Mike Trout takes over in extra innings, leads Angels to win over Rockies
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
When the game of baseball presents Mike Trout with an opportunity to take and lead his Angels to a victory, more times than not the Angels will emerge victorious.
Wednesday night against the Colorado Rockies was one of those nights where the opportunity presented itself more than once, and every time Trout answered the call to help the Angels pull off a 2-1 victory in 11 innings.
In extra innings alone, Trout made two exceptional defensive plays that saved the potential go-ahead run from scoring. He was also right in the middle of the Angels game-winning rally, taking an intentional walk to set up Albert Pujols for the game-winning sacrifice fly.
In the 10th, Trout supplied his first run-saving gem by casually robbing Troy Tulowitzki of a go-ahead home run. Tulowitzki hit a rope to almost straight away center field that Trout glided back on effortlessly. At the wall, he timed his leap perfectly to go above the wall and bring it back. He didn’t have to go high or sacrifice his body. He was there in an instant, and he made it look way easier than any home run robbery should look.
It was another exciting and dramatic culmination to a big night for Trout. In regulation, he scored the Angels first run on an Erick Aybar single. The run scored was the 400th of his career. Reminder: He’s only 23.
On the other side of things, the Rockies were handed their 11th consecutive loss. On the plus side, at least they won’t have to see Trout again this season. On the down side, they’re headed out the freeway to start a four-game series against the Dodgers.
GEORGE SPRINGER HITS GAME-WINNING HOMER IN RETURN
The Houston Astros were only without slugger George Springer for one week after he suffered a concussion crashing into the outfield wall at Minute Maid Park on May 5, but they were definitely happy to have him back on Wednesday night.
The 25-year-old outfielder announced his return in dramatic fashion, launching a go-ahead solo home run against veteran left-hander Jeremy Affeldt in the eighth inning. A home run that held up as the game-winner in Houston’s 4-3 victory.
The home run was the third and final one hit by Houston. Luis Valbuena and Jason Castro each had solo shots of their own, giving the Astros 49 on the season. Only the Los Angeles Dodgers have more in baseball with 51.
For San Francisco, Buster Posey drove in all three with a single in the first and two-run homer of his own in the fifth. Posey’s five home runs are tied for the Giants team lead. The Astros have five players with at least five homers, including Springer.
We wouldn’t say the Astros are too reliant on the long ball, but it’s certainly a big part of their offense. As long as the homers keep flowing, they will continue being a very dangerous team.
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A’S CAN’T FIND CLUTCH SWITCH AGAINST RED SOX
The Oakland A’s had numerous chances against the Boston Red Sox last-ranked pitching staff on Wednesday afternoon, but time after time failed to take advantage. In the first four innings alone, they were 0-for-10 collectively with runners in scoring position against Red Sox starter Wade Miley. When all was said and done, that number rose to 0-for-14, which had Miley jokingly referring to himself as Houdini after the game.
Hey, the Red Sox will take a Houdini act if it means getting a quality outing and a road victory. They were able to get both here, winning 2-0 despite Miley allowing five hits and four walks in 6 2/3 innings.
Oakland’s best opportunity came in the third inning when Marcus Semien led off with a triple. Miley retired Josh Reddick and Billy Butler on fly balls and Brett Lawrie on a groundout to escape that mess. In the sixth, Butler and Lawrie both reached to start the inning, but Miley was able to get Mark Canha, Josh Phegley and Billy Burns on two pop ups and a strikeout.
In fact, the Phegley strikeout was Miley’s only in the game, which made his ability to escape even more impressive. Junichi Tazawa and Koji Uehara were a little more impressive in relief, allowing one walk while striking out three, but the most important number was the zero in the runs column.
As for the Red Sox, they only had six at bats with RISP. Daniel Nava and Dustin Pedroia converted two of them into RBI singles.
REDS ROOKIE RASIEL IGLESIAS EARNS FIRST WIN IN DOMINANT OUTING
Corey Kluber wasn’t the only pticher flirting with history on Wednesday night. Cincinnati Reds rookie right-hander Raisel Iglesias took the hill for his second career start against the Atlanta Braves and allowed just two hits over eight innings of one-run ball to earn his first career victory.
Through five innings, Iglesias had only allowed two walks. Pinch-hitter Eric Young Jr. broke up the no-hit bid with a clean single leading off the sixth, but ended up stranded. Iglesias allowed one other hit in the eighth inning to pinch-hitter Pedro Ciriaco, who eventually came around to score Atlanta’s only run in the Reds 5-1 victory.
Iglesias struck out five overall and held the first eight batters in Atlanta’s lineup hitless in 22 at bats.
Marlon Byrd and Todd Frazier each homered in support of Iglesias. For Frazier, it was his 12th on the season tying him with Bryce Harper for the NL lead. Billy Hamilton added two hits, including his third triple of the season.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
