Angels' offense clicking since calendar hit July
Winners of eight of past 10 after 2-12 stretch, club trying to make up ground
ANAHEIM -- When Mike Trout's line drive sailed into the bullpen Monday night, it gave the Angels a Major League-leading 95 runs in July, only 15 fewer than what they produced in 13 more games throughout a hapless June.
The 9-5 victory it prompted, over the first-place Rangers, was the Angels' eighth over their past 10 games, which followed a 2-12 stretch.
Their best baseball is coming a little late.
"If you look at the standings, man, we have a lot of ground to cover," Kole Calhoun said of the Angels, 11 games below .500 and 13 1/2 games out of first place. "We have to think day by day, just like we're doing. And go out and play good baseball. Since the All-Star break, we're playing great. It's kind of how we wanted to draw it up all season."
The Angels -- without C.J. Cron, who will be out until at least late August because of a fractured left hand -- rallied from four runs down after the second inning, matching their greatest comeback of the season.
When they loaded the bases with none out in the fourth, Albert Pujols drew a walk and Daniel Nava hit a sacrifice fly. When they needed a spark in the fifth, Ji-Man Choi lined his first Major League home run. When they got two baserunners on to start the sixth, Johnny Giavotella followed a Rougned Odor error with a line-drive single that gave the Angels their first lead. And when the Rangers came back to tie it in the top of the seventh, they pulled away in the bottom half.
Jett Bandy, who looks like the everyday catcher now that Geovany Soto is on the disabled list and Carlos Perez is stuck in Triple-A, drew a leadoff walk.
Andrelton Simmons followed with his third hit, a double, raising his batting average to .390 since June 23.
Two batters later, Calhoun's hard grounder resulted in a run, despite Odor's best efforts to turn it into a highlight-reel play. And on the very next pitch, Trout sealed the Angels' fourth straight win with his team-leading 19th home run, a three-run blast.
"Sometimes things click," Calhoun said, "and right now they're clicking."
The Angels are batting .351 with runners in scoring position this month, a statistic that also leads the Majors.
"We're looking relaxed up there," Trout said. "We're not trying to do too much. It's fun right now."
Alden Gonzalez has covered the Angels for MLB.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook, and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét