Andrelton Simmons took a page from Adrian Beltre's book, hitting a big homer on one knee
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The Angels beat the Yankees, 7-5, on Wednesday night thanks in large part to some solid relief pitching and the bat of Andrelton Simmons, as his two-run homer in the seventh gave the Angels the lead they wouldn't relinquish.
But it was that very homer, hit off Yankees rookie right-hander Ronald Herrera, that required a second look. You see, Simmons connected on the off-speed pitch from one knee before sending the ball into the left-field seats:
If that type of swing and follow-through seems familiar, it should: It happens pretty often when Rangers third baseman Adrián Beltré is at the plate:
A fine homage delivered by Simmons, really. After the game, he told MLB.com's Kaelen Jones that he was just happy to contribute to the victory:
"I'm happy for me and my team that we came back from that early deficit. The bullpen kept us in the game and we put up good at-bats. I'm just glad I got to get the team a go-ahead run."
As for homering on one knee, he wasn't sure if he'd ever hit one out like that before ... but:
"I don't remember. Maybe softball, but not baseball. The videos from [Adrian] Beltre probably helped."