The Los Angeles Angels spent most of Friday evening’s game against the Detroit Tigers in a 2-2 deadlock. Luis Rengifo’s first-inning homer was erased by two run-scoring walks issued by Zach Plesac in the third inning. The Angels bullpen took over from there and kept things tied until Logan O’Hoppe took the plate in the eighth.
With Rengifo on first and Taylor Ward on second, O’Hoppe saw a center-cut splitter and hammered it 418 feet to left field. He gave the Angels a 5-2 lead that Carlos Estévez had no problem holding on to in the ninth. It was another clutch hit for the Angels young catcher, his 11th home run of the season.
Angels manager Ron Washington described what O’Hoppe has done for the team this season and how his clutch mentality has been a major factor in their recent success, according to Doug Padilla of The O.C. Register:
“He seems to be clutch,” Washington said. “But you just got to wait until he gets more time under his belt before we name him ‘Mr. Clutch.’ But he has been clutch for us in many, many ways.”
O’Hoppe has certainly earned the Mr. Clutch title when it comes to this season’s Angels. He has 11 home runs, five of which have been game-tying or go-ahead in the fifth inning or later. He has two game-winning home runs this season.
And this home run gave the Angels their fifth consecutive win. It’s their longest of the 2024 season and their longest since June 4-9 of 2023. And while it may not lead to the Angels making a postseason run this season, O’Hoppe entering the mix as this type of clutch player is a huge development for the team’s long term plans.
Davis Daniel tosses eight scoreless for Angels
Injuries have begun to ramp up for the Los Angeles Angels starting rotation in recent weeks. Only Griffin Canning and Tyler Anderson remain from the original five-man rotation that began the 2024 season, forcing the Angels to turn to 27-year-old Davis Daniel for his first MLB start against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.
The young pitcher was completely unfazed. Daniel tossed eight shutout innings against the Tigers, striking out eight batters with no walks and allowing four hits. Only one runner reached scoring position for the Tigers in his eight innings. It gave the Angels an easy 5-0 victory in the series opener, the team’s fourth consecutive win.
He became the fourth pitcher in Angels history — Bill Kelso (1964), Andy Messersmith (1968) and Steve Kealey (1969) — to throw eight-plus scoreless innings in his first career start.