Marsh hits late homer to propel Angels
CHICAGO >> Brandon Marsh has had big games during his two-month major league career, but he had not had a moment bigger than this.
Marsh hit an eighth-inning tie-breaking home run in the Angels’ 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.
“It was like a first-time moment for me,” Marsh said. “It was special. It was fun to be a part of.”
Marsh homered on a 100.8 mph fastball from Michael Kopech, belting it just over the fence in left-center. Asked what he was thinking as he circled the bases, Marsh turned it back to the team: “Get six more outs.”
Manager Joe Maddon, however, said this moment could have a long-term impact on Marsh individually.
“You want to believe that a young player is going to grow from that,” Maddon said. “You’d rather see it sooner than later. Regardless, this is something he will dwell on when things shut down for the year. Now he knows he can do it. And that’s a big part of it.”
Marsh’s second homer of the season was his third hit of the night. He’d also singled and scored the Angels’ second run of the game.
Marsh also had timing good enough to hit his homer just after Mike Mayers had pitched. Mayers, who wears jersey No. 21, was the winning pitcher on the day that players around the big leagues wore that number to honor Roberto Clemente.
Although Angels starter Janson Junk didn’t get the victory, he still represented himself well, allowing just one run in 4-1/3 innings.
The Angels’ Brandon Marsh hits a tiebreaking homer off White Sox reliever Michael Kopech during the eighth inning.
Junk has a 2.25 ERA in two starts after the Angels promoted him straight from Double-A.
Acquired from the New York Yankees in the Andrew Heaney trade on July 30, Junk had spent the entire season at Double-A. He carried a perfect game into the ninth in his final minor league start before the Angels called him up.
In his Sept. 5 debut against the Texas Rangers, his outing was spoiled by four unearned runs.
This time, facing a much tougher lineup in a hitterfriendly ballpark, Junk performed well.
He threw just fastballs, curves and sliders with his 61 pitches, averaging 92 mph with his fastball.
Junk retired the first eight hitters before giving
Right-hander Janson Junk didn’t get the win Wednesday, but he gave the Angels a quality start against Chicago.
up a single to Cesar Hernandez. Junk gave up a leadoff homer to Yoan Moncada in the fourth and then retired the next three.
After a leadoff double by Gavin Sheets and a sacrifice in the fifth, Junk was pulled. Although he’d thrown just 61 pitches, Maddon said he felt his stuff was fading a little,
perhaps because it had been 10 days since he’d pitched.
“I thought his stuff came down a click, but he started out great,” Maddon said. “He was challenging their hitters. He was throwing strikes, utilizing his breaking ball for strikes. He did a nice job. I’m impressed with him. This guy’s got
great makeup. He is very cool out there. You can talk to him, and he gets it. I honestly think that one of his strongest attributes is how he processes the moment.”
The whole team handled the moments well the rest of the night. Each team scored in the sixth, and then after Marsh gave the Angels the lead in the eight, Steve Cishek worked around two hits to pitch a scoreless eighth and Raisel Iglesias worked around two hits — including a leadoff double — to finish it.
Beating a playoff-bound team on the road in September was the kind of moment that Maddon hopes can be a building block for the Angels.
“I think to play a ballpark like this under these circumstances, that’s what the playoffs are all about,” Maddon said. “And that’s what we need to get to this moment on a more consistent basis.”