Ohtani hits MLB-best 36th HR as Halos stay hot
ANAHEIM — After the Angels have been shut out for simply the fourth time this season in a irritating loss on Saturday, two-way celebrity Shohei Ohtani shortly made positive it wouldn’t occur for a second straight recreation.
Ohtani crushed his MLB-leading thirty sixth homer within the first inning Sunday to spark a giant day from the offense, as Luis Rengifo additionally went deep twice and Andrew Velazquez hit his first blast of the season in a 7-5 win over the Pirates at Angel Stadium. It accomplished a strong homestand for the Angels, who went 6-3 to enhance to 51-49.
“It was a nice stretch at home, absolutely,” Angels supervisor Phil Nevin stated. “The guys are responding well. They understand everything’s still in front of us.”
They received consecutive sequence over the Yankees and Pirates after dropping two of three to the Astros out of the All-Star break. The Angels will now look to journey that momentum into their important three-city highway journey to Detroit, Toronto and Atlanta with the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline looming. The Halos are 4 video games again of the Blue Jays for the third and ultimate AL Wild Card spot, making their three-game set in Toronto an important one for a group that’s trying to keep away from being a vendor, and in flip, not transfer Ohtani.
“It’s like the playoffs right now for us,” Velazquez stated. “That’s why, going into this road trip, winning this series was very important.”
Ohtani, who has been the topic of commerce rumors if the Angels fall out of competition, is about to start out the opener of that sequence in Toronto. He confirmed off his immense energy Sunday with a low liner for a solo blast within the first inning off Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller. Ohtani labored the rely full earlier than smacking a cutter over the center-field fence for his first homer since Monday. It left the bat at a low launch angle of 19 levels and went a projected 410 toes, in keeping with Statcast. He’s on tempo to hit 58 homers this season.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen a ball hit like that — a golf ball maybe,” Nevin stated. “I thought he lined out to center. I really did. Or maybe it gets over his head or hits the wall. But it disappeared into the trees. Every day, he does something different to impress you.”
His solo shot set the tone for a bounce-back efficiency from the offense and tied the sport after lefty Tyler Anderson gave up a solo homer to Bryan Reynolds within the opening body. The Angels took the lead within the second on an RBI single from Eduardo Escobar and pulled away with a four-run fifth.
“It was one big inning for us and that’s kind of been the MO for us the last week as we’ve been playing well,” Nevin said. “It’s why last night, when we left them loaded with nobody out, it was a big one. But we responded really well.”
Velazquez and Rengifo linked on back-to-back blasts to open the inning earlier than Taylor Ward added an RBI single and Matt Thaiss delivered a sacrifice fly. Rengifo gave the Angels an insurance coverage run with a solo shot off lefty reliever Angel Perdomo within the sixth. It marked Rengifo’s third profession multihomer recreation and the second time he homered from either side of the plate.
He was the final Angel to perform that feat when he did it on Sept. 16, 2022, in opposition to the Mariners. Just like final season, Rengifo has been heating up within the second half. He’s slashing .302/.388/.674 with 5 homers and eight RBIs in 15 video games in July.
“The most important thing right now is to try to help the team win and do my job,” Rengifo stated. “We really feel good as a team. We just have to stay together. We just need to keep winning games. Getting to the playoffs is our goal.”
Those further runs turned out to be key, as Anderson went again out for the seventh at 86 pitches and a six-run lead, however he gave up a single, a double and a stroll earlier than being eliminated for reliever Jacob Webb. A run scored on an errant throw again to Webb from Thaiss earlier than Carlos Santana roped a two-run double to make it a two-run recreation. But the Angels shut it down the remainder of the best way with Carlos Estévez getting his twenty third save with a scoreless ninth.
“It meant a lot, especially with how we finished the first half,” Estévez stated. “We found a way to turn it on during the homestand. We feel really good.”
