Shohei Ohtani grand slam, triple play can’t save Angels
Shohei Ohtani hit a grand slam for his 43rd home run of the season and the Angels hit their first triple play since 1997 but missed one in the 10th inning 9-6 defeat for the Tampa Bay Rays at Angel Stadium on Friday night.
Ohtani gave the Angels a 5-1 lead in the second inning with his second career slam, his first since scoring against the Rays in May 2022. He finished two-five.
First baseman Nolan Schanuel got his first hit, hitting two runs on his major league debut just 40 days after being selected by the Angels in the first round of the draft — the fastest rise in four decades.
“It was a nice first day for him,” said manager Phil Nevin, highlighting Schanuel’s field awareness and instincts. “His shots were great. [He] came after his first one and I kind of just said, “It’s kind of like an out-of-body experience, isn’t it?”
“And he said, ‘I kept looking down to make sure I was in the batter’s box.'”
The situation got even more surreal for Schanuel when he scored Ohtani’s Grand Slam on foot and scored. He blushed as he recounted his first major league appearance.
“It was amazing. Just to be able to see a ball hit by Shohei’s racquet like that was crazy,” said Schanuel. “And it was even better to see it over my head in the stands.”
Angels lefty Tyler Anderson (5-5) gave up five runs and six hits while notching two walks and three strikeouts in four innings. The Rays hit three runs in the fourth inning with a two-run double by Josh Lowe and a single by Rene Pinto.
Frustrated with his performance, Anderson said his command was flawed.
Jose Soriano fared well, relieved, giving up a hit and batting one over an inning, and Dominic Leone threw a goalless sixth.
In the seventh game, Harold Ramirez hit an RBI single against Reynaldo Lopez to give the Rays a 6-5 lead. Schanuel leveled the game 6-6 by the end of the frame when he made a single on a line drive to left field, stole the second and hit a double from Brandon Drury.
Matt Moore pitched another scoreless inning before Carlos Estévez took the mound. Luis Rengifo, Drury, Schanuel and O’Hoppe put together the 6-4-3-2 treble, the seventh in Angels history, taking the game to the bottom of the ninth pitch.
“Drury made a good move,” said Schanuel. “Just as he threw it at me, [Yandy Diaz] picked up. And I just saw it from the periphery, turned around and made a good throw. And O’Hoppe spared me that by putting the word ‘good’ on it.”
Nevin called it “a great instinctive move by Nolan to go get this and bring him home.”
Missed chances in the ninth game – Rengifo scored a leadoff walk, Randal Grichuk knocked down, Ohtani punched and Drury knocked down – the game went into the tenth round. Estévez then gave up two RBI singles and Aaron Loup also gave up one.
“[Estévez] “That was my best shot in the 10th inning,” Nevin said. “Low pitch count and it ends up getting higher than I wanted. I really didn’t want to get past 40. But knowing where their batsmen were and where we were out with Lowe, I just felt like I had to keep him in after getting a big strikeout before that.”
Estévez said his body and arm felt good but he planned to check his technique. “Fastballs, sliders, everything,” he said. “You just have to get more in line, not go too far apart.”
Catcher Logan O’Hoppe returned after missing 103 games with a labrum tear in his left shoulder. During his rehab, he had not caught the entire nine innings, but went 0-5 the entire game.
The Angels (60-63) had their worst season, falling three games below .500. They are 12½ games behind American League West leaders Texas and 7½ games behind the last AL wildcard spot.
