Luis Rengifo, Randal Grichuk and Chad Wallach hit solo homers off Charlie Morton, Chase Silseth won his second straight start and the Los Angeles Angels cooled off the major league-leading Atlanta Braves with a 4-1 victory on Monday night.
Matt Olson's NL-best 36th homer and major league-leading 89th RBI made it 2-1 in the fifth, helping the Braves join the 2019 Minnesota Twins as the only teams with 200 long balls before August. Atlanta began the game with 31 more homers than the Los Angeles Dodgers, the No. 2 team.
The Braves (67-37) were coming off a three-game sweep of Milwaukee in which they scored 29 runs and went deep 11 times.
Los Angeles two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP and the majors’ homer leader with 39, went 2 for 3. He was hit by a pitch in the first and intentionally walked in the second. He ripped a single 113.3 mph to right in the fourth, singled off A.J. Minter in the seventh and was robbed of a three-run homer by center fielder Michael Harris II in the ninth.
Harris timed his leap at the wall perfectly, raising his glove over the 9-foot wall to bring the ball back. Ohtani drove it 406 feet.
Rengifo drove the game’s third pitch to right-center. Grichuk, making his Angels debut a day after getting acquired with first baseman C.J. Cron in a trade with Colorado, hit an opposite-field shot to right in the fourth. Wallach drove his seventh homer 441 feet to left-center for a 3-1 lead in the sixth.
Cron's RBI single in the ninth made it 4-1.
The Angels (56-51) have won 10 of 13 and have the AL's best record since the All-Star break at 11-5. Los Angeles began the night five games back in the AL West and four games back of the final wild-card.
Reynaldo López worked the final 1 2/3 innings to earn his fifth save.
Silseth (3-1) started in place of Griffin Channing, who was scratched with what Channing described as “general soreness” a few hours before the game. Making his third major league start, Silseth gave up three hits and one run in five innings.
Morton (10-9) lost his third straight start, allowing six hits and three runs in six innings.
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3 Comments
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NOMINATION
Haters aren't going to like this. Angels beating the best team in the MLB? They said Angels should throw in the towel and trade Ohtani for a bunch of nobodies.
kaimycahl
There's no haters in the game, yes the Angels beat the team with the best record in MLB, that doesn't mean the Braves are the best team in baseball and that's just one game in a series the Angels would not win!! If you knew anything about baseball and how the negotiations go. Ohtani is in the best situation he's a smart guy and a loyal one its obvious he doesn't care about the money he proved that when he waited to come to the US to play. The guys knows what he can do after the season if the Angels don't make the playoffs he can CHOSE any team he wants to go to unlike if he stays with the Angels they can negotiate with teams so he played the Angels which are trading other players to try to get them into the playoffs they are banking on if they get a team to get them into the playoffs and get close they will have the best chance at resigning Ohtani!
Gene Hennigh
Nomination is right. Ohtani has a chance to make the playoffs with the Angels. And there is no certainty that he won't re-sign with the Angels, either. If kaimychal knew anything about baseball he would know that the Angels haven't lost to Atlanta yet. Otherwise, no disagreement from me.
All the talk about the future is merely speculation. The Angels might make the playoffs. It's not over yet. Ohtani might leave the Angels for another team. We don't know that yet. I know! Why don't we follow this season as it unfolds and not "know" what's going to happen? Either way, following Ohtani is the best part of baseball this season. Just enjoy it and marvel if he keeps it up.