O'Hoppe snaps skid with 20th HR in 4-hit night
Backstop becomes 4th catcher in Angels history to tally 20-homer season
HOUSTON -- Logan O'Hoppe got the day off Friday while dealing with an 0-for-14 slump. The off-day seemed to have helped the young catcher.
O¡¯Hoppe went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a home run in the Angels¡¯ 10-4 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park on Saturday night.
Mickey Moniak scored on an O¡¯Hoppe double and a Mauricio Dub¨®n throwing error in the second, while O¡¯Hoppe hit his 20th home run of the season in the fourth, a solo shot to left-center.
O¡¯Hoppe added a double in the sixth while singling and scoring as part of a two-run ninth. It was his third game this season with four or more hits and the second game of his career with three extra-base hits.
¡°It¡¯s nice to know it¡¯s in there going into the end of the year,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said. ¡°It was something I was thinking of, thinking, ¡®Is it still in the tank?¡¯ and how much is it how my body feels or whatever it may be. Luckily, knowing it¡¯s in there now is good going forward.¡±
O¡¯Hoppe became the fourth catcher in Angels franchise history with a 20-homer season, joining Mike Napoli, Lance Parrish and Earl Averill.
¡°It means a lot for sure,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said of the 20-home run mark. ¡°I didn¡¯t really set out a goal in mind of how many I wanted to hit before the year, but being at 19, you can¡¯t help but think about it. It feels good. I wish it came in a win.¡±
Angels manager Ron Washington said O¡¯Hoppe is very important to Los Angeles¡¯ long-term success.
¡°He¡¯s been struggling for quite a while, so he finally found a pitcher tonight to make him feel good about himself, and I hope he carries it through the rest of the way,¡± Washington said. ¡°He has that potential. First time through the Major Leagues, he ran through some problems, but he never stopped working.
¡°I always told him that there¡¯s always one pitcher who will toe that rubber that will bring you back to life. Tonight, it was [Astros starter Ronel] Blanco. Let¡¯s hope for the rest of the way he can kick it in and do his thing.¡±
O¡¯Hoppe had four of the Angels' 10 hits, however Los Angeles was 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
¡°We just didn¡¯t come through,¡± Washington said. ¡°We¡¯re grinding. We just didn¡¯t come through. That¡¯s the bottom line. They put 10 runs up, we put four.¡±
The Angels' starting pitching struggled to get out of the third inning for a second straight game.
Reid Detmers faced 17 batters, as Houston went 9-for-14 against the left-hander and walked three times in two-plus innings.
¡°Too many pitches out over the middle of the plate, and as relentless as that lineup is, you¡¯ve got to make them work for their at-bats,¡± Washington said. ¡°They had too many easy swings. He was out there competing, but he didn¡¯t get it where he wanted to get it, and they didn¡¯t miss it.¡±
Detmers yielded seven runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.
¡°There¡¯s a lot of things that I could do better,¡± Detmers said. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of things I can work on going forward. Other than that, it comes down to execution. That¡¯s pretty much it.¡±
Detmers allowed a run in the first and, after loading the bases in the second, he allowed two runs on a Jose Altuve RBI single and a Yordan Alvarez double play. But the Angels' left-hander was able to escape further damage.
The third inning would be Detmers' undoing, as he allowed the first four batters to reach. Victor Caratini hit a three-run homer and Jake Meyers¡¯ double ultimately ended his night.
¡°When you give up runs, that¡¯s what it¡¯s usually about is command,¡± Detmers said. ¡°Leaving pitches out over [the plate], and they take advantage of it. That¡¯s what happened tonight.¡±
Detmers has allowed 14 runs spanning 7 1/3 innings over his past two starts.
¡°He made some really good pitches and kept his focus and didn¡¯t let the things that were outside of his control get to him,¡± O¡¯Hoppe said. ¡°I was proud of him for that. He really kept his composure. Just a couple low-exit-velo hits and some things didn¡¯t go his way, but I don¡¯t think he did a bad job at all.¡±