What a win. The Angels came out swinging Saturday afternoon, responding to Friday’s extra-innings loss with a barrage of early offense to take control against Houston.
Luis Rengifo got things going in the second, launching a 408-foot two run homer to left to open the scoring. Logan O’Hoppe and Taylor Ward started things in the third. O’Hoppe blasted a two-run shot to center and Ward followed with a two-RBI double to push the lead to 6-0.
After a brief hiccup that saw the Astros plate one in the fourth, Zach Neto delivered again with a leadoff double in the bottom half, coming around to score on a Schanuel single. The Halos kept pressure on Houston’s pitching.
Soriano delivered a strong performance racking up strikeouts and stranding runners. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first and allowed just one run through six innings.
As the game entered the late innings, the Angels led 7–1, backed by timely hits, clean defense, and one of their most complete team efforts of the season.
The Halos added insurance in the seventh when Logan O’Hoppe launched his second homer of the game, a 394-foot blast to left center. It capped a statement performance from the Angels. They snapped a three game skid against the Astros in emphatic fashion. What a game from Logan and the team. 1-9 Angels.
Lineup w/ Neto getting a day off
Rengifo 3B
Schanuel 1B
Trout DH
Ward LF
O’Hoppe C
Adell CF
Wade RF
Newman SS
Moore 2B
Hendricks
Good to see the Angels emphatically beat the trash cans. And the game prior was very winnable too. Hopefully it’s a sign that the Angels are closing the gap somehow.
Great bounce back game from O’Hoppe after the horrible PH AB the previous game. Hopefully he also appreciates the short swings and hit for easy singles when people are on-base. Someone on Twitter observed that O’Hoppe was squatting more last night as the pitch approaches him, and that helped him generate the power. Hopefully that is the adjustment he’s looking for to get him out of the funk.
O’Hoppe and Soriano were the big stories yesterday. We need an ace and a franchise catcher to break out of our ten year hole. We got a glimpse yesterday of what that might look like.
Kikuchi = 2.7 WAR (T-11th in MLB)
Soriano = 2.3 WAR (T-18th in MLB)
I’m just saying — these 2 would give us a good shot in a WC best-of-3 game series.
Maybe next year
Hopefully Silent Ks new changeup is sustainable to make this choice a little harder.
For me the biggest mystery is Taylor Ward. How do you hit that many home runs but still bat under .220? It’s not like he’s Adam Dunn….
Unless he is.
Big Donkey 2.0?
Seems to be a perfect fit.
If he stays healthy, I think we may get to see vintage MNT in the 2nd half.
stat line based on expected outcomes (contact/SO/BB/HBP)
xBA – 282
xwOBA – 409
xSLG – 600
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/expected_statistics
O’Hoppe hasn’t always looked in command this season, behind the plate or at it, but consider… He’s 25. He’s 25 coming off an All-Star season, and has 15 jacks in 63 games this season. Look at the season Cal Raleigh had at age 25. Not dissimilar. Slightly better OBP. Not saying that augurs anything for O’Hoppe, but he’s not in his prime yet. Plenty of time to become adequate defensively and adjust his approach at the plate… two more walks a week, and he’s a .250/.320-type guy with 30 HR power.
Man the sound coming off of his bat tonight reminds of a young MNT
Seriously. So glad to see him bounce back after that brutal AB last night.
True, and could be said about a lot of hitters. Neither he or Neto walk, and it’s keeping them both from being elite.
Who’s that kid with a 2 Homer Game?
Who knows where this season ends up but they have done a fantastic job of always bouncing back and avoiding the abyss like years (lots of them)past.
This team has more fortitude than we’ve had for years. Refreshing.
Let the kids play into a better team in 2026.
Yessir
But. They don’t have Pujols or Ohtani anymore. How can they possibly have fortitude?
LTBU! Tonight we the daddies. Hopefully a turning point.
https://youtu.be/Gg9cNGHl-bg?si=TIvWCaQYAHTIFQLI
JAHV
Hell yeah.
LT👶U !!!
LOL…
Wash was hungry for a win
😂😂😂
So awesome. I already had a picture in my mind of wash sneaking off to the bathroom with a walkie talkie in his suite to give orders to the dugout…. But nah he’s just crushing wings
Nice job on the post game, Yorke.
That is a nice clean win, game ball Soriano Let’s take the series.
Yah Yorke. Good job bro.