ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels picked up a series win over the Seattle Mariners Saturday night, and they leaned on two of their hottest assets on each side of the ball to do it.
Jo Adell launched a pair of solo shots, 435 feet and 445 feet, respectively, in a 3-for-3 effort with three RBIs to help propel the offense to an 8-6 win.
Adell started the season slowly, but has picked things up in his last 10 games, hitting .406 with five home runs.
“I think the big thing that stands out is probably the hitting fastballs in the zone, especially early in the count,” Adell said. “I haven't let a lot of those go by. Before three weeks ago, I was letting a lot of pitches over the plate kind of go in those counts where I'm used to being aggressive, so I really just got back into that and put my swings off early and tried to do some damage.”
Before this hot streak, Adell’s batting average was .184 and his OPS was .603. But now, he’s raised his average to .224 and his OPS to .757.
“I think more than anything it's me being an athlete at the plate,” Adell said. “In this past month or so I've looked much more athletic at the plate. I'm not trying to force a move or try to make anything happen, but just deal with the pitches that are presented and put a swing off.”
Also helping out offensively for the Angels were Chris Taylor, Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto.
Taylor got the scoring started in the second inning for the Angels with a solo shot for his first home run as an Angel, and his first of the season. He also tagged on an RBI double in the third and finished the day 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.
Taylor wasn’t in the starting lineup, but came into the game to replace Jorge Soler in right field. Soler left the game after the first inning due to groin tightness.
Schanuel picked up a pair of doubles, including a lead-off double in the fifth inning that led to him scoring on a double by Taylor Ward.
In his second full season in the big leagues, Schanuel continues to see incremental improvements as he’s improved every aspect of his slashline. From last season to this season, Schanuel has raised his average from .250 to .277, his on-base percentage from .343 to .378, his slugging percentage from .362 to .390 and his OPS from .706 to .768.
Schanuel finished the day 2-for-5.
Neto went 2-for-5, which included a lead-off single to start a two-run third inning for the Angels and an RBI single in the sixth inning to give the Angels an insurance run.
On the other side of the ball, the bullpen once again came up big for the Angels, as it had to get through 5.2 innings of work because starter Jack Kochanowicz got hit around and couldn’t make it out of the fourth inning. In those 5.2 innings, the bullpen allowed two runs on five hits.
The Angels' bullpen has been hot as of late, posting a 2.73 ERA in their last 17 games played heading into Saturday night’s game, which is the sixth-best bullpen ERA in baseball in that span. It’s been a drastic change for the Angels because their bullpen was the worst in the league at a 7.04 ERA before this hot stretch.
One of the bullpen arms used was Connor Brogdon, who picked up the win in 1.2 innings of work. Brogdon relieved Kochanowicz in the fourth with runners on the corners and one out, but left the runners stranded and tossed a scoreless inning after that.
Brogdon has now gone eight straight appearances without allowing a run, lowering his ERA to 3.75.
“Command,” manager Ron Washington said about Brogdon’s adjustments. “He's hitting spots. His changeup is real good for him. He's using it in good spots and he's moving his fastball around and he's throwing strikes. Earlier in the year he was all over the place, so now he's starting to find his command a little bit.”
The Angels are now 30-33 and will look to Tyler Anderson on the mound on Sunday for a chance at a sweep.