Last weekend I attended the Spence vs Crawford fight. It was expected to be an even affair but quickly turned into a one sided beat down. So when Reid Detmers got hammered for 4 runs in the first inning, it felt familiar.
But the Angels had a ton of fight in them. This was far more Rocky movie than Floyd Mayweather bout. The Angels picked themselves up off the mat and went to work.
Luis Rengifo landed the first Angels haymaker, a solo shot to put the team on the board.
Then Angels then landed a crushing right hand in the bottom of the fourth to even up the bout. It was a solid team wide effort highlighted by new fan favorite Moooooose jacking a three run bomb to tie the game.
Overall, Reid Detmers played the role of punching bag. In gym terms, he was the sparring partner who took a beating but didn’t give up.
It was 7-5 Mariners when Jacob Webb took over for Detmers with two outs in the 4th. The line for Detmers, 7 earned over 4.2 with a ton of pitches thrown. Brutal, especially on a night when long reliever Jaime Barria was not available.
Webb managed to work off the ropes and keep the deficit at two. Mickey Moniak followed that up with a crushing left hook, um home run, to tie the game at 7-7.
You’d think Phil Nevin would’ve learned not to send Webb out there for a second inning by now. Nope. Webb walked the first two in the sixth which led to Dominic Leone making his Angels debut. Leone did he best Webb impression and walked the bases loaded.
Leone slipped, dipped, and rolled with the punches. Flyout, strikeout, groundout and the threat was over. The Angels did not score, but they’d dealt a powerful blow.
Luis Castillo gutted it out and went six innings giving up all seven of the Angels runs at the time. Matt Moore pitched a scoreless top of the 7th thanks to a Brandon Drury gem.
Newcomer Reynaldo Lopez took a straight 1-2 to the face in the form of back to back hits to surrender the lead in the 8th. The Angels were again on the ropes down 8-7.
To make it really feel like a movie, the Angels won a challenge. Lopez was charged with a hit batsman that was overturned on appeal. Seattle then challenged it was catcher’s interference. And the Angels won that one as well. Unreal.
Aaron Loup did Aaron Loup things and put the Halos in a deeper hole. Bloodied, battered, and down 9-7 the Angels were down to their last gasp in the 9th.
Back to back walks brought baseball’s leading man, Shohei Ohtani, to the plate as the winning run. He was unable to make contact and sent to the corner after striking out. CJ Cron followed with a K of his own.
Alas, this Rocky movie was to have the same ending as the original. Only in baseball going the distance is a given. 9-7 Mariners.
