Our Angels lost their first series of the season today despite hitting three home runs. Unfortunately they were all solo shots while the Astros had prolonged rallies that led to runs and a three run home run by the Isaac Paredes.
It took all of three pitches for the Angels to get an early lead.
And the suddenly slugging Nolan Schanuel added to the lead.
As mentioned above, Nolan is swinging with more authority this year. I linked a bit last week showing he’s already exceeded his previous high mark for exit velocity. As we sit today, his OPS is north of .850 and he appears to be taking a step forward offensively.
Kyle Hendricks had been stellar to this point but eventually throwing in the 80s will get you crushed and that eventually was today. He gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by Isaac Paredes three run blast.
The Angels were never able to fully recover from that shot. Jorge Soler hit a solo shot, giving the Angels the first 30 homer campaign of 2025.
At one point Taylor Ward hit with two on while down by 3, but the Astros padded another run and won the game 7-3. On to Arlington on Tuesday.