Angels get into the franchise record book twice, record 8th straight win vs Marlins

Coming off road sweeps against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Athletics, the Angels returned home to welcome the Miami Marlins with eyes on both extending their winning streak and crossing the .500 mark against one of the National League's worst ball clubs.

The Halos would extend their winning streak to eight straight behind prized free-agent acquisition Yusei Kikuchi, who was no worse for the wear after last weekend's injury scare and recorded his first win in a Halo uniform.

As the club has emerged from their late April to early May swoon, they've looked more and more impressive as the wins rack up, and rewrote the franchise record books twice Friday night.

The scorching-hot Taylor Ward kicked off the scoring in the bottom of the second, launching an oppo shot to right field off of 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara for his 15th dinger of the year. The homer marked Ward's ninth straight game with an extra base hit, tying franchise legend Darrin Erstad's 27-year-old record.

Later on in the bottom of the eighth, scuffling DH Jorge Soler launched an 0-2 pitch to straightaway center to tack on an insurance run, giving the Halos a 7-4 lead that would hold on as the final score. Soler's blast was the second Angels homer of the game, making it seven straight multi-homer games for the Halos, another franchise record.

The Angels' surging offense has a different feel now compared to their early-season homer barrage

The Angels began the year by mashing baseballs out of the park with regularity, jumping out to a 9-5 record and briefly holding first place in the AL West. The power display over that roughly two-week span was impressive, with the club clobbering 27 homers in their first 14 games, which at that point was second only to the crosstown Dodgers.

However, the offense at that point in time was extremely home run dependent. The Angels recorded a team batting average of just .240 and an OBP of .308, which ranked 13th and 18th in the league, respectively at that point in time.

In short, the Angels were a roughly middle of the pack offense being buoyed by impressive long ball production. As soon as the power surge cooled off, the offense plummeted to the cellar and the club saw the strikeouts skyrocket, walks plummet, and the team fell to last place in the AL West as a result.

During this current winning streak, things have been different. From May 17 through May 23, the Angels have crushed 18 homers, seven more than the Mariners, Diamondbacks, and Astros who are in a three-way tie for second place.

However, this time it's not all boom or bust. The Halos are hitting a collective .293 during the win streak, second in the majors behind the Chicago Cubs. They're also walking 8.5% of the time (13th in the league) and striking out at a 22.5% rate (12th).

Further proving that this is more than just a homer-fueled rampage, the Angels 22.8% line drive rate during this span ranks 9th, their exit velocity (91.3 miles per hour) ranks second, their 16.2% barrel rate is first, 45.5% hard hit rate is sixth, while their average launch angle of 15.2 degrees is just 11th.

Simply put, the Halos are doing more than just putting balls in the seats; they're making solid contact and spraying the ball to all parts of the field while walking and striking out at acceptable rates, making for a solid and slightly more sustainable offensive performance.

While players like Ward will inevitably cool off, it's important to remember that this latest hot streak is occurring without Mike Trout, and other players with established track records like Jorge Soler will likely break out of their malaise.

The Angels offense isn't perfect, but this latest hot streak shows that the talent is there for them to put it together and rank as a group that's better-than-average as the season unfolds. If the pitching staff comes along, things might not look as bleak as they did just a few short weeks ago.

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