It isn’t how you start, it is how you finish. Tonight’s welcome return home started off pretty well for the Angels. Team MVP Logan O’Hoppe put the Halos on the board in the second inning with his ninth home run of the year.
Detroit responded with two runs in the top of the third inning but the Angels matched those two runs in the bottom half of the frame to maintain a one run lead. Then, the Angels added on to that lead in the following inning and pushed it to 4-2.
The two runs in the third came courtesy of a Jorge Soler homer. Yes, a home run with somebody on base.
Kevin Newman punched in the run in the fourth inning. Yes, I double checked before actually posting that sentence.
The score stayed that way until Reid Detmers entered the game in the 8th inning. Detmers promptly dumped a 55 gallon tank of nitro methane racing fuel on the infield and threw a pre lit Duraflame on the puddle.
You’d think giving up a run and having men on second and third might get him pulled. But, nah! Perhaps allowing the tying run on a fielder’s choice? Nah. Although Wash did give him a talking to at this stage of the shit show.
The coup de grace was a three run blast he gave up after already surrendering the lead. Thankfully a guy most of us did not know last week (Fermin) was able to do what the former 1st round draft pick was unable to do and end the inning.
McDaniels tried to soak up the 9th and got hit pretty hard. Two doubles and a home run stretched the score to 10-4 with only one out. He managed to get two more outs sandwiched around a single.
10-4 was the final score. Call it a trucker game.
Overall, this was a classic Angels blowpen loss and it came at a horrible time. Early on, it seemed the baseball deities were looking favorably on us.
There aren’t going to be many games in which Newman gets a hit. Even fewer with an RBI. We need to win games like that and we didn’t tonight. As for Detmers, he I’m running out of hopium but really hopium to be wrong.
