Marsh & Company Tee Off With Offensive Explosion In 14-8 Win

For the first time in his career, Dylan Bundy took the mound against the Baltimore Orioles, who drafted him 4th overall back in 2011. Unfortunately for the right-hander, the outing did not live up to his expectations, however, the batting lineup had his back 100% of the way with an offensive explosion like no other!

Just two batters into the bottom of the first, Bundy handed the Orioles the early 1-0 lead, yielding a solo-home run to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle for his 22nd round-tripper of the season. It took 29 pitches for Bundy to exit the first inning as he struck out left fielder Austin Hays.

The Angels offense, who were dead silent over the weekend against the Indians, awoke from a deep slumber dropping a five spot in the second inning. “The Kids” Brandon Marsh and Jo Adell got the hitting parade going with an RBI Single (Marsh) and two-RBI Triple over the head of Cedric Mullins (Adell) to get the lead back on their side 3-1.

The hot bats could not be contained as Juan Lagares brought out the “Boom Stick” as he grooved a fastball deep into the night at Camden Yards towards the Angels bullpen for his third dinger of the year. With a 5-1 lead after two innings, the Halos already scored more runs in one game (roughly around 10 minutes) than they did in 27 innings versus Cleveland.

As Bundy lacked command, Joe Maddon hooked the starter in the second inning after loading the bases from two walks and a hit batsmen with only one-out. With only 46 pitches (24 strikes) thrown, completing just 1.1 innings is the shortest start Bundy has tossed in an Angels’ uniform during his two-year contract. His previous shortest outing came back on July 12, 2019 when he was in the Orioles starting rotation, yielding seven earned runs in one inning against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Inheriting the bases-loaded, reliever Junior Guerra wiggled out of the jam recording back-to-back outs of Mullins (Fly Out to RF) and Mountcastle (Ground Out to 2B) to escape damage and keep a 5-1 Angels lead.

The Halos bats took a trip around the order in the third sending all nine to the plate, scoring three runs on four hits and two walks. Phil Gosselin scored on a RBI Double by Jose Iglesias and Adell followed up with his second RBI hit of the game, this of the two-run Single variety to make matters even better for the boys in red 8-1.

Guerra allowed a run in the third to the O’s, but it would be meaningless just minutes later. In true deja vu fashion, the bats went into a frenzy, this time sending 10 to the plate and dropping another five spot for the second time in the game. [Jose] Iglesias (Single), Stassi (Double), Marsh (Single), Lagares (Single) and Fletcher (Single) contribute to the cause with RBI hits and extending the lead to double digits 13-2.

The Orioles cut into the deficit halfway through with six runs, three in the fifth and three in the sixth, capped off by an Anthony Santander two-run Home Run. He would be the biggest pest to the Angels pitching staff tonight as he finished 4-for-5 with 3 RBI.

For good measure, Fletcher added one last run in the eighth on an RBI Single, scoring Lagares, and stretching the lead to a half-dozen 14-8.

Closer Raisel Iglesias, who had not appeared in a game since last Wednesday, entered with two-outs in the bottom of the eighth and completed a perfect four up/four down night, securing a massive 14-8 victory.

The Angels thrive when playing teams below .500 as they now sit 32-10 with tonight’s win. Inching closer to a .500 record themselves (63-64), they hand Baltimore their 19th consecutive loss, which is just two away from tying a franchise record of 21 consecutive losses occurring at the start of the 1988 season.

Much excitement is growing for tomorrow as Shohei Ohtani takes to the hill for the first time at Camden Yards and 19th time this season. Ohtani is 8-1 with a 2.79 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 100 innings pitched. For the Orioles, they are undecided in their respective starter, so fans will have to tune in at 4:10 p.m. PT and see who the Angels offense will need to swing against in order to accomplish their second win in a row.

Angels News & Notes

• For just the third time in Angels franchise history, the 7-8-9 batters were defensively playing LF, CF and RF, in that particular order -> It must be fate, since Marsh, Adell and Lagares combined to go 8-for-16 with 9 RBI and 6 Runs Scored
• Brandon Marsh records his first 4-hit game of his career (4-for-6, 2 RBI)
• Angels record season highs in runs scored (14) and hits (19)
• All 9 Angel starters record a hit, with 8 (excluding Ohtani) having a multi-hit game