Rays 18, Angels 4: Double trouble for the Angels in a doubleheader

Due to impending poor weather conditions related to Hurricane Hilary, the planned Sunday game between the Rays and the Angels was turned into a Saturday doubleheader. Rather than overdo it with two recaps, here’s a quick overview of the afternoon game (which the Rays lost) and a full recap of the evening game (which the Rays very, very won).

The afternoon game was a close one, so here are the highlights:

• The matchup was Glasnow vs. Silseth, though the Angels ended up going more of a bullpen route and Glasnow pitched 6.0 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR on 89 pitches. So... not his best work.
• The Rays runs: a single for Josh Lowe in the first scored Arozarena and Brandon Lowe; in the fourth Josh Lowe hit a solo home run and Pinto homered with Basabe on base; in the sixth Aranda hit a solo homer. Total runs: 6
• The Angels runs: in the second Monial singled to score Moustakas, Grichuk his a sac fly to score Thaiss; in the third a passed ball by Pinto allowed Schanuel to score, a Thaiss single scored Drury, Moustakas scored on a wild pitch, and a Grichuk double scored Thaiss (TL;DR it was a messy inning); in the fifth Drury got a solo home run. Total runs: 7

Game 1 Final: Angels 7, Rays 6

Anyway, first game was a hot mess express inning that ruined everything, but the baseball gods evened things out by having the Angels make a ton of errors in the second game, so let’s get into that.

The matchup was Eflin vs. Sandoval and quite frankly Eflin was SOLID.

Diaz drew a walk to start off the first, then Arozarena singled. A fielder’s choice and a double play killed the hustle though. Eflin had a 1-2-3 inning.

Mead got a leadoff walk in the second, but three outs followed. Eflin had anothere 1-2-3 inning in the bottom half.

Sandoval had a clean inning of his own for the third, and Eflin allowed just one single to Adams, but no runs scored.

The Rays were the first to draw blood in the fourth. Paredes got a one-out single, Mead walked, and then a Basabe ground-rule double scored Paredes. A Josh Lowe groundout then scored Mead, and the Rays were on the board with two. Eflin once again went 1-2-3.

The fifth was an absolute disaster for the Angels and a real treat for Rays fans. With two outs Arozarena reached first on a fielding error from Adams which the Angels would really come to regret. Ramirez singled, and then a Paredes single scored Arozarena. A Mead double then scored two runs. Basabe doubled scored Mead. The Rays were up six nothing. There was also a dramatic out call at home that was ultimately overturned to keep the inning chugging along.

In the bottom of the inning Eflin struggled for the first time with two outs, allowing a solo home run to Renfroe, then Rengifo and Adams singled back-to-back but neither scored.

If the Angels thought the fifth was bad, let’s look at the sixth. Bethancourt singled, Diaz singled, Arozarena singled, and with that the bases were loaded with no outs. Ramirez doubled to score two, then Pareds homered to score three. Basabe walked, and then a Siri home run scored two. When the dust settled the Rays were up 13-1.

Ohtani walked in the bottom of the inning, and was then eliminated in a fielder’s choice off the bat of Drury. No runs scored. That was also the end of the night for Eflin whose final line was 6.0 IP; 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HR on 74 pitches. Just super efficient pitching.

The Rays weren’t done. In the seventh Diaz singled, followed by an Arozarena homer to score two. Ramirez also singled, but no additional runs scored. Jacob Lopez was in for the Rays in relief and allowed a single to Rengifo but no runs.

Onward to the eighth, Josh Lowe singled to start things off, then Bethancourt singled. Aranda walked, then a Ramirez single scored two, putting the Rays up 17-1. In bottom of the eighth with Criswell on the mound the Angels bit back a little. Schanuel singled, Ohtani doubled, and then a Drury home run scored three.

The top of the ninth saw Basabe get a one-out single, then Josh Lowe was hit by a pitch. Siri drew a walk to load the bases, then a Bethancourt sac fly scored Basabe. Adams, somewhat ironically, reached first safely on an error from Mead, but no Angels’ runs scored.

Final: Rays 18, Angels 4