OC Register: Angels get power, pitching in victory over Twins

[AngelsWin.com]

ANAHEIM ― It all clicked for the Angels on Friday night. Almost.

Starting pitcher Andrew Heaney kept the opposing lineup at bay for the better part of six innings. The boppers bopped. The slap hitters slapped. It didn’t matter that Mike Trout and Jose Iglesias allowed a lazy fly ball to drop in between them, gifting Miguel Sano and the Minnesota Twins with a single. Nearly everything else fell their way in a 10-3 win in front of 13,428 at Angel Stadium.

Justin Upton and Jared Walsh hit back-to-back home runs against Twins pitcher Caleb Thielbar in the seventh inning, turning a close game into a blowout. Upton’s home run was the eighth grand slam of his career. It came after a three-day layoff stemming from a stiff back.

Upton, Walsh, Jose Iglesias and David Fletcher each contributed two hits to the Angels’ 12-hit attack. Trout drove in the go-ahead runs with one swing in the sixth inning, erasing a one-run deficit.

Fletcher led off the sixth with a single against Twins pitcher Randy Dobnak (0-3), and Shohei Ohtani followed with one of his own. When Fletcher turned on the jets and went to third base, Ohtani scooted to second base as the throw from the outfield sailed to third.

That set up Trout for the big hit, a single that eluded three infielders drawn in on the left side of the infield. Leading 4-3, the Angels never trailed again.

Trout has reached safely in all 13 games this season for the Angels, who matched the Mariners at 8-5 for first place in the American League West.

Heaney pitched well enough to win, leaving with a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning, but he did not factor into the decision. He executed a game plan with precision, turning to his fastball early and often, then putting hitters away with his curveball and changeup. Heaney allowed two hits, walked three batters and struck out six in 5-1/3 innings.

Heaney faced the minimum number of batters through the first five innings. The double-play combo of third baseman Luis Rengifo, second baseman David Fletcher and first baseman Albert Pujols was his best friend. Three times, the Twins put a runner on first base against Heaney. Three times, the inning ended on a 5-4-3 double play.

The Angels’ offense finally broke through against Twins starter Lewis Thorpe in the fourth inning. Trout drew a two-out walk and went to third base on an Upton double. The next batter, Walsh, punched a single that split the middle infielders like bowling pins. Trout and Upton scored, giving the Angels a 2-0 lead.

The Twins rallied against Heaney in the sixth. Jorge Polanco singled and went to second base when Upton dropped the ball transferring it out of his glove in left field. Max Kepler walked.

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After a brief visit with interim pitching coach Matt Wise, Heaney struck out the Twins No. 9 hitter, Jake Cave. At 79 pitches, and with the top of the order batting a third time, Heaney’s day was done.

Right-hander Aaron Slegers could not hold the lead. Mitch Garver doubled, driving in both runners to tie the score, 2-2. Josh Donaldson knocked in Garver with a single. Slegers was able to finish the inning – a 5-4-3 double play did the trick again – but he was suddenly on the hook for a loss.

Within minutes, Slegers was back off the hook. The Angels scored two runs in the sixth inning and six more in the seventh to take a 10-3 lead. Slegers (1-0) was the winning pitcher for just the second time in his career.

The first? His second career game in July 2018, when Slegers was pitching for the Twins.

More to come on this story.

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[WicketMaiden]

That was a really fun game to watch. Really pleased for Upton, the line-up is so much more dangerous when he's hitting well, and how much fun is Walsh right now? Great to see him repeating last year's success. Nice to see Rengifo slotting in nicely at 3B too, it's easy to see why the Dodgers rated him high in trade talks. Yes, a fun game, more of that please Angels. 

[Warfarin]

14 minutes ago, WicketMaiden said:

That was a really fun game to watch. Really pleased for Upton, the line-up is so much more dangerous when he's hitting well, and how much fun is Walsh right now? Great to see him repeating last year's success. Nice to see Rengifo slotting in nicely at 3B too, it's easy to see why the Dodgers rated him high in trade talks. Yes, a fun game, more of that please Angels. 

Walsh has been absolutely incredible.  His bat is legit, and the fact that we can roll him out in 1B/RF is a huge plus.  He really needs to be playing daily, no matter the circumstances.

Rengifo is someone I hope we can mold into a Chris Taylor type player that the Dodgers have - someone we can play at 2B, SS, 3B, and maybe occasionally LF too.  Versatility is a huge aspect of these really good teams, and I am hopeful that Taylor and Ward can become like that - super subs that we can rotate around and utilize.

[Angel Oracle]

Slegers has weird stats so far.

6.1 innings, 12 hits (only 1 XBH), 0 BBs, 6 Ks

Keeps the ball in the park and has good control, but maybe a little too good sometimes.

[Warfarin]

1 hour ago, Angel Oracle said:

Slegers has weird stats so far.

6.1 innings, 12 hits (only 1 XBH), 0 BBs, 6 Ks

Keeps the ball in the park and has good control, but maybe a little too good sometimes.

Slegers has been "BABIP'd."  BABIP is, quite often, a stat used to show how lucky (or unlucky) a pitcher may be.  Probably anything 0.300 or over is unlucky, and his is currently 0.522.  His FIP is really good, so I imagine once he gets enough innings for things to be normalized, he should look rather good.

[AngelStew43]

I agree on Rengifo.  As soon as the Dodgers expressed interest, I was happy we kept him.  

The Dodgers just don't seem to miss on those types of players.  Muncy, Taylor and Turner have all washed out of other organizations, and became useful players, and in Turner's case, stars, with the Dodgers.  

Good to see Rengifo and Schebler back, they deserved to make the club out of spring training. 

 

[Angel Oracle]

9 minutes ago, AngelStew43 said:

I agree on Rengifo.  As soon as the Dodgers expressed interest, I was happy we kept him.  

The Dodgers just don't seem to miss on those types of players.  Muncy, Taylor and Turner have all washed out of other organizations, and became useful players, and in Turner's case, stars, with the Dodgers.  

Good to see Rengifo and Schebler back, they deserved to make the club out of spring training. 

 

This is why Remgifo needs regular reps this season in AAA.

If Iglesias is not able to truly get the bat going, Rengifo takes his spot in 2022.

[Warfarin]

22 minutes ago, Angel Oracle said:

This is why Remgifo needs regular reps this season in AAA.

If Iglesias is not able to truly get the bat going, Rengifo takes his spot in 2022.

Agreed on Rengifo getting ABs.  That's why I think actually we saw Rojas make the roster over him.  The spot Rojas was occupying was likely to be a bench spot with sparing amounts of ABs.  Rengifo has much more potential than Rojas, but to reach it, he needs regular ABs.

With Rendon now on the IL and in need of a 3B, now the opportunity is available for regular ABs with the team, so Rengifo fits nicely for now.  Once Rendon is healthy, I'd option him back and keep Rojas in his role - part-time player with occasional (but not many) starts.

As for the future - we'll see.  I would actually rather have Rengifo be more of a super sub type that plays all over the diamond and helps give regular guys rest - someone who we would expect to start 4-5 days a week, as he rotates around 2B, 3B, SS, LF.  Ward, likewise, can be on the bench in the future too as a 3B/1B/RF/C type that serves as the same versatile purpose as Rengifo.

So many things can change, but in 2022, could see something like this:

2B Fletcher, DH Ohtani, CF Trout, 3B Rendon, 1B Walsh, LF Upton, RF Marsh, C Stassi, SS Iglesias (if re-signed)

Bench:  C ??, IF/OF Rengifo, IF/OF/C Ward, IF Rojas.  Rengifo and Ward will play a good amount and rotate around.  Rojas will get occasional starts and pinch-hitting opportunities.  Marsh will serve as the backup CF for the few days Trout is off.