The Angels offense broke out in a big way against the Mariners this afternoon, but none of that matters.
The lefties all had big days, almost the entire lineup had hits, and Garrett Richards looked lit up until the point that he was pulled way too early (hopefully just an early hook?), but nobody cares.
No, today’s spotlight belongs to exactly one player:
David Fletcher.
Let’s set the stage.
We join our hero in the bottom of the 7th inning. David Fletcher is looking especially chiseled on this typically crappy Seattle day. It’s not crappy because the weather is bad per se. It’s just crappy because it’s Seattle.
Our big, strong, and especially charming protagonist is watching exasperatedly as Jose Alvarez proceeds to replace Cam Bedrosian by being entirely awful. He kicks the dirt with irritation as the lead his Super Friends have procured is almost certain to be decimated.
Hansel Robles, who is pretty much the Aquaman of the Angels, comes in and walks Mike Zunino to load the bases with no outs. The villains are so confounded by this strategy, that they almost completely collapse. Both Span and Gordon strike out in embarrassing fashion.
Jean Segura, basically Sinestro but actually entertaining, then launches what should be the crushing blow that inevitably signals the fall of the entire season.
And then David Fletcher jumps into action.
Someone get this man a waving flag to stand in front of because nothing says America quite like David Fletcher when he’s saying the word, “America.” Or put it on his back and make it a cape.
Sure, there were other cool parts like the Parker save and the Calhoun homer and Ohtani getting on base 3 times. There were other snags, nice hits, lots of bat flips, and some sweet K’s.
But today is Independence day, and David Fletcher won this game independently.