The Angels had shutout the Yankees in the first 2 games of the series. Would they be be to do so a 3rd time? No. But still, it was impressive when it lasted. That meant Jack Kochanowicz did not have the clean game that Soriano and Hendricks did. Indeed, he went 5 and 1/3 innings giving up 2 runs on 2 hits striking out 8 and walking 3. A no decision but a good start nonetheless.
Highlighted Recap
The Angels started it off strong with a Nolan blast past the short porch into the 2nd deck.
Too bad Jack gave it right back in the 2nd. Jazz broke the Yankees scoreless streak.
And Cody Bellinger gave the Yankees their first lead of the series.
Not to fear, Jo Adell is here!
After so many runners in the 6th, 7th, and 8th, the Angels finally scored on an error by the Yankees.
After escaping the 8th with 2 pitchers and 2 walks, the Angels got the ball to Jansen in the 9th with a 3-2 lead.
ANGELS WIN!
Upcoming
One more in NY. And then home to face the Trashos.
I am enjoying the winning, let’s celebrate the moments in the sun, before it goes back into our eyes.
There’s no joy in Mudville, the mighty Stankees lost out.
Let’s ruin their afternoon today!
Go Halos!!
Neris & Brogdon pitched the best innings of their professional lives last night.
Beating the Yankees shuffle!!
I’m kind of digging some of our cast offs and wasted cheap first round picks at this point.
Great win. Had I predicted a 3-4 road trip I think most of us would’ve taken it.
That’s locked up with a chance to go 4-3.
I predicted 2-5 so we’ve already beat that… Rodon is tough but let’s see what happens today…
Trout has crept up to .229/.320.
Obviously a far cry from his hey day but, trending up. His K rate on the season is 28% and he’s starting to draw more walks. I still think he’s good enough to get these numbers up to at least .250/.350 if he’s a full time DH the rest of the way. There seems to be a renewed focus on making consistent contact and a bit less swing for the monster jack. Could be wrong.
I know I’m not alone in missing the guy that consistently hit .300+ with a .380-.400 OBP.
Too bad the sore knee/terrified of another injury Spector removes his ability to run from the tool box.
Totally agree about the focus on walks, OBP and solid contact. Trout has always been a patient hitter with good plate discipline and great understanding of the strikezone. Of course, when in a slump, like most players, he would take some bad swings. But he is returning to the “get on base” guy.
I too like the fact he is focusing on getting on base instead of the long ball. You said we need more of that in a post below. I think that is right on target.
It’s hard to understand the strike zone when umpires think it’s, “…more like guidelines…”
The umpires is a totally different issue, and you don’t want to get me started on that one, believe me !!
I think what would help Trout is if he starts hitting the first pitch if it’s right down the middle of the strike zone. At this point in his career, he can’t just give the pitcher a freebie strike
You act like you’re always going to get a strike with the first pitch. Alot of times you don’t and end up chasing a ball and fall behind 0-1.
Each hitting approach is a double edged sword. Being patient vs being aggressive both have their advantages AND disavantages. Frankly, most of our guys are overly aggressive, thus the league leading K rates… We really need to practice being more patient as a team.
Run diff. is kinda trippy in the west.
Hou +47
Sea +2 (1 game in front of the Halos)
Cal -56
Tex +19
Sac -121
Reflective of several 14-1 losses we’ve had
Run differential doesn’t mean shit. I have said that over and over and yet people still keep talking about it like it is the Secret Sauce or something.
It doesn’t mean shit….. so long as you’re well above .500 in one run games. Which we are.
Yes, that is it. You get it Banned.
There is actually zero benefit in winning a game 10-0 vs winning it 3-2 or 2-1.
Well, I should not say “zero” because if you build that lead early you can usually rest top relievers etc which does provide value.
But in terms of overall goals and winning in the season as a whole it holds “very little” if any value over winning by 1 run. I think you could argue 1 run wins are better because they teach you how to win close games and build character etc.
You’re welcome to say whatever you like, Jack, but the correlation between positive run differential and positive winning percentage is one of the strongest statistical correlations in baseball.
https://www.thegoodgriefs.com/post/how-much-does-run-differential-really-matter
r=0.94 is, well, “the shit”.
This because there’s 162 games in a season.
But if you like overreacting to every single game long graphs suck.
That’s why I selected that particular (otherwise concisely written) article. It addresses why fans quarrel over small samples even as larger samples prove the rule.
When I see stats like those max produced above, I see three teams playing to expectations, and two teams playing, alternatively, above and below expectations. And given we’ve played less than half a season at this point, these things to tend to even out over a full season.
Of course there are outliers, like the 1960 Pirates. But that’s why they call them outliers.
Obviously if you are at the far end of either side of run differential it makes a difference — look at the Astros and A’s…. If a team is near the bottom that is not a good thing.
But the main point I am making is that it is misleading, and it is. Somebody showed the stat that the Mariners are +56 runs over us or something like that, and yet they only lead us by one half game. That tells you that it is a very imperfect way of measuring success in baseball.
The really bad teams skew these large number data points… Run differential in baseball is alot like +/- as a stat in basketball…..it ignores ALL KINDS OF important contextual individual game information and generalizes based on a simple number.
One thing is clear. Aaron Judge is hands down the AL MVP.
When he’s rolling, which is 75% of the time, he can carry any team. When he’s cold, the yanks are very mediocore. Or worse.
the Yanks are basically us + Aaron Judge. They better hope none of Boston’s pitching gets good and the Rays stay mired in slumps.
FWIW, this series in NYC has had a playoff esque feel to it. Good pitching. Not saying that this is a playoff team yet but, this team is a player or three away from being solid.
The bones are there.
Yup. We need lineup diversification more than anything. When we slump it’s in large part because pitchers can get into a groove attacking 50% of our lineup with the same arsenal.
Soler
O’Hoppe
Ward
Trout
Adell
Neto at times
You kind of pitch them all the same. Make them hit the ball the other way fastballs in off the plate .. breaking stuff away.
Need some left handed balance and then some right handed grinders who are going to get on base and take lousy knocks to the backside of the field.
Agree on the need for a lefty or two. I also want more speed & contact guys.
Neto is the only guy that is a base stealer on this squad now that Trout has a balky knee and is clearly modifying his play to reduce the injury potential.
Speed is slump proof. We need more of it.
Future lead off rada is on his way.
i wonder if y’all agree with me that this year there are more good wins and fewer devastating losses. Last year the Rengifo error would’ve led to a heartbreaking loss. This year we have a professional closer, so he simply got the four necessary outs to secure the win. I have no idea how things will go from here, but I’m simply happy to enjoy tonight’s win, and the three in a row from the New York team..
Completely agree with this. The team is just more competitive, period.
It’s going to suck when we trade Jansen but my guess is Reid takes over the closer role.
We are only a shade outside the WC. Perhaps we think about not selling?
Oh dear, I’m afraid the FO will feel that way. In 2027, this team needs to hit the ground running. 2025 is not time.
I am getting tired of everytime one of our players does something well people talk in terms about increasing his trade value.
I am an Angels fan, and I want to see them play and play well. So when they win, I, for one, am enjoying the ride.
Heck yeah. though enjoyable rides tend to go hand in hand with players increasing trade value.
If only we knew this was the last season of baseball ever. Then I’d say go for it.
If I could see this team going winning 50 of there next 89 games and keeping that up for the next couple of years with no substantial infusion of talent then I would say buy. But I think future talent is more important for this team.
If it takes giving away 4 players to get 2 excellent minor leaguers that get to the show in two years, do it.
And please draft well.
But for the love of God, no painful buying!!!
What the hells gotten into you M.L.?
I think thats the cheeriest take you’ve ever had.
Good catch, Cowboy. I’m on vacation. Watching the games on my iPad by the pool.
Yup. The team stays focused and executes a lot more than last year. Still do bone head things or have a day where they left their bats at home. But generally they screw up and then keep at it.
Winning 70% of 1 run games so far will make us feel there are more good wins. Jansen and Detmers have a lot to do with this feeling. Last year this team was 13-19 in 1 run games.
Barry Enright is a legit coach. The improvement over the course of this season has been incredible. He even seems to have unlocked Detmers.
I like this version Silent C when he has some K to his game. Let’s keep coaching that up. Soriano too.
Kochanowicz pitched one of his best games of the year, allowing just two solo homers and striking out a career-high eight in 5⅓ innings.
The key was his changeup. Kochanowicz said pitching coach Barry Enright showed him a new grip with the pitch before his last start. He started throwing it last Friday against the Baltimore Orioles — a game in which he allowed just two runs before a fifth-inning rain delay ended his night — and it was even more comfortable this time. Kochanowicz said he likes it because it spins the same way as his sinker, which is what he throws most often.
“The new grip definitely changed things,” Kochanowicz said. “It felt great.”
Kochanowicz threw his changeup 21 times against the Yankees, the most he had used the pitch since last month’s game at Dodger Stadium, which was his best game of the season. The Yankees whiffed on seven of their 14 swings at his changeup, including both of his strikeouts of Judge.
The Yankees had a total of 12 whiffs against Kochanowicz, which was one shy of the career high he reached when he pitched against the Yankees last month in Anaheim.
https://www.ocregister.com/2025/06/18/angels-take-advantage-of-mistake-for-3rd-straight-victory-over-yankees/
Silent C has moxie
Unpossible. Arte is still Perry always is.
Yep.
A month or so back when alot of people here came at me saying I wanted to “fire everyone,” I had to say “Not true. I don’t want to fire Barry Enright. Cause I think he’s a good coach.”
Now people are starting to see why I said that.
There was never a rational reason to fire anyone lol
Lol. We were dead LAST in OBP (actually STILL dead last in OBP !) in all MLB. We were dead LAST in terms of most K’s by our hitters. We were second to last and then third to last in BA.
There sure as hell WAS a reason to fire the hitting coach !
Tell us more about your journey.
Yeah. Silent C! Low walks, lots of Ks, didn’t give a shit about solo HRs and just kept firing it in there. Hell yeah.
My thoughts on the last 16 games of the month was either 6-10 or 9-7. To be 3-3 after the Disaster in Baltimore ®, lol, is pretty cool. Another one with the MFY and then 3 each with Hou, Bos, and Wsh. Surely those 10 games can be split?
Royals just wrapped up a second straight win in Texas vs the Rangers !
We are now back in 3rd place baaaby !!
Just 1.5 games out of WC spot
Aaron Judge, 17 strikeouts in last 28 ABs. Get out of town before he learns to hit again.
That volcano is due to erupt. Hopefully not tomorrow.
LSU vs Coastal Carolina – these will be some good games and we can see what Kade does against a pesky line-up.
My guess is LSU is too deep.
Just started watching the 9th now. Should be fun to see the rallies
ARK pretty much choked it up.
if I didn’t know better, it looked liked they tried to throw the game.
Just back from watching. Brutal defense
15-6 in 1-run games. Like the Scioscia days of outperforming our expected W-L.