ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels scored runs in all sorts of ways on Friday, blowing out the Detroit Tigers 11-3 in their most lopsided win of the season.
They were patient early on, drawing walks in the second and third innings that eventually turned into the evening’s first two tallies.
They showcased their power in the fifth, getting home runs from Juan Lagares (a solo blast that marked his first MLB long ball since last August), Shohei Ohtani (his first of the two on the night) and Jared Walsh (his 16th of the season, snapping an 0-for-10 skid at the plate) in a five-run frame.
They were persistent in the sixth, when Phil Gosselin and Justin Upton each hit singles and Lagares and Taylor Ward both doubled, Upton’s hit scoring one run and Ward’s plating two more.
“That’s what we’re looking for,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “Of course you love the home run, but you also love the ball being moved and action on the bases.”
It was all backed by a 5 2/3 inning start from Alex Cobb in which he surrendered only one unearned run, then capped by Ohtani’s second home run of the night in the eighth inning, sealing a win that lifted the Angels (35-35) back to .500 and improved their record in June to 11-5.
Here are three observations from the game.
—Ohtani goes deep … twice
Hours after announcing he will participate in this season’s Home Run Derby, Ohtani showed exactly why he was invited to the event in the first place.
The left-handed hitting slugger produced his first multi-homer game of the season and fourth of his MLB career, belting his 20th and 21st long balls of the campaign in the fifth and eighth innings, respectively. He is now one behind co-leaders Fernando Tatis Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for most in the majors.
Ohtani’s first home run Friday was a low line drive that was stung 114.3 mph off the bat and just barely cleared the wall in right.
The second was driven the other way, soaring out to left-center field at a projected distance of 408 feet.
After hitting only two home runs in his first 11 games in June, instead settling for more walks as opponents increasingly began to pitch around him, Ohtani now has four in his past four games.
“The first one was like 15 feet off the ground,” Maddon said. “And that second one, that’s a great spot for him. When he’s hitting the ball like that to left-center, you know he’s got his A-hack going on.”
—Cobb cruises in bounceback performance
In his past two starts, Alex Cobb suffered big innings the second time through the order, giving up a combined 10 runs in his past 10 innings entering Friday.
The right-hander had no such problems against the Tigers (29-41), finishing his night charged with just the one unearned run, three hits and two walks while striking out eight. His ERA is now 4.41.
Cobb had a lot of success with his offspeed pitches, getting a whiff on 14 of his 40 splitters and eight called strikes on 15 curveballs. And after throwing 44 total pitches in the first two innings, he worked quickly the rest of the night in a 111-pitch outing.
The most intriguing moment of his evening: With Jaimer Candelario on second base and two outs, Cobb seemed concerned that Candelario was relaying signs to batter Eric Haase. After striking out Haase to end the inning, Cobb seemed to yell “I see you” to Candelario on his way back to the dugout before pointing two fingers from his eyes back at the baserunner.
Postgame, Cobb said that once he saw Candelario was relaying signs, he showed one grip on the strikeout pitch before switching at the last second to a sinker that Haase awkwardly swung through.
“If they wanna relay it to the hitter, I’m cool with that, that’s fine. I’m just going to let you know I see what you’re doing,” Cobb said. “I believe he relayed him the wrong pitch based off the swing that I saw from the hitter.
—Ward, Upton shine in all-around offensive display
In Anthony Rendon’s absence, Ward has taken advantage of a bump up to the three-hole in the batting order.
After hitting his first career grand slam on Thursday, the outfielder had three hits and three RBIs on Friday, raising his season batting average to .256 and pushing his on-base-plus-slugging percentage over .800.
After failing to make the opening day roster and struggling in May after being recalled, Ward is now on an eight-game hitting streak and has 13 RBIs in June.
Upton also produced one of his best games of the season Friday, reaching base four times to continue his own excellent form in recent weeks.
Since moving to the leadoff spot in the lineup on May 23, Upton has 29 hits in 23 games and an on-base-percentage of .429.
“It’s just how he’s leading right now,” Maddon said of Upton. “He is enjoying it. It’s obvious the other players feel it, the coaches feel it. I want to believe the fans feel it. He’s maybe the biggest reason why we’ve ascended like we have.”
