The Los Angeles Angels spent Saturday and Sunday unable to score a single run against the Tampa Bay Rays. They spent Monday stomping all over the Texas Rangers, making a massive statement to open this big four-game series and picking up the win by a final score of 15-8.
Angels starter Ervin Santana didn't need to worry about getting enough run support for once. Maicer Izturis hit a home run in the second inning to stake the Halos to an early lead, but they fell behind 2-1 in the bottom of the second after a Michael Young sacrifice fly and an RBI double from David Murphy.
Los Angeles jumped ahead again in the top of the third with a two-run homer from Mike Trout; his 17th of the season. Josh Hamilton answered back in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run to tie it up, 3-3.
The massive inning in the game -- the one where things really got out of hand -- was the nine-run sixth inning, which was highlighted by Kendrys Morals hitting two home runs in the inning -- the second being a grand slam. Morales becomes the first player since Juan Uribe in 2010 to pick up six RBI in an inning and joins Mark Bellhorn and Carlos Baerga as only the third player in MLB history to hit a home run from each side of the plate in one inning. The only other Angels player to hit two homers in one inning? Rick Reichardt in 1966. Morales joins Garrett Anderson as the only Angels players to have 6 RBI in one game three or more times. This is the 13th time an Angels player homered from both sides of the plate in one game. Six of those instances were by the great Chili Davis.
Bobby Wilson and Trout also had RBI hits in the sixth inning and when the smoke cleared, the Angels had a 12-3 lead. It was the eighth time this season that the Angels batted around, but they set a season-high mark with eight hits in the inning.
Young hit a sacrifice fly for Texas in the bottom of the sixth to make it 12-4, but the Angels scored another three runs in the seventh, thanks to a bases-loaded walk to Torii Hunter and a two-run single from Albert Pujols which made it 15-4.
Nelson Cruz blasted a massive two-run homer to dead-center field to bring the Rangers to within nine runs and Mike Napoli hit an opposite-field home run in the eighth to make it 15-7. In the bottom of the ninth, Nelson Cruz managed a two-strike, two-out RBI double, but the Rangers couldn't hope to close the gap any further.
Santana picked up the rare win by allowing three runs on four hits and a walk in five innings.
For all news and information regarding the Los Angeles Angels, please visit Halos Heaven. For updates and perspective on the Texas Rangers, head on over to Lone Star Ball or stop by SB Nation Dallas. You can also check out everything we have to offer at Baseball Nation.
