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Hey, maybe things are supposed to be leveling out now, you think? We, the fans, had to suffer some pretty bad valleys to accompany those peaks we saw in a month or so ago. Maybe the Angels finding some homeostasis, the Big A getting back to having a friendly, yet ultimately unwelcoming and advantageous to ONLY the good guys. Maybe the bats are coming from their suspended animation but this time with a vengeance.
I say it in jest, but deep down, the sentiment rings true, because the Halos are winning at home again, thankfully, and they’re doing it with tons of long balls and extra bases at the plate. They’ve now won 7 out of their 10 games, and they’re winning like the formidable opponents we thought we’d be seeing roaring out of camp in 2018.
Tonight, the dingerz came courtesy of Ian Kinsler (his second in 2018), Justin Upton (his ninth in 2018) and the man, the myth, the legend himself, Shohei Ohtani (his fifth in 2018). Speaking of the latter, Ohtani also drove in some runs earlier in the game, before his seventh inning home run, as he belted his fourth double of 2018 in the bottom of the third.
All in all, the Halos compiled 12 hits on the night, against the visiting Twins’ pitching staff, seven of which came off of their starter, Jose Berrios. Meanwhile, on the Angels side of the ball throwing thingamajig, Garrett Richards, like Berrios, went 5.1 IP, giving up five hits and three runs (all earned), while walking zero dudes and striking out four dudes. Serviceable, but not ace-like, by any means.
Who cares, though?! Like I’ve said a bunch recently in these here post-game articles, the pitching staff can trot out a mediocre, underwhelming whoopee cushion of an outing and still get by with their teammates happy at the end of the night. That’s mainly due to the lineup straight manhandling baseballs on a nightly/daily basis now. Quite the strategy, really: Kill them with extra-base hits and runs on the board. I love it.