{"id":59606,"date":"2023-07-19T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=59606"},"modified":"2023-07-19T07:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-19T11:10:00","slug":"the-angels-luck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/07\/19\/the-angels-luck\/","title":{"rendered":"The Angels\u2019 Luck Takes a Turn for the Better"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Angels<\/a>‘ good luck is getting out of hand. They are still in the thick of the postseason race despite being all but dead to rights a week ago. They now find themselves 4 1\/2 games back of the Houston Astros<\/a>\u00a0for the third and final wild-card spot in the AL. With the clock ticking down to the trade deadline, will the Angels’ luck continue long enough to get them into the postseason?<\/span><\/p>\n

July 14th against Houston was the first game back for the Angels, who limped into the All-Star break with nothing going well for them. They went 1-7 across their last three series against the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>, San Diego Padres<\/a>, and Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, respectively. It was all but decided that the Angels would sell at the deadline, with reports of their being in listening mode regarding <\/b>Shohei Ohtani. The stage was set for a classic Angels letdown and another year wasted.<\/p>\n

The Angels\u2019 Luck<\/b><\/h2>\n

The Houston Series<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first game back from the break had an odd energy to it. Ohtani was set to start for the Angels in the opener of a massive series against the <\/span>Astros<\/span>. Unfortunately, his line wasn\u2019t that impressive. He went five innings and surrendered five runs, with four of them being earned runs. He walked three and struck out seven in a 7-5 Angels loss. The Angels had their chances to come back late in that game, especially in the eighth inning. They had runners on first and second with one out and failed to score a run.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Wild Win<\/h3>\n

Game two of the series was where the Angels’ luck began to turn. With the score 4-3 in favor of the Astros, the Angels had a shot to win this game. Then, the seventh inning happened. Houston put up five runs, with the dagger being a three-run homer from Jose Abreu.<\/span>\u00a0The Angels\u2019 luck showed up for the first time here, as they scored six runs in response. <\/span><\/h4>\n

The ninth inning was even wilder. Houston scored a run to go up 12-9. Ohtani answered back with a solo home run, and some small ball allowed the Angels to score two more to tie the game. The ninth put 30 pitches on Houston\u2019s closer, <\/span>Ryan Pressly, essentially removing him from the equation for Sunday\u2019s game. In the 10th, the Angels walked it off on a throwing error. It was the third walk-off win for the Angels, and the comeback ensued without a hit (two wild pitches and an error).<\/span><\/p>\n

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A wild game ends with the Angels walking it off on an Astros throwing error pic.twitter.com\/8OIHPMH3C2<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 16, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n