LA Angels Lose in Marathon Game to Blue Jays

The LA Angels faced the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night in what ended up being their longest game of the season. The game featured 15 pitchers and 22 position players, and victory was in each team’s reach throughout.

The LA Angels sent Alex Meyer to the mound on Friday night in his first start of the season. It was used to give the regular starters another days worth of rest. The Angels could not have picked a better opponent for Meyer. He had his best outing of his career last season against the Blue Jays. He pitched five shutout innings in that start, while striking out seven batters.

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While Meyer did not have a great outing like his previous one, he was not abysmal in this start. He threw 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits. He struck out three but was inconsistent with his control, resulting in four walks. Meyer stands at 6-9 and weighs in at 225 pounds. His lanky frame results in an inconsistent delivery at times.

The Blue Jays opened the scoring in the second innings with a fielders choice RBI and again on a Meyer wild pitch. The Halos were able to respond quickly when Albert Pujols hit a three-RBI double to give the Angels the lead. The Angels added a run in the fifth innings with a solo home run courtesy of Mike Trout.

The score was 4-3 in favor of the Angels going into the eighth inning. Cam Bedrosian came on for the Angels in an attempt for a five-out save. However, he gave up a two-run double to Justin Smoak that gave the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead. Jefry Marte tied it up for the Angels in the bottom of the inning with a double that was a mere inches away from going over the left field corner.

The game was tied 5-5 at the end of regulation, so on to extra innings the teams went. The next three innings were a small war between the two bullpens. Both teams had scoring threats at one point, but the bullpens ultimately won out.

It was not until the 13th inning when the scoring continued. The Angels brought in Jesse Chavez, a starter who was scheduled to take the mound Sunday, in a relief appearance. Chavez spent 2016 as a relief pitcher for the Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers. However, his experience did not matter as he gave up a three-run home run to Jose Bautista that would ultimately be the game winning hit.

The Angels threatened with a comeback in the inning. Cameron Maybin started the inning by reaching base on an error. He then advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a walk and an error, the bases were loaded for Kole Calhoun. He was able to single in a run. Mike Trout came up and had a solid at-bat before being hit by a pitch. That brought in a run to make it 8-7. However, Pujols struck out swinging and C.J Cron lined out to center to end the game.

Next: Has Albert Pujols reached the end or will he rebound?

The Angels will look to bounce back on Saturday night, when they send Tyler Skaggs to the mound.