:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59612211/usa_today_10817572.0.jpg)
The Angels had a bit of a time getting their big guns working in this past weekend’s home sweep at the hands of the Yankees, but tonight, they garnered their second home win in a row against the visiting Orioles, thanks to their most reliable hunting rifles shooting down some birds at the Big A.
Most reliable, of course, refers to dudes like Mike Trout, Justin Upton and yes, Albert Pujols. Those three brought out the Mossberg pumps and dropped some Baltimore pitching to the ground with ease, each of them going yard and giving the Halos a big time lead early on in the contest. Trout and Pujols actually went toe to toe in a HR war in the very first frame, and Upton took Orioles starter Dylan Bundy deep in the fifth.
Just for good measure, Martin Maldonado also added to the big fly frenzy with a dinger of his own in the eighth (he also put up some runs via double tonight, flexing some of that extra-base muscle to the extreme), and the Angels just all around unleashed real ultimate power in this contest, which is what they SHOULD be doing against teams like this, and at home. That is more like it.
By the time they got to the final side, they had a ten spot on the visiting team, with Baltimore only getting one run for themselves, via Manny Machado sac fly in the first. That was the only blemish, run-wise, for Halos starter Andrew Heaney, who would finish with a solid 6.0 IP, five hits, one walk and two Ks. The offense was guns a’blazing, and the pitching was mowing down batters with swagger galore.
Well, except for the relief effort, that is. Eduardo Paredes let things get way out of hand late in the game, giving up a handful of runs and making it a much closer match than it ever should have been, as he gave up four hits and five earned runs in just 0.1 IP. Oooooofffff. Oh well, the good guys had already done their damage, and they had a comfy, cozy lead that even the worst of appearances could absorb.
As Huey Lewis might have said in an alternate universe, that’s the power of runs. The Angels really did all you could ask of them in this one, and it went a long way to putting the vibe of the Halosphere back on track towards the right direction, helping get that New York taste out of fans’ mouths.
They would do well to just get the sweep and make everything gravy all over again with a win tomorrow, and then it’s “Yankees who?”, right? We shall see. Until then, drink this one in deep, and enjoy an Angels team performance with (almost) zero defects.