DENVER — The Angels made some fun trivia and got off to an innocent start, becoming the first team in nearly three years to hit back-to-back homers on three pitches.
But it only got more frantic from there for the Angels, who couldn’t seem to stop the run against the Rockies. Three straight homers sparked a 13-run third and the Angels went on an 8-run fourth inning in a 25-1 victory Saturday at Coors Field, setting club records for both runs (25) and hits (28). In a game. The 24-run margin was the largest in franchise history.
Their previous high was 24 in a 24–2 win over the Blue Jays on August 25, 1979, while the previous high in hits was 26, which they accomplished twice. Their 13-run third tied a franchise record set in both 1997 and 1978. They also tied a club record with four homers in the frame.
The Angels scored 23 runs in their first four innings, the third most in MLB history behind only the Cubs (25) on August 25, 1922 and the Pirates (24) on June 6, 1894. And their streak of 21 consecutive runs scored in two innings tied MLB history with the Pirates, who accomplished the feat in 1894.
Other notable performances included Mickey Moniak and Hunter Renfro, both of whom went 5-for-5. Moniak hit three doubles and a homer to tie the franchise record with four extra-base hits in a game. Moniak fell just shy of a triple in the cycle and nearly fell on his way to second in triples that his teammates could have laughed off in the sixth.
Superstar Mike Trout opened the frame with an epic third inning with a 1-0 fastball before Brandon Drury hit a first-pitch cutter of his own.
Matt Theis jumped across a first-pitch curveball for a dinger to give the Angels back-to-back homers for the second time this season.
The last time the Angels hit three consecutive homers was against the Royals on April 23, when Taylor Ward, Trout and Shohei Ohtani did it. The last time a team accomplished this feat on three pitches was the Yankees, who coincidentally homered on three straight pitches from Anderson on September 17, 2020.
Trout opened it with his 17th homer of the year and second in as many days. Drury connected on his 13th blast of the year, while it was Tice’s fourth homer of the season.
All three homers were crushed in the thin Colorado air, as Trout left the bat at 110.5 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected 451 feet to center field, while Drury’s exit velocity was 105 mph and projected 437 feet to left-center. And Theis’ 108.5 mph off the bat and traveled 399 feet to right.
That sparked a 13-run inning for the Angels, with Ward and Ohtani later adding RBI singles. Trout came back with two outs, but walked to set up Drury’s two-run single, which had three RBIs in the frame. Theiss walked with two outs to load the bases for Renfrow, who hit a double.
New addition Eduardo Escobar followed with an RBI single before Moniak ripped a two-run homer to give the Angels a 15-0 lead.
The four homers in this inning tied the Angels franchise record with a feat accomplished on May 28, 2000 at Kansas City.
David Fletcher closed out the third, an inning that saw the Angels score 10 hits and walk three.
The Angels put together an eight-run fourth before tacking on another run in the sixth and eighth. Lost in the shuffle, right-hander Griffin Canning threw six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, and the Angels’ only run on the night was Brendan Doyle’s homer in the eighth off lefty Golden Ingram.
