Angels had a Marte partay in the fourth inning of 8-1 blowout win over A’s

Angels 8 Athletics 1

It came without warning, without any chance to prepare. In the blink of an eye, the world changed. Yes, Jefry Marte hit a grand slam tonight and the Angels lowered the boom on an unsuspecting Athletics team, to completely lopsided results.

First, before all that fourth inning Halo Blitz excitement, the game had to get underway with an Angels player taking the mound and taking command. Tonight, his name was Ricky Nolasco, and he was nails. Nolasco has actually been somewhat nails-ish in his stint with the Angels, sporting a 3.21 ERA in that time frame.

Oh, and by the time he gave up a run tonight, he had been on an 18.2 inning scoreless streak. So...yeah. Solid as a rock.

Tonight, we saw some of that good, good Nails Nolasco, as he went eight A’s killing innings, giving up just five hits and ONE run, which wasn’t even earned. This performance set the table for this Tuesday offensive feast, and it only took a few innings to really kick things into gear.

The Halos got on board first with a Mike Trout RBI single in the first, but the real show was in the fourth. The Angels just kept pouring on the hits on, hitting seven hits in the inning, including Marte’s grand slam, a double from Juan Graterol and a Kole Calhoun triple. It was just the third time in franchise history that the team had a seven hit inning. The boys were having a good time, and so was I.

After all the carnage, the Angels had a staggering 8-0 lead. Nolasco’s scoreless innings streak ended at the aforementioned 18.2 innings when he gave up a run in the eighth, from a Ryon Healy double. That blemish couldn’t erase the studliness we saw in those 18+ innings, and the eight innings we saw tonight. Give that man a tip of the cap.

Cody Ege came in for the ninth, and while he did allow the A’s to threaten with runners at second and third, but he got out of the jam and the A’s were finally put out of their misery.

Another nice win, albeit another late, late win. Still, a nice win. I can dig it.