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Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout homer but Angels lose to Rockies on late grand slam

June 24, 2023

DENVER — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 25th home run of the season and Mike Trout followed him with a solo shot of his own in the top of the fifth inning, but it wasn’t enough as the Angels coughed up a late lead, losing to the Colorado Rockies, 7-4.

Clinging to a 4-3 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Angels were overtaken when Elias Diaz hit a grand slam off Chris Devenski. The Rockies had runners at first and second with one out when Devenski relieved Sam Bachman (1-1). Ryan McMahon reached on a fielder’s choice when shortstop Andrew Velasquez didn’t handle first baseman Jared Walsh’s throw to second to reload the bases. Diaz then cleared the bases with his homer and the Angels went down in order in the ninth against Justin Lawrence as the Rockies snapped an eight-game losing streak.

The late-game collapse overshadowed the dramatics by Ohtani and Trout, who hit back-to-back home runs for the ninth time in their time together. That tied the club mark held by Trout and Albert Pujols. Ohtani finished with three hits, including a first-inning double that marked his 10th consecutive road game with an extra-base hit, extending his franchise record. However, he struck out against Pierce Johnson (1-3) in the bottom of the eighth with two outs and two runners on.

Coming off a pair of shutout losses to the Dodgers, the Angels’ offense came to life early in the Mile High City’s thin air and was boosted by an error by left fielder Jurickson Profar that opened the door for a pair of second-inning runs and a 2-1 lead. Hunter Renfroe singled to start the inning and Kevin Padlo, who made his Angels’ debut Tuesday after being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake, followed with a double that was bobbled by Profar. Renfroe came home and Padlo advanced to third before scoring on a sacrifice fly by Luis Rengifo.

The Rockies, who got a leadoff homer from Profar in the first, evened the score on Coco Montes’ RBI single in the second.

That set the stage for the drives by Ohtani and Trout, both off of Colorado starter Kyle Freeland.

Angels starter Patrick Sandoval, making his first career start at Coors Field, held the Rockies largely in check before giving up a single to Elehuris Montero and a double to Montes to start the sixth. Jacob Webb relieved and struck out Brenton Doyle before walking Profar to load the bases. Ezequiel Tovar singled to pull the Rockies within a run but Webb then struck out McMahon and induced a ground out by Diaz to preserve the Angels’ one-run lead.

More to come on this story.

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