The Los Angeles Angels have made an interesting case for themselves coming out of the All-Star break, which included three dominant outings from their starters against the New York Yankees.
With a looming cloud of whether the Angels will sell at the trade deadline, manager Phil Nevin’s team rallied around each other to close the gap between them and the Yankees. Griffin Canning posted a 12-strikeout performance on Monday, Patrick Sandoval followed up with 7.1 innings of one-run ball, and Chase Silseth punched out 10 over 5.2 innings.
The series sweep washed away the woes of losing 2-of-3 to the Houston Astros a few days prior, providing a boost to the clubhouse that Nevin gave a good amount of credit to, per Sarah Valenzuela of the L.A. Times:
“Our offense is doing their part,” manager Phil Nevin said. “They have been even through some struggles there. You’re gonna have little hiccups here and there. Towards the beginning of the season we lost a few; we’re gonna do that again. It’s just how you rebound from those things. It’s a very resilient room.”
In six games since the break, the Angels starters carried the load for a bullpen dealing with some shuffling. However, the offense has been the fourth-best in baseball during that same span, posting a collective 136 wRC+ with 12 home runs while Taylor Ward has started to find his swing:
“I don’t know about the other guys but I’m feeling pretty good after that, both sides of this whole homestand,” Ward said. “It’s really exciting.”
Ward has been one of those key contributors of the early second half, collecting eight hits in 25 at-bats with five extra-base hits, including two homers. The veteran outfielder mentioned his continued comfort at the plate, which showed during the Angels’ solid homestand.
Angels tie franchise record for consecutive games with a homer
Their 7-3 win over the Yankees capped off the sweep, and on Wednesday the Angels offense wasted no time jumping on Carlos Rodón as they put up two runs each in the first three innings. Taylor Ward began the scoring with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first, his 11th of the season.
Ward’s home run not only gave L.A. an early lead, but also helped them tie a franchise record.
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