Last night, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim took on the Texas Rangers. The game wound up going 10 innings, with the Angels ultimately winning the game 6-5. Mike Trout came up with a big play in the 10th to keep the game tied and allowed the Angels to close it out. Check out the catch for yourself.
Mike Trout doing Mike Trout things. #Angels pic.twitter.com/HxiRnDEDuN
— Stadium (@Stadium) April 12, 2017
If you talk to any baseball fan, regardless of whether they’re an Angels fan or not, they’ll probably tell you that Mike Trout is a great player. Despite the Angels not playing too well, he’s hands down one of the best players in the sport right now. Last night, he ended up with 2 hits, 1 run batted in, 1 strikeout, and was left on base twice. However, he’s not a guy who looks good just on a stat sheet. That catch he made probably won’t show up anywhere, but it sure was timely. Plus, fans loved it as many were posting about it on Twitter while watching the final inning of the game.
Bout to do an #Angels podcast after that win, Anything you want to ask us we will answer! WE ARE HYPED!!!!
— OBP Podcast (@obp_podcast) April 12, 2017
At one point, the Angels were down to the Rangers 5-0. They didn’t score a run until the 7th inning and scored three in the 9th to tie it up and take it to that 10th inning. Had Mike Trout not saved that home run, who knows how the game would have ended up. Here’s a look at the team celebrating the win right after the game ended.
The #ComebackKids .
View more photos from last night’s #WalkOff win at https://t.co/RcXnktVAee pic.twitter.com/LngzURgboN
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) April 12, 2017
Baseball largely feels like an unpredictable sport. It’s also very stat heavy. This means that something like coming back to win a game when you are down 5-0 at the top of the 7th is quite a feat. The Angels rallied and that’s what gave them the win over the Rangers. Here’s what Fox Sports had to say about the win .
“With runners on the corners and one out, Perez set down a perfect bunt that hugged the inside grass and died without going foul.”
“The Angels had rallied to score seven runs in the ninth in the previous game on Sunday to beat the Mariners.”
“The Angels’ ninth-inning comeback Tuesday came off Rangers’ closer Sam Dyson. Down 5-2 going into the inning, the Angels got a solo home run from Danny Espinoza, back-to-back doubles by Yunel Escobar and Mike Trout, and a run-scoring single from Albert Pujols to tie it.”
This wasn’t the first game Sam Dyson struggled in as the closer for the Rangers. Sam Dyson has been playing poorly since his first game, where ha gave up three runs in a tie game. He then gave up 5 runs in 0.1 IP in a two-run game in his second game against the Cleveland Indians. Last night topped it off when he gave up 3 runs instead of preserving the team’s three-run lead.
It’s still the beginning of the season, so maybe Dyson will get his bearings and start to perform better. If he doesn’t, though, the Texas Rangers could have a big problem on their hands. As of last night, the Texas Rangers are 2-5 while the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are 6-2.
With the Angels off to a good start, hopefully they can keep up the momentum. If anything, Mike Trout deserves to be in the playoffs and time will tell if this team has actually improved or if they’re just starting off strong. As a fan, it would be wonderful to see them in the playoffs again. And all baseball fans, in general, should want to see Mike Trout in some playoff games.
The Angels and Rangers will face off again today and tomorrow will close out the series between the two teams. Today’s game is slated for 7:07 p.m. PST.
[Featured Image by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images]
