Terrif ic Tuesdays
The Angels opened the season 12-0 on Tuesdays:
April 4 at Oakland, 7-6 — The club recorded its first victory of the season in dramatic fashion. Danny Espinosa hit the winning home run in the ninth inning after Matt Shoemaker made his return to the mound from emergency brain surgery. April 11 vs. Texas, 6-5 in 10 innings — The Angels got their first extra-innings victory since 2015, in another comeback that required a three-run ninth inning. Then-Rangers reliever Sam Dyson coughed it up and has since been traded. April 18 at Houston, 5-2 — The Angels came back again, but earlier, on the strength of an Albert Pujols three-run homer in the fifth inning.
April 25 vs. Oakland, 2-1 in 11 innings — After both teams were scoreless through regulation, Mike Trout clubbed a home run in the 10th inning to tie it, and Espinosa scored the winning run with two out in the 11th.
May 2 at Seattle, 6-4 in 11 innings — Pujols doubled in Trout for the winning run, then humorously stole third when Seattle forgot about him. He later scored an insurance run.
May 9 at Oakland, 7-3 — In an odd game, the teams hit five home runs, including one by Ben Revere, the major league hitter least likely to hit a home run. May 16 vs. Chicago White Sox, 7-6 in 11 innings — Picked up off the scrap heap in April, David Hernandez stumbled in his attempt to save a three-run ninth-inning lead. But Cameron Maybin logged a five-hit game in his first start as the club’s leadoff hitter and scored the winning run.
May 23 at Tampa Bay, 4-0 — Early home runs by Maybin and Trout and a star turn from Shoemaker made for a rare suspenseless victory. May 30 vs. Atlanta, 9-3 — Pujols hit the 599th home run of his career and batted again for his first chance at No. 600 amid an outlandish third inning. The Angels scored all nine of their runs in that frame.
June 6 at Detroit, 5-3 — After the Angels raced out to an early lead, closer Bud Norris loaded the bases in a tense ninth inning before striking out Alex Avila on a backdoor slider to end the game. June 13 vs. New York Yankees, 3-2 in 11 innings — With the streak in double digits, Eric Young Jr. tied the score with a solo home run in the eighth inning and then drove in the winning run with a walk-off single. June 20 at New York Yankees, 8-3 — Maybin ambushed Yankees reliever Tyler Clippard with the score tied in the seventh inning, and the Angels exploded for five late runs to extend New York’s losing streak to seven games, its longest in a decade.