa smurf will be getting a start somewhere tonight provided hes not hurt .
I agree. Rengifo has 3 for 6 with 1 BB against Javier. The question is how Nevin is going to ‘hide’ Rengifo defensively.
Thaiss has 2 for 5 with 1 double against Javier and Sho is 6 for 19 with 2 HR and 2 triple.
I’m not opposed to Ward and Renfroe playing tonight. They haven’t hit well against Javier, but they’re also the hot hands. And with a team as desperate and thin as the Angels, they can’t afford not to ride the hot hands at this point.
You were almost perfect in your prediction, sir!
It would have been perfection If only he wasn’t blinded by the Fifo
The Neto home run had a funny fan catch the ball… I memorialized it in this gif:
Chance of Sho staying with Angels: +1
Chance of Sho to Dodgers: -1
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/dodgers-pride-night-timeline-club-re-invites-sisters-of-perpetual-indulgence-to-lgbtq-celebration/#:~:text=Members%20of%20the%20group%20dress,the%20Dodgers%20reversing%20the%20decision.
Tampa Bay Times is reporting that the Rays will “check in” on Ohtani.
That’s one franchise a GM should never trade with. They are wicked baseball smart.
I read MLBTR touching on that:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2023/07/al-east-notes-rays-mullins-mountcastle-romano.html
While the club certainly has the pieces necessary to swing a deal for Ohtani between a farm system that ranks 8th in MLB per Fangraphs, and a deep group of position players at the big league level, Topkin cautions that the Rays are highly unlikely to enter a bidding war for Ohtani as the club wouldn’t be able to retain the superstar in free agency. Between that unwillingness to beat out other potential suitors like the Yankees and Dodgers for Ohtani and the considerable chance that the Angels don’t move him at all, as they’re currently sitting just one game under .500 and five games back of a Wild Card berth, Ohtani in a Rays uniform certainly seems unlikely.
The language would have been quite different and toxic, had the Angels lost that thriller last night.
I love this!!!!
Lol. You’d think dude made the last out in a Bananas game. It wasn’t even a “real” HR catch. It just sort of plopped into his glove softly after taking a big bounce…
Should be an interesting ESPN broadcast tonight. I’ll set the over/under “Shohei’s name mentioned” at 1001 times during the game. Nothing better than further exposing the shame and embarrassment of being an Angel fan on national TV.
The word Wasted will also be mentioned 1000 times (and not in the good way)
Can I parlay Over and Over?
Thanks to Cowboy 26 who has reminded us how much Neto’s contribution was missed to the Angels while he was on IL
Remarkable statistics when Neto plays: 32W-25L
During the time he was absent (Jun 15-Jul 13): 7W-14L
Out of Neto’s 25 RBI:
Driven in by Ohtani 7, Self 7, Moniak 3, Trout 3
Drove in Self 7, Rengifo 5, Thaiss 4, Drury 3
I am ok with Neto being in the leadoff spot for now especially in advance of Sho. I also like Moniak in the clean up role.
Neto was starting to hit for power when he got injured, big loss. He and Urshela. Rendon? IDFC.
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/07/15/angels-overcome-6-run-deficit-to-snap-losing-streak-beat-astros-in-10th/
Since 6/24 when the Angels beat Colorado 25-1, the team has a record of 4 wins and 11 losses (including yesterday’s thrilling victory).
That 25-1 win was not a good thing for this team …
They normally aren’t.
Like the blowout last year with Rendon’s left-handed home run against a position player
I keep wondering why Rendon and his two HR’s continues to be mentioned in the same sentence with Trout and Drury.
If we can score 13 runs a game, this team is going places!
We may at least play 500 baseball
We’ve clearly been wasting Trout’s, Ohtani’s and Rengifo’s prime……
And Rendon
You bait me, DowningDude. 😀
Let’s admit it ML, thats really easy to do.
Tonight was the first time in a long time that I’ve seen anything that looks like urgency from the Angels
I guess Sarah likes roller coaster!
https://twitter.com/SlangsOnSports/status/1680438190660898817
Looks like she bought Enron stock….
the reason why I firmly believe that Perry wont get the axe this year even if we dont make the playoffs is :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvSXGsKjxnA
Ward now slashing .357/.455/.607 in 8 July games.
I am glad he is not in the lead off spot any more. I think Nevin has finally learned that.
Unfortunately we dont have a true lead off hitter.
Feels like the days of the true lead off hitter are gone. Can’t think of a prototypical one anywhere really.
The only one I can think of is Steven Kwan, who was a player that Gritcho-Sensei thought Angels should have drafted in 2018.
Yeah but he didnt claim that until 2020.
😁
Could have had him in 2018. Whose fault is this?
https://twitter.com/CleGuardians/status/1680651718009278464
I’d take a Brian Downing type if we had one. Just need a high OBP guy. Shohei is the only one on the roster right now
Rendone may be the closest thing we have to a prototypical lead off. No pop, sees a lot of pitches, gets a lot of walks. Assuming he can get on the field, of course.
I think you’re right. Got washed out by the Sabermetrics launch angles. Miss Rickey Henderson and Lenny Dykstra
Moniak would be fine, but we actually need his bat all over the lineup.
Moniak did okay there … His BA was quite good for the majority of the time he was there, and in addition he usually was not overly aggressive — he was willing to take a few pitches, which as you know is important when hitting in that slot.
For now, Neto/Ohtani/Ward/Moniak will not change in my humble opinion. Ohtani needs protection, and I know Nevin likes alternating right and left. I also appreciated that Thaiss was patient and battled off some tough pitches after 2 strike count and earned two timely walks.
I think you are right here Mr Chan.
Yeah, Thaiss has generally improved his approach as a hitter…
And I do understand the point about Ohtani protection and the need for a real threat at clean-up. I don’t really disagree either…With both Trout and Drury out it kinda forces that move …
I was just sort of disputing Cowboy’s comment that we haven’t had anyone good at lead-off …..
Now I’m hurt Frostie.
Thaiss has really played himself into a position moving forward. I was ready to give up on him before the season (no position to play, couldn’t make it at catcher), and was dreading the lack of Stassi (as bad as that is), but he has really come through. O’Hoppe and Thaiss means we have catcher locked down for a bit, imho.
Definitely a nice surprise…but unfortunately trAdition mandates it will be short-lived. Next year (what happened to, remember when – Th’ice) will be all the rage complaints. See Herget and Rengafo from last year. Hope I’m wrong. Give him full credit for a true grit factor.
Rengifo had a good end of last season, but wasn’t given a starting spot this year. Herget was good, but dropped as soon as he stopped performing.
Thaiss will get a chance at back up catcher. Key is that we don’t need to rely on him moving forward, and he won’t be the starter even. We still have O’Hoppe coming back, Stassi on the payroll, Wallach to back up and Quero in the wings. Just happy Thaiss is finding a stride and hope it continues.
Ok yes with only a .300 OBP and a .852 OPS. But he is absolutely destroying the ball with a .463 OBP and an eye popping 1.334!!! OPS batting in every other spot in the line up.
Lets leave Mickey in the middle. He’s sooo fine.
For goodness sakes trade him now.
Why is he rubbing that green blob on his face, and what the hell?
Cabbage
Thanks for ‘splaining
But he only has to do it 3 times
So you’re saying he’s deriving a little too much pleasure rubbing cabbage to his face?
He’s making a slaw…that’s how KFC does it.
And you should see how they make the gravy.
So thats how they make it Finger Lickin’ Good.
Yessssss
ha ha, no lol
&ct=g
17 Ks AND 13 RUNS!!!
Only the Angels
😆