Aldegheri Digs the Hole, Natera Jr Buries Them, Angels Get Shelled on the Fourth
There are bad nights and then there are bad nights at the Big A. Saturday night at Angels Stadium, with fireworks waiting postgame and a holiday sell-out crowd packed in, the Angels got shelled. The Angels came in having dropped four straight, put the ball in the hands of Sam Algegheri against one of the hottest starters in baseball, Sonny Gray, and watched the whole thing come apart in two ugly innings – the 1st and the 5th. Other than a Josh Lowe solo home run in the bottom of the 2nd and another Jo Adell home run robbery in the top of the 1st, there weren’t many Halo highlights.
How It Unraveled
Sam Aldegheri set the tone early and not in a very good way. He walked two of the first three batters he faced in the top of the first. Willson Contreras made him pay immediately with a three-run home run, and just like that, 3-0 Red Sox before the Angels had even come to the plate. That’s the kind of opening frame that changes the entire complexion of a game. When your starter can’t get through a clean first inning against a lineup you already knew was dangerous, you’re asking everyone behind him to climb a wall all night.
To his credit, Aldegheri steadied after that. He gave up just one more hit over the next three innings, but the damage was done and the pitch count was climbing. Four walks in four innings is a recipe for trouble even when the ball isn’t leaving the yard. He came out after the fourth having thrown 88 pitches.
Then came the 5th, and Samy Natera Jr. When the top of the 5th was over, it was 7-1. Natera Jr. faced six batters, retired two, gave up three hits, walked one, and surrendered a home run. Four runs, 2 batters out, ERA on the evening: 54.00.
Chase Silseth, Ryan Zeferjahn and Brent Suter cleaned up the mess in relief with a combined 4.1 innings pitched, giving up another run, but by that point the Angels were just trying to get out of the holiday weekend with some dignity intact.
Sonny Gray Was Sonny Gray
The Angels knew the matchup going in. Sonny Gray came in 9-1 with a 2.69 ERA, hadn’t lost since April, and had just thrown 7.1 no-hit innings against the Yankees the week before. He delivered. Six full innings, 70 pitches, seven strikeouts, one run. He carved through this lineup with the kind of efficient, unhurried authority that makes him one of the best starters in the American League right now. Jovani Morán followed with a clean seventh, two more strikeouts, no hits. Greg Weissert pitched a clean 8th and Alec Gamboa finished the game in the 9th.
Angels Offense
Josh Lowe hit a solo home run in the 2nd, the Angels’ lone run, and the only moment the crowd had anything to cheer for the home team offensively.
Beyond that, this lineup was mostly invisible. Zach Neto 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts as the leadoff batter. Nolan Schanuel went 0-for-4, Jorge Soler went 0-for-3 and Jo Adell 0-for-3 with a walk. The Angels went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position and managed just four hits as a team while committing another error on defense.
The O’Hoppe Footnote
Logan O’Hoppe took a foul tip off his mask in the 3rd and didn’t come back. This is the third time in recent memory he’s been in the concussion protocol. He went on the concussion IL last September and was in the protocol again two months ago after a home plate collision. Tyler Heineman finished the game behind the plate. At some point this becomes a bigger story than just one night’s lineup card.
The Bottom Line
Five straight losses. The Angels got punched in the mouth in the first inning and never recovered. Aldegheri walked too many, Natera Jr. made it a laugher, and Gray made the offense look overmatched for six innings. The Red Sox have taken the first two games of this series. Sunday’s the rubber game, and the Angels need somebody — anybody — to show up and compete.
Jo Adell Home Run Robbery
