Luis Rengifo, Mike Trout and Hunter Renfroe power Angels past Blue Jays
The Angels were in need of a big offensive boost after they fell into a four-run deficit by the third inning Saturday night. And the team constructed in the offseason to get more extra-base hits in 2023 did just that.
Monster home runs, particularly by Mike Trout and Hunter Renfroe, gave the Angels a lead they would not relinquish. By the time the smoke from the fireworks and fire blasts from the rocks beyond the outfield cleared, it was the Angels who emerged with a 9-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays at Angel Stadium.
“We got a really good chance of hitting the ball really hard this year, so we gotta keep going and stay healthy,” said Renfroe, whose homer was his first as an Angel.
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In the fifth inning, Trout blasted a three-run homer, his third of the season, to about the same spot where the one he hit Friday landed, giving the Angels a 7-5 lead.
“Got in a good count, put a good swing on it,” Trout said. “I think the last few days, I’ve been seeing the ball better.”
Renfroe’s two-run shot in the eighth provided some insurance.
“Finally,” Renfroe said “Finally, I actually hit one on the barrel, so it felt good. Get a little insurance run there was pretty big.”
The home run party actually started earlier in the fifth inning. Luis Rengifo hit a solo home run, also his first of the season. An excited crowd then screamed in jubilation when catcher Matt Thaiss, the batter after Rengifo, reached on a throwing error by Toronto starting pitcher José Berríos.
Miscues by the Blue Jays allowed the Angels to create traffic on the basepaths and chip away at the initial 4-0 deficit. In the third inning, Gio Urshela hit a grounder between short and second base that Bo Bichette accidentally kicked into the outfield while trying to scoop up the ball.
The error allowed Urshela to reach third on his single, and he was driven in on a groundout by Rengifo.
The Angels tacked on two more runs in the fourth after Anthony Rendon — playing in his first game since his four-game suspension because of an altercation with a fan in Oakland — and Renfroe knocked in Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Trout reached after working a walk on Berríos and Ohtani doubled.
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The Blue Jays struck first in the top of the third. Angels starter Tyler Anderson gave up a pair of two-run home runs to Bichette and Matt Chapman.
Anderson gave up another home run in the fifth inning, a solo shot to George Springer. Anderson was replaced by Jamie Barría with two outs in the inning.
Anderson pitched 42/3 innings, giving up five earned runs and seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Afterward, he said his performance was not his best but credited the bullpen.
“You feel bad leaving the game that early and having the guys pick up that many innings,” Anderson said, “but for them to come in and shut it down was big.”
Reliever Carlos Estévez came in to close out the game, quickly getting two outs on a strikeout and a lineout. He then gave up a single and a walk but settled down to strike out Daulton Varsho for the Angels’ fifth victory.
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