Justin Bour and Tommy La Stella cooperate to steal show in opener against Brewers

Angels 5 Brewers 2

If there was any doubt that Trevor Cahill was our best starting pitcher going into tonight, it has probably been utterly stymied. His efforts against the top ten offense that is the wrecking Crew were downright impressive. In fact, he has pitched against three consecutive top 2019 offenses and looked like a killer every single time.

Trout would back the effort with an amazing homer-robbing catch in left center to put the deadly reigning NL MVP Christian Yelich to bed immediately after Yelich himself had made a spectacular play in right to prevent extra bases and delay the tying or go-ahead runs. All Yelich could do was tip his hat to the MVP of MVPs.

Mike Moustakas did most of the damage against on the day, scoring the only two runs for the Brewers via an RBI single by Orlando Arcia that probably wouldn’t have happened with a slightly better framejob and a solo homer. And those two runs would have been enough, if not for the combined efforts of two of the most maligned hitters on the team.

Tommy La Stella got all of one today to drive in a still-good Goodwin right after Yelich doubled off Pujols with his play. It wasn’t exactly unexpected, as Tommy La Stella has had mostly positive peripherals such as Hard Hit Rate, Line Drive Rate, and Contact Rate that all suggest he was maybe a little unluckier than fans might realize. Andrelton Simmons also came through in a big way with a solo homer to retake the lead following the aforementioned Moose homer which may or may not have been expected.

The one that shook the baseball community was the Bour two-run shot to put the game away in the bottom of the 8th. Man, you can call him John Daly because this thing was GOLFED.

Considering the futile contact he has made thus far and his complete inability to even put wood on leather so far, this was a surprise to be sure (but a welcome one).

Turns out, playing all-around solid baseball wins games. We haven’t seen too many collective efforts of just great play against great teams yet, but against a Brewers roster that features terrifying sluggers top to bottom and pitchers who floor out at solid with a ceiling of unstoppable (Josh Hader), I will certainly take this.