The Los Angeles Angels salvaged their season-opening series against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday by winning the finale 4-1 behind Reid Detmers, Jose Soriano and Carlos Estévez. They leave Maryland and head to Florida with a 1-2 record, which doesn’t tell the complete story of what happened to manager Ron Washington and his team over the weekend.
The Angels losing two of three against the Orioles could be expected. The Orioles, after all, were the top seed in the American League last season and have only gotten better with the addition of ace Corbin Burnes and natural development from their young stars. However, that 1-2 record neglects the fact that the Angels had a minus-17 run differential after two games.
The Orioles got the best of the Halos by an 11-3 margin on Opening Day. On Saturday, they won 13-4. So now, despite the Angels having a win in the books, they have tied for the third-worst run differential in MLB. Only the Oakland Athletics and Colorado Rockies are worse. Because of this, Washington felt the need to call a team meeting after only two games, according to Jeff Fletcher of The O.C. Register:
“Just to let them know that we only played two games and we can’t get off track,” Washington said. “Our focus is the 162-game championship season, not two games. It hasn’t gone the way we want it to go. But we’ve just got to make certain that we come to the ballpark ready to go still.”
The Angels are by no means projected to be a postseason team or make noise in the American League. However, the talent on the roster should, at the very least, keep them competitive in most of their games. A new 2024 clubhouse leader in Taylor Ward urged the team to keep moving forward.
“I think all of us need to take a look at what we did tonight and learn from it and then turn the page quickly,” said Taylor Ward, who homered and drove in two runs. “There’s stuff I could do better. I think everyone could probably say that. Whatever that is, learn from it, turn the page and come back tomorrow ready to go.”
Sunday’s win proves that Saturday’s meeting may have been exactly what Washington needed to keep his team from unraveling. Only time will tell as the Halos face the Miami Marlins to continue their season-opening road trip.
Angels-Marlins probables
The Angels face the Marlins in a three-game set on Monday-Wednesday of this week. Below are the probable starters for each of the three outings.
Monday, April 1: Chase Silseth vs. Max Meyer
Tuesday, April 2: Tyler Anderson vs. Jesus Luzardo
Wednesday, April 3: Patrick Sandoval vs. A.J. Puk
