4 Angels unexpected heroes to thank for series sweep over Red Sox

The Los Angeles Angels are flying high. They have secured their second sweep of the season and their first at home after sweeping the Boston Red Sox out of Anaheim. This was a particularly impressive series sweep for a team that last week hadn't even split a series against a team above .500. Now, the Angels have split with Baltimore, defeated Minnesota, and swept Boston.

Virtually the whole team played extraordinarily well. The pitching was elite against a really good offense, and the offense had its moments as well.

We saw MIke Trout and Shohei Ohtani go deep. We saw Zach Neto make multiple great plays at shortstop and come a triple shy of the cycle in the final game. We saw Tyler Anderson turn in one of his best starts of the season. These were all keys to victory, but we expect these guys to contribute now. There were some unsung heroes in this series who deserve a ton of credit for the series sweep.

1) LA Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak was an unexpected hero in sweep over the Red Sox

What more can be said about Mickey Moniak that hasn't already been said? The former number-one overall pick has been playing unbelievable baseball since being called up by the Angels.

Not only is Moniak slashing .419/.438/.935 with four home runs and seven RBI in 31 at-bats since his recall, but he's played great defense and has been hitting in the clutch.

We all remember the two-run double in the bottom of the seventh to give the Angels the lead they wouldn't relinquish to beat the Twins on Sunday, right? Well what if I told you he topped it the next day.

With the game tied at one, Moniak launched a solo shot to give the Angels a 2-1 lead. They'd win by that same score.

In his next at-bat, leading off the next game, Moniak would hit yet another home run. That one wasn't quite as clutch as the last one, but it did end up being the winning run as the Angels shut out the Red Sox.

The Angels offense didn't really show up until the third game of the series. Moniak homering in each of the two games they needed him to ended up being a huge reason they were able to pull off a sweep. That trade continues to look great.

2) LA Angels pitcher Jaime Barria was an unexpected hero in sweep over the Red Sox

Each of Jaime Barria's first ten appearances this season came in long relief. He excelled in that role, posting a 1.96 ERA in 23 innings of work, but he hadn't made a start since August of last season. This was Barria's only start of 2022. He pitched so effectively in long relief to the point where the Angels simply didn't want to move him. After watching Chase Silseth start in Baltimore, they didn't really have much of a choice.

Silseth wasn't horrific, but it's clear that he's better out of the bullpen. The Angels gave Barria a shot in the rotation, and boy, did they make the right move.

Barria had a tough task ahead of him. The Red Sox entered the series third in the league in runs scored. Their offense has been dynamic. Barria wasn't fully stretched out, so it'd be a challenge to even get him through five. Challenge accepted.

Barria sailed through the first five innings on just 64 pitches and set the tone for the entire series. He limited the Red Sox to just two hits without walking a batter and striking out six.

I don't think even the biggest Jaime Barria fan would've predicted this in his first start against a dynamic offense like Boston's.

4) LA Angels pitcher Griffin Canning was an unexpected hero in sweep over the Red Sox

The theme of this season with the Angels starting pitching has been its inability to provide consistent length. Shohei Ohtani is usually pretty reliable in that regard, and Patrick Sandoval has had some starts in which he gives length but other than that, nothing.

Canning gets somewhat of a break considering he hadn't pitched since July of 2021 before returning in mid-April of this season, but still, he hadn't given much length.

Canning's season high in innings pitched was 5.1 innings which he's reached twice. He's usually a safe bet to go four or five before something blows up and ruins his night. Tuesday night against Boston saw Canning's best start in years.

The right-hander pitched seven brilliant innings. He allowed no runs on two hits with three walks and five strikeouts. The walks were a bit high, but when you allow just two hits who cares?

The Angels pitching against a potent Boston lineup this entire series was off the charts, with Barria and Canning in front of it. If anyone had those two pitchers combining for 12 innings to allow zero runs on four hits against this Boston team, hats off to them.