It certainly didn’t look like it, but the Angels actually entered Saturday night’s contest against the Rockies on a 3-game losing streak. In fact, the Angels had lost 4 out of their last 5 games going into Saturday and were 0 for their last 15 with runners in scoring position at the plate. After failing on two attempts to get runners in scoring position home in the top of the first inning, the Angels lineup turned into a machine that couldn’t be stopped, scoring 2 runs on a David Fletcher RBI single in the 2nd before exploding for 13 runs (tying a franchise record) in the bottom of the 3rd.
The engine didn’t stop there as the Halos piled it on putting up an 8 spot in the 4th inning to go up 23-0. The Angels made history becoming the first team in the modern era to score 20+ runs in the span of two innings. If that record wasn’t enough justification for how dominant the Angels were on Saturday night, they also broke the franchise record for runs (25) and hits (28) in a game and Mickey Moniak had 4 extra base hits, tying the organization’s record for extra base hits in a game as well.
Here are my three takeaways from the game:
Angels finally hit with runners in scoring position
As I mentioned in the introduction, the Angels entered the game 0 for their last 15 with runners in scoring position, and in the first inning they had runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out and couldn’t come through yet again, which extended the streak to 0-17. However, something changed in the the 2nd inning as Hunter Renfroe started it off with a single, newly acquired third baseman Eduardo Escobar tacked on another single, Mickey Moniak was hit by a pitch, before David Fletcher drove two runners in with an single in between the 5-6 hole.
Despite not scoring another run in the 2nd, the Angels looked like they had finally figured it out at the plate and they carried that momentum into their 13 run top of the 3rd inning where Mike Trout, Brandon Drury, and Matt Thaiss hit back-to-back-to-back home runs on three consecutive pitches off of Rockies starter Chase Anderson to jumpstart the lineup. Oddly enough, the this wasn’t the first time Anderson gave up three home runs on three straight pitches as he did it once before against the Yankees on September 17th, 2020.
Nonetheless, the Angels continued to pile on more runs as Renfroe ended up becoming the first Angels player in five years to record 5 hits in a game, just before Moniak joined him two at-bats later. Trout had 3 hits and a walk including a 451 foot home run that he hit on a high fastball in the zone, a pitch Trout has struggled with all season long. This was Trout’s 2nd home run in two days and it looks like he’s feeling more comfortable at the plate. Overall the Angels went 13-24 with runners in scoring position on Saturday night following their 0-17 streak, but it remains to be seen if the team can build off this momentum and become consistent with RISP.
David Fletcher impresses in first MLB game since April
David Fletcher struggled mightily in the first eight games of this season and was demoted to Triple-A because of it. Since then Fletcher has dealt with some family issues and a few injuries, but showed he was ready for his call back up to the Majors with a massive 3 hit and 5 RBI game that included a 3-run home run in the 4th inning. It wasn’t that long ago that Fletcher was considered to be one of the most underrated players in the MLB. In 2019 Fletcher had 173 hits and hit .290 on the season and in his next full season in 2021 he had 164 hits and hit .262.
That consistent production convinced the Angels to sign Fletcher to a pre-arbitration extension of 5 years-$26 million dollars that was deemed at the time “an absolute steal” by many because of Fletcher’s consistency at the plate and superb defense at SS. Since he signed that contract Fletcher hasn’t lived up to his consistent billing, but Saturday’s monster game showed the Angels that it’s still in there if they give him some at-bats. Luckily for both the Angels and Fletcher, until Zach Neto or Anthony Rendon returns from the IL, he will get his share of opportunities.
Griffin Canning looks sharp yet again
Griffin Canning put together another impressive start tossing 6 innings of shutout ball with 7 strikeouts, 0 walks and just 4 hits allowed, which becomes even more impressive if you take into account it was at Coors Field. This was Canning’s 5th quality start in his last 6 outings and in the month of June alone Canning boasts an ERA of 2.35 with 23 strikeouts and just 3 walks in 23 innings pitched. With both Patrick Sandoval and Tyler Anderson (the preseason #2 and #3 starters in the Angels rotation) not looking quite like themselves so far this season, Canning has catapulted himself into one of the Angels most reliable pitchers and arguably their second-best starter overall this season.
Tyler Anderson will face-off against Austin Gomber in Sunday’s series finale. First pitch is scheduled for 12:10 PST.
