This game wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Cueto was supposed to come out, make it a quick 2 or 3 to nothing loss, and we were supposed to head to Houston. Nobody was expecting that first inning. Nor did they anticipate that 9th.

Yet the Angels managed to make a game that was an obvious, boring failure one of the most interesting non-Ohtani-centric games of the season thus far.

It all started just two batters into the game. Jaime Barria was on the mound and stayed on the mound for a good half-hour. The thing is, no run scored. Barria had a bases-loaded, one-out scenario and got out of it without a hitch.

But that wasn’t the interesting part. Barria threw 21 pitches to Brandon Belt before he lined out, setting a new record. The guy has had two starts and is already making history. He threw an incredible 49 pitches before escaping the inning.

This would put him into a seriously crappy mood. But as a fan of baseball, it was awesome. I rooted for it. I’m sorry.

Predictably, this caused him to unravel early. Just 3 innings in, he was pulled with the bases loaded and none out. Noe Ramirez then proceeded to give up the game.

Fast-forward to the 9th. It’s 4-2 thanks to Mike Trout’s 9th home run in 22 games (this tied the franchise record), and Jefry Marte lines a single. Cool. That’s all well and good. However, Kole Calhoun strolls up to the plate and then VICTOR ROJAS HAPPENED.

That’s right. For the second time in 3 days, Victor gave us all that fleeting and indescribable moment that we all watch bottoms of the 9th for. I let out an audible,

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

before the ball landed neatly in the glove of an almost unmoving McCutchen.

Not cool!

The Angels lost as everyone expected. Book-ending that loss though was some pretty interesting baseball. I’m not gonna lose sleep over the filler.