COMEBACK STORY
Angels fall behind in top of ninth, only to win it in bottom half on Lagares’ double
ANAHEIM >> The Angels rallied to rescue their bullpen on Sunday afternoon.
After allowing a four-run lead in the sixth to become a one-run deficit in the ninth, the Angels scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, completing the three-game sweep.
Within the victory were two more injuries that Joe Maddon doesn’t believe are serious, including another to add to Anthony Rendon’s list.
Rendon left the game with left hamstring tightness. Rendon has already been on the injured list twice this season, hurting his groin in April and fouling a ball off his knee in May.
Taylor Ward jammed his right index finger sliding into a base.
“If I had a bet it would be that neither one of them would play tomorrow, but if not it’s not something that I think should be elongated,” Maddon said.
Despite the injuries and the bullpen issues, the Angels were still able to make it a happy day thanks to a ninth-inning rally.
Just after Cedric Mullins had hit a tie-breaking homer against Raisel Iglesias in the top of the ninth, José Iglesias led off the bottom of the inning with a walk. Kurt Suzuki and Jose Rojas each singled up the middle, loading the bases.
Juan Lagares then doubled into the gap in right center, driving in two to win the game.
It was the Angels’ second win in this week in they which they trailed before they came to bat in
the ninth. They also erased a seventh-inning deficit last Sunday, and overcame an early four-run deficit on Friday. With six victories in their last seven games, the Angels improved to 42-41.
“It’s becoming a common theme,” Maddon said. “I love it. There’s no quit in this group. They’re always alive in the dugout. They’re always talking to each other. The veterans cannot set a better example, whether it’s pitchers or players. It’s just a wonderful vibe we’ve got going on.
“We had a nice lead and gave it up and these guys still believe we’re going to do that, even after the home by (Cedric) Mullins. Just another game that we have that to-the-very-end kind of attitude. It’s wonderful to be around.”
The Angels also celebrated another Shohei Ohtani homer.
His major league-leading 31st homer tied Hideki Matsui’s single-season record for a Japanese player. The 459-foot homer over the trees beyond the center-field fence. As the straightaway drive rolled up the green batter’s eye, Maddon compared it to a booming golf shot off the tee.
“He was putting after that one,” Maddon joked. “It was pin high.”
An out after Ohtani’s homer, Rendon lofted a homer down the left-field line, just his sixth of the year.
Unfortunately for the Angels, in his next at-bat in the fifth he drew a walk and felt something when running the bases. When he tried to field a slow chopper in the top of the sixth, he realized he had to come out of the game.
Rendon left at the same time as Patrick Sandoval, who had not yet allowed a run despite a performance that started off on shaky ground.
Sandoval walked the bases loaded in the first inning before finally escaping with a strikeout of DJ Stewart on his 35th pitch.
Although Sandoval faced just one hitter over the minimum in the next four innings, he still sat at 94 pitches after five innings because of the grueling first inning and seven strikeouts.
“Overall command of his fastball was off a little bit, and I think that’s what pushed him up to those (pitch count) numbers,” Maddon said. “But I thought he had great stuff. And once he gets it down, man, once he knows where that fastball is going, heads up. Once he knows where that fastball is going, he’s really gonna take off.”
Sandoval came out after allowing the infield hit and a walk to start the sixth, and Maddon brought in Aaron Slegers. His bullpen options were slightly limited because Steve Cishek was unavailable after working two days in a row, Maddon said.
Slegers got an out, but then gave up a single and a double, allowing both of Sandoval’s runners to score and cutting the lead to 4-2.
Next, Maddon went to Andrew Wantz, making his major league debut. Wantz gave up a run on a sacrifice fly and then another on a bloop single, tying the score.
It was still tied in the ninth, when Raisel Iglesias was summoned for his fifth appearance in seven days, and third in a row.
Maddon said he didn’t think Iglesias was fatigued, noting that the homer was on a 98-mph fastball. Not long after the homer, the Angels actually made Iglesias the winning pitcher.
“We don’t quit,” Maddon said. “We don’t give up. We can come back. We did it against varied kind of teams. It’s a great lesson learned. I think it will carry over. I think our guys are enjoying what’s going on.”