[TribeTown]

Game #4 – April 1 – Angels @ Marlins

STARTING LINEUP
Rengifo 2B
Hays LF
Trout CF
O’Hoppe C
Rendon 3B
Leblanc DH
Schanuel 1B
Neto SS
Joe RF
Suarez P

Josh Bell unloaded on a Jose Suarez fastball (480 feet to be exact) with 2 outs in the bottom of the 1st inning to give Miami the lead. A Schanuel sac fly in the 2nd tied the game. Tim Anderson put the Marlins back on top with an RBI double down the LF line in the 3rd.

Trout walked and O’Hoppe singled to start the 4th. After Rendon popped out to 2B, Leblanc delivered a game tying single.

Joe walked and Rengifo doubled to start the 5th. Hays struck out but Trout singled to left to give the Halos a 3-2 lead. George Soriano then threw a wild pitch to score Rengifo. O’Hoppe walked and Burch Smith relieved Soriano. Rendon greeted him with a single to RF. Eric Young, Sr, (3B coach) held Trout at 3B as the ball was shallow and Jesus Sanchez has a strong arm. With the bases loaded, Leblanc had a chance to blow the game open. He delivered, sharply singling through the middle to score 2 more and make it a 6-2 game.

The Angels hoped to coax Suarez through the 5th. He had pitched effectively, but with 73 pitches already thrown he was on a short leash. After back-to-back singles by Jazz Chilsolm and Tim Anderson and the dangerous Josh Bell coming to the plate, the Angels summoned Jimmy Herget from the bullpen. Herget walked Bell and surrendered a 2 run single to Jake Burger. Luis Arraez singled through the middle to make it 6-5. With runners at 2nd and 3rd and nobody out, the Angels turned to Luis Garcia. Garcia retired Bryan De La Cruz on a popup to shallow RF for the 1st out, struck out Jesus Sanchez, and struck out Christian Bethancourt swinging to end the inning without further damage.

The problem for the Angels is that the bullpen is short staffed tonight. Only Zach Plesac, Carlos Estevez, and 5th starter Andrew Wantz (scheduled to start on Wednesday) have fresh arms. Adam Cimber is available although not at full strength. Jose Soriano and Jose Cisnero are not available, and Matt Moore is reporting a sore shoulder. For that reason, Garcia returned to the mound to pitch a 2nd inning. He struck out the first 2 batters, surrendered a single to Anderson, then struck Bell out swinging. A pretty good night for the Dominican fireballer.

The Angels turned to Zach Plesac to pitch the 7th – not an accustomed role for the long reliever and one time starter. Burger tattooed a fastball but fortunately it died just in front of the warning track in LF. Arraez singled sharply to LF. De La Cruz flew out to deep left center and Sanchez grounded out to 1B. Cimber navigated the 8th and Estevez retired the side in order in the 9th to preserve the win.

Final Score: Los Angeles 6, Miami 5
WP: L. Garcia (2-0)
LP: G. Soriano (0-2)
SV: C. Estevez (1)
Record: 2-2

TRANSACTIONS: After the game, the Angels Optioned Jimmy Herget to AAA Salt Lake City and placed Nick Mears (waiver claim) on the active roster. The Angels also learned that Matt Moore will miss the next 5 weeks with shoulder inflammation. They placed him on the 15 Day Injured List and purchased the contract of veteran journeyman Adam Kolarek from AAA. The 35 year old has pitched part of 6 seasons in the majors, but did not not see much time in the big leagues in 2023 (appearing in only 5 games, 1 with the Dodgers and 4 with the Mets). His best season was 2019 when he went 6-3 with 1 save and a 3.27 ERA in 80 games between Tampa Bay and the Dodgers.