Hit by pitch, Ward's injury 'compounds things' for Angels
LA loses one of hottest hitters, drops season series to AL Wild Card competitors
Rhett Bollinger
@RhettBollingerTORONTO -- It was more than just another loss to the Blue Jays, a club the Angels are trying to catch in the American League Wild Card standings. It was a particularly painful one for Los Angeles, as left fielder Taylor Ward left the game after being hit in the head by a 91.7 mph sinker from Alek Manoah in the fifth inning.
Ward, who has been one of the club¡¯s hottest hitters recently, exited the game on a cart and went to a local hospital for further evaluation. Ward¡¯s hit-by-pitch brought in the lone run for the Angels in a frustrating 6-1 defeat on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Centre. It was their second straight loss to the Blue Jays, whom they trail by five games in the AL Wild Card chase, and with it, they have now lost the season series and, therefore, the season tiebreaker to Toronto.
¡°There are a lot of tests to be run [on Ward],¡± said manager Phil Nevin, who was suspended for the game and watched it from a suite. ¡°You guys saw the replay -- it got him pretty good. It compounds things right now with the loss. But our thoughts are with him.¡±
The hit-by-pitch came with the bases loaded, one out and a 2-0 count. Ward was struck near his left eye, knocking his helmet off his head. He immediately went to the ground and was tended to by third-base coach Bill Hassleman, acting manager Ray Montgomery and head athletic trainer Mike Frostad. Manoah also was visibly distraught, and he expressed his remorse after the game.
¡°I feel really bad about it, and I¡¯ll definitely be looking to see how he¡¯s doing,¡± Manoah said. ¡°Hopefully, he¡¯s back on the field and recovers pretty quickly.¡±
Ward remained on the ground and was given a towel, as he was bleeding from his face. After roughly five minutes, a cart was brought in from center field. Ward was able to sit up on the cart under his own power, which was a good sign and caused the fans to applaud. But Ward¡¯s left eye appeared swollen as he was taken off the field.
The hit-by-pitch was the last pitch thrown by Manoah. Lefty G¨¦nesis Cabrera relieved him, striking out Mike Moustakas and getting Matt Thaiss to pop out to end the inning.
¡°It¡¯s hard any time you see anybody get hit, especially like that,¡± Moustakas said. ¡°We didn¡¯t come back and win like we would¡¯ve hoped. But now the game is over, all we can think about is if Wardo is gonna be OK or not.¡±
Losing Ward for any amount of time is a huge blow for the Angels, as they don¡¯t have much outfield depth with Mike Trout and Jo Adell also on the injured list. Ward has hit .304/.424/.623 with five homers, seven doubles and 17 RBIs in 20 games in July.
Trout is out until at least mid-August after undergoing surgery to remove his left hamate bone, while Adell is out until at least early September with a left oblique strain.
The Angels could turn to No. 23 prospect Jordyn Adams, who has been faring well at Triple-A Salt Lake but isn¡¯t on the 40-man roster. Luis Rengifo -- who moved to left to replace Ward -- has some outfield experience, as does Trey Cabbage, but Los Angeles lacks another true outfielder to join Hunter Renfroe and Mickey Moniak.
The momentum seemed to shift after the hit-by-pitch, as the Angels looked deflated by the frightening situation involving Ward. After they couldn¡¯t tack on any more runs in the fifth, lefty Reid Detmers quickly gave up the lead in the bottom of the inning on a two-run homer to Santiago Espinal.
The offense also struggled with runners in scoring position for a second straight game, as the Angels went 0-for-7 in those situations on Friday and 0-for-10 on Saturday. Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani was intentionally walked twice, including with runners on first and third and two outs in the sixth. It loaded the bases for Moniak, but he struck out looking on a 3-2 changeup from reliever Trevor Richards.
¡°Our offense has been really good lately, but [the Blue Jays have] pitched us well,¡± Nevin said. ¡°They took Shohei out of the mix with some walks. Mickey had an 18-game hitting streak [entering the game] but just didn¡¯t get one today. If we come back and win one tomorrow, we get this one back, but we need to play better. It hurts seeing guys go down, but it¡¯s not a hole we can¡¯t climb out of.¡±