Angels offense, bullpen lifts them past Braves

ANAHEIM, Calif: — Both Logan O'Hoppe and Mickey Moniak showed up early when the Angels offense needed them most in their win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

O'Hoppe hit a game-tying two-run home run in the second inning while Moniak hit a go-ahead RBI double in the sixth to give the game's final score of 3-2.

Before Friday night's game, O'Hoppe was in a 0-29 slump that started during the team's last road trip in his home state of New York. Angels manager Ron Washington said he thinks his young catcher got "The monkey off his back."

"He was trying hard. And that one right there, he hung a breaking ball. He didn't try to kill it. He just put his back in there. And it went." Washington said. "That's all he needed. And I think from that point, he started feeling good about himself."

O'Hoppe's home run came after Nolan Schanuel reached second base on a line drive double that included an impressive swim move by him to reach the base. O'Hoppe came up one at-bat later and hit an 80 MPH curveball to right field. O'Hoppe now has 17 home runs and 48 RBIs.

"It was a good feeling. I felt like I got a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders." O'Hoppe said. "It's been tough, it's not over yet. The hardest thing is getting out of it still but it's a good sign I feel like I got something to latch on and build on tonight.

In the second inning, Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon came up to bat but was hit by a pitch in the elbow. Rendon later exited the game in the fourth inning, to be replaced by Brandon Drury. Washington stated that as of right now, Rendon is day-to-day.

Moniak gave the Angles their 3-2 lead after both Schanuel and Niko Kavadas who made his MLB debut on Friday night drew walks. Brandon Drurycome up next and reach base on a fielder's choice allowing Moniak to later drill to the right-centerfield wall advancing Schanuel home and Drury to third giving the Angels a 3-2 lead. Moniak has been one of the best hitters on the Angels roster during the month of Aug. hitting .353 and has an OPS of .959.

The Braves first two runs came from Angels starting pitcher Jose Soriano. His struggles came early after a Marcell Ozuna pop fly came near Moniak and Michael Stefanic let a pop fly drop on what looked like miscommunication from the two. Matt Olson reached base on a walk, then Sean Murphy hit a single to left field driving in Ozuna. Olson later scored after an Anthony Rendon error that allowed Jared Kelenic to it make to first. Roansy Contreras entered the game for Soraino and got the next two batters out. Contreras would get one more batter out in the fifth inning.

Soriano lasted just 3.1 innings on 76 innings pitched with five strikeouts and three walks.

"I felt great, the zone wasn't working that well." Soriano said. "Things happen there are sometimes you can't control that kind of stuff and you cannot find the zone."

"After the fourth inning, he just had enough. They worked him pretty hard in those first four innings. To me, he just ran out of gas." Said Washington.

Brock Burke, Hunter Strickland, Matt Moore, and Ben Joyce would all come for relief Friday night for the Angels.

In the eighth inning, Moore would walk Orlando Arcia, and get Adam Duvall to fly out but would give up a single to Ramon Laureano, ending his night.

Joyce came in to relieve Moore in the eighth, setting up a 5-out save. Joyce got Whit Merrifield to ground out into a double play after just two pitches. He would then get Michael Harris to strike out to begin the ninth then go on and get the next batter to pop out. Marcell Ozuna was able to single with just one out left, giving the Braves an opportunity to tie the game but Joyce would then get Matt Olson to ground out towards first, earning his second career save.

Washington went on to say, he was able to get what he needed out of Joyce's performance.