Prior to Wednesday’s matinee game against the Cleveland Indians, the Angels offense needed a serious jolt. Their bats had gone “John Starks in Game 7 of the 1994 Finals” levels of cold, managing just 20 runs in their last eight games combined (with seven of those games resulting in Halo defeats). After a pitiful 12-inning loss to these same Indians on Tuesday in which the Angels failed to plate a single run across the entire dozen frames, shortstop Erick Aybar decided that enough was enough.
In an unorthodox attempt to awaken the Angels bats from their ever unwelcome slumber, Aybar threw them around in the Anaheim dugout during Wednesday’s game. Literally.
And lo and behold, the bizarro Louisville Slugger rain dance of sorts actually worked, though it took a little while to do so. It looked like the Halos were headed for more of the same through the first eight innings on Wednesday, managing zero output on the scoreboard other than a Kole Calhoun solo shot in fourth inning. But the baseball gods finally rewarded Aybar’s sacrificial offering in the ninth as the Angels rallied from a 3-1 deficit against Indians closer Cody Allen. They scored three times in that final frame as first baseman CJ Cron hit a game-tying two-run single before the Angels finally walked off on an Allen wild pitch scoring pinchrunner Taylor Featherston.
As the Halos progress in a bitter battle with the Houston Astros for AL West supremacy, they will need all the help they can get. It must be great knowing that they have found the antidote for their offensive struggles, at least for now.
Whatever works, Mr. Aybar. Whatever works.
H/T Bleacher Report
