Hall of Fame weekend caps: 1961-1964 the first Angels hat design featured an interlocked “LA” in red with a blue frame and a red bill. The “LA” has a squiggly shape with a silver trim and a white circle near the crown of the hat. (https://www.mlb.com/news/official-caps-angels-history)
Pitching
Grayson Rodriquez v Logan Webb
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/823196/video/probable-pitchers-for-angels-at-giants-july-24-2026
Rodriquez got some defensive help in the 1st with a classic 5-4-3 (Guzman, Grissom, Schanuel) double play, but then walked Bryce Eldridge after an 8 pitch AB, when he was up in the count 1-2 at one point. The other team does get paid to play too. Rafael Devers took advantage of a 2-1 96 mph four-seam fastball and blasted one to left field, Giants on top 2-1 after the 1st inning. Rodriquez got 5 of the next 6 batters out before the wheels fell off and he could not get out of the 3rd inning without more damage. With 2 outs, Eldridge hit a ground rule double, Devers was intentionally walked, and Casey Schmitt absolutely smoked a 412′ three-run HR to left field, 5-1 Giants at end of 3 innings. At some point, if he wants to become a quality starting pitcher, Rodriguez needs to learn how to get an out when he needs it the most. Those difficult outs seem to be following a competitive high pitch AB or high stress situation, such as facing a batter that beat you earlier in the game. 4 innings pitched, 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 home runs, and 5 earned runs on 80 pitches. Not good enough.
Suter and Fermin kept the Giants off the board in the 5th and 6th innings. Kirby Yates walked the leadoff batter in the 7th inning, Drew Gilbert, who was then pinch-run for by Grant McCray. You know what happened next. McCray steals 2nd base, goes to 3rd on a wild pitch by Yates, then scores when Susac hits a sacrifice fly to left to extend the Giants lead to 6-4. Giving up a run without the other team getting a hit and your pitcher being wild is never a recipe for a comeback win. Sam Natera Jr pitched a solid 8th inning and Ryan Zeferjahn got out of a jam in the 9th inning to send the game to extras. Chase Silseth lost the game in the bottom of the 10th inning after giving up a single, walk and ground rule double to Devers.
Logan Webb went 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 walks and 4 earned runs while striking out 4. Dylan Smith pitched a scoreless 7th, Jason Foley pitched the 8th and gave up the 2-run HR to Grissom. Erik Miller kept the Angels off the board in the 9th. Caleb Kilian inherited the extra inning ghost runner Oswald Peraza, who ran in place of Schanuel. He got out of the 10th, despite 2 runners on base, after Wade Meckler hit into a double play, with center fielder Grant McCray throwing out Peraza at 3rd base. I think you’re never supposed to make the 1st or 3rd out at third base, but Angels baseball.
Offense
Zach Neto leadoff the game taking a 2-2 changeup to deep right field for a stand-up triple. Another bounce in the outfield or bobble by right-fielder Jung Hoo Lee and that could’ve been an inside the park home run. After Trout grounded out to the pitcher, Nolan Schanuel stroked a single to right field, scoring Neto, 1-0 Halos.
Top of the 5th: Jo Adell singled to center on a full count. Webb threw Adell 4 changeups, all 4 strikes, and Adell made the professional changes needed to adjust and get the inning started. Guzman singled next and Tyler Heineman tripled to right center, a near identical spot to Neto’s 1st inning triple, to score 2. 5-3 Giants.
Trout hit a sacrifice fly to score Heineman. 5-4 Giants.
Top of the 8th: Jorge Soler singled to right field and Vaughn Grissom launched one to left field that got out of park quickly for a 381′ 2-run HR to tie the game at 6.
The Bottom Line
Coaching needs to help where it can. If Grayson Rodriguez continues to struggle when things don’t go his way, maybe a mound visit from the pitching coach or tinkering with some of the pitching dark arts (quick pitch, throw over to a base, buzz the tower of a batter that’s on your pitches) might yield different results. Putting in Chase Silseth, the MLB leader in letting inherited runners score, instead of Sam Bachman for the 10th inning is a solid question to ask manager Kurt Suzuki in the postgame press conference room.
The Angels do not come from behind often when they’re trailing late in the ballgame. They just broke a 106 game losing streak when entering the 9th inning down some run(s) on 7/20/26. They came into the 9th inning of this one tied, after clawing back, but they could’ve been in a position to win the game if Kirby Yates doesn’t give up an easy run. Of course, they wouldn’t be down to begin with if Rodriquez can get an out where he needs to work on it the most.
Pinch Runners. Grant McCray came in as a pinch runner and made an immediate impact, scoring a run. Then he backed it up defensively with a great play in the 10th inning to double up pinch runner Oswald Peraza. Pinch runner Rodriquez scored the winning run.
