Meckler (concussion from HBP in the head) and Schanuel (intercostal muscle) placed on IL today.
[will signify what the Angels players voted their teammates as for Players Weekend]
Starting Pitching
Ryan Johnson vs Cody Bradford. Angels pitching since August 11th: Overall ERA 1.81 (1st), Starter ERA 1.69 (1st), Bullpen ERA 2.03 (4th). Last time Johnson faced Texas on August 11th he went 4.1 IP giving up 3 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB and 4Ks on 85 pitches. Bradford went opposite Johnson on 11 days ago and went 7 IP giving up 5 hits and 3 runs with 1 BB and 4Ks on 81 pitches. Rematch.
Angels Offense
Top 1st: Zack Neto [best at picking music and always being picture ready] led off the game ripping a double. Mike Trout hit a bloop single to center, Neto got a good read and scored. Vaughn Grissom struck out. Trout stole 2nd base for his 225th career SB (11 for 11 on the year). Mo Ballesteros grounded out. Jose Siri flied out. Trout LOB at second base. 1-0 Halos.
Top 2nd: Gustavo Campero, back up with the club for the first time this year, popped out. Denzer Guzman [longest shower after the game] flied out. Christian Moore, back in the show for the second time this year (only got a week in with the first call up), popped out.
Top 3rd: D’Arnaud [most likely to blow up the group chat] struck out. Neto hit another double (27th of the year, 11 hits in his last 20 ABs with 5 XBH in the last 5 games). Trout struck out. Neto stole 3rd base (18th of the season). Grissom grounded out and could not beat the throw to first base. Neto stranded at 3rd.
Top 4th: Ballesteros singled to right. Siri grounded into a double play. Campero singled to left. Guzman grounded into a fielder’s choice.
Top 5th: Some defensive changes for Texas as Burger was pulled after being HBP in his left wrist. Moore flied out. D’Arnaud flied out. Neto flied out.
Top 6th: Trout led off with double to left center. Grissom lined out. Trout tagged on the play going to 3rd base. Ballesteros launched one to deep right field for a double, barely missing a HR, but picking up an RBI. 2-0 Halos. Cole Winn (local kid out of Orange Lutheran HS) replaced Bradford for Texas. Siri struck out. Campero struck out. Ballesteros left at 2nd.
Top 7th: Guzman grounded out. Moore struck out. D’Arnaud grounded out.
Top 8th: Neto tripled to right. Look for him to be Player of the Week for the AL.
Trout popped out. Robby Ahlstrom came into pitch for Texas. Grissom singled to right, Neto scored. 3-0 Halos. Ballesteros grounded out, Grissom went to 2nd base. Siri got intentionally walked. Lowe struck out leaving 2 on base.
Top 9th: Guzman grounded out. Moore struck out. Adam Frazier hit for d’Arnaud and singled to center. Neto smoked the ball but right at the 3rd basemen Cody Freeman for the out.
Angels Pitching
Bot 1st: Johnson got Pederson, Seager and Langford to line out. Very efficient inning using only 8 pitches. 3 up, 3 down.
Bot 2nd: Nimmo grounded out. Duran flied out. Carter popped out. 13 pitches. 6 up, 6 down.
Bot 3rd: Burger HBP. Freeman struck out. Jansen grounded into a 5-4-3 double play. Good start by Guzman and turn by Moore. 12 pitches. 9 up, 9 down.
Bot 4th: Second time around the lineup. Pederson walked. Seager grounded into a fielder’s choice to second. Langford flied out. Nimmo grounded out. 18 pitches. 13 up, 12 down.
Bot 5th: Duran flied out. Carter struck out. Lopez flied out. 7 pitches. 16 up, 15 down.
Bot 6th: Freeman singled, ending Ryan Johnson’s no hitter. Jansen struck out. Pederson flied out. Seager walked. Langford grounded out. 15 pitches. 21 up, 18 down. Angels set a franchise record 30 2/3 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run against a division opponent.
Bot 7th: Josh Lowe came in for defense at RF. Siri went to LF. Campero out. Nimmo grounded out, Neto made a good play on the liner up the middle to get the out. Duran grounded out. Carter grounded out. 24 up, 21 down.
Bot 8th: Michael Fulmer came into pitch, just his third appearance with the Angels. Lopez lined out. Freeman grounded out. Jared Kelenic, PH for Jansen, walked. Pederson grounded out. Fulmer with the hold.
Bot 9th: Ryan Watson came in to close things out. Seager grounded out. Langford lined out. Nimmo struck out. Elementary, my dear Watson with the save!
The Bottom Line
Ryan Johnson pitched masterfully. 7 IP giving up only 1 hit, 1 HBP, 2 BB and 3 Ks on 88 pitches. He got 8 ground outs ( 4 on his cutter, 2 on his splitter and 2 with his sweeper) and 9 fly outs as well. Johnson threw first pitch strike on 13/24 batters. Get ahead of the batters, good things happen. Best game of his major league career. The defense backed him too!
Zach Neto is back. He’s bounced around the lineup (leadoff or clean up) the past week and had his struggles earlier this year both on offense and defense. Not anymore!
Trout and Ballesteros each hat a multi-hit game with an XBH and RBI each.
Angels set a franchise record: 33 2/3 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run to a division opponent.
Angels won all 4 of their challenges, including a rare pitcher challenge from Watson in the 9th.
The Angels pitched well, hit well, ran the bases well and played good defense. You might be able to start telling your family and friends that its ok to be a Halo Honk again. If not that, then you can at least tell them they’re playing good baseball that’s worth checking out.
