Mickey Moniak's successful return to Philadelphia overshadowed by another disappointing Lucas Giolito start

At the 2022 trade deadline, the Los Angeles Angels and Philadelphia Phillies were headed in opposite directions. The Angels were a team squarely out of postseason contention while the Phillies seemed poised to load up in an effort to push for the postseason. These teams headed in opposite directions made making trades rather easy, and the Angels and Phillies linked up to make two trades with each other.

The Phillies wound up winning the NL Pennant thanks to contributions from former Angels Brandon Marsh and Noah Syndergaard, but the Angels did well in their own right in these trades, if not even better.

The players the Phillies traded to the Halos returned to Philadelphia last night to play against their former team for the first time. Mickey Moniak had a huge game, but his play was overshadowed by another rough disappointing Lucas Giolito outing.

Lucas Giolito's LA Angels struggles continue, spoil Mickey Moniak's return to Philadelphia

Mickey Moniak had been struggling in the month of August, hitting just .182 with a .501 OPS heading into Monday's game, but the outfielder returned to Philadelphia and put together a three-hit game. Moniak had three hits in four at-bats including a triple. He turned what most hitters would have settled for just a double into a triple thanks to his blazing speed.

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Moniak's night was him coming through against a left-hander, punching a ball into left-center for an RBI single to cut what was a two-run deficit to one. Monik's single against Philadelphia's Matt Strahm was just his tenth in 76 at-bats against lefties in his young career.

Moniak's return was everything he could've hoped for, but Lucas Giolito ruined it a bit. The right-hander allowed five runs in 5.2 innings pitched. He only gave up four hits, but three of them left the ballpark. Giolito also walked four while striking out six.

Giolito now has a 6.89 ERA in six starts with the Angels. The team is 1-5 in his starts. The Halos acquired him to be a frontline starter to help them push for the playoffs and he's been everything but. The Angels should've scored more than the four runs that they did as they had 11 hits and drew two walks and a hit-by-pitch, but Giolito also simply didn't show up.