Angels' bats flash 'very dangerous' potential

ANAHEIM -- A night ago, Angels reliever Mike Mayers said all it would take is one singular moment for things to turn around for his ballclub during its five-game losing streak.

And in a stretch where Halos had dropped 11 of their last 15 games coming into Friday, the Angels had not one, but two such moments to help snap the skid.

An offensive outburst that included 13 hits and led the Angels to a 9-2 win over the Dodgers at Angel Stadium, with the pitching holding up its end by slowing down the 2020 World Series champion lineup.

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Facing a tough Julio Urías who had not factored into a Dodgers loss over his last 11 regular-season outings and possessed a 4-0 record with a 2.87 ERA this season, the Halos’ bats got to him early.

A four-run second inning started with solo homers from Justin Upton and Taylor Ward. Those were followed by a two-run single from David Fletcher to put the Angels ahead early and they never looked back.

Ward, whose homer was the first he has hit since 2019, said it was a relief to connect on a ball like that.

“Felt great,” Ward said. “Felt like a huge weight had been lifted. At that moment, I could just go play. And you know, I just want to keep feeling that over and over.”

The offense put up its other crooked number in the sixth inning, with runs driven in by Jose Rojas, Fletcher, Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout as all nine batters came to the plate. It was the first career RBI for Rojas.

Angels manager Joe Maddon said a big piece to the Angels’ offense was the three-hit, three-RBI performance from Fletcher in the leadoff spot, adding that the offense can be more of a juggernaut with him performing well.

“It's very dangerous,” Maddon said of the lineup. “He's the table setter. He's not maybe a home run hitter, but he hits doubles and he lets the rest of the lineup see what the pitcher has the first time through.”

Overall, it was a night where seemingly everything went right, during a stretch where the club has dealt with injuries as well as bullpen and defensive struggles.

A Trout RBI single turned into a triple after a bad bounce got the better of Dodgers left fielder AJ Pollock. When it came to hitting with runners in scoring position, the Angels were 6-for-10.

Starter Griffin Canning, who threw 5 2/3 innings and kept the Dodgers’ offense to just one run in front of 15,316 fans at the Big A, said the win very well could have swung some momentum in favor of his ballclub moving forward.

“We got the mojo back on our side a little bit,” Canning said. “So hopefully we can keep bringing that same energy. The crowd was awesome. It's the biggest crowd that we've been in front of in [what] seemed like in a while.”