June 28, 2017
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June 28, 2017 Page 1 of 20 Clips (June 28, 2017) June 28, 2017 Page 2 of 20 Today’s Clips Contents FROM LOS ANGELES TIMES (Page 3) It's a strange symmetry for Angels' Huston Street For the Angels, Tuesdays have been a magical day this season FROM ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER (Page 6) Kenta Maeda stifles Angels in dodgers’ 4-0 win Whicker: Martin Maldonado is driving force in Angels’ rise Angels Notes: Team loves Keynan Middleton’s energy and emotion Fryer: Angels might be a .500 team, but they are 100 percent fun FROM ANGELS.COM (Page 13) Angels can’t back Chavez, fall to Dodgers For Angels, no looking back at halfway point Middleton flashes rising confidence on mound Meyer gets call as Halos host Freeway Series FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (Page 18) Maeda dominates in spot start, Dodgers beat Angels 4-0 June 28, 2017 Page 3 of 20 FROM THE LOS ANGELES TIMES It's a strange symmetry for Angels' Huston Street By Pedro Moura The hitters, Huston Street was certain, did not notice it. The Fenway Park fans probably didn’t either, with the Red Sox ahead by three runs late on a weekend night. But to the man who had not pitched in 11 months, it felt too serendipitous to ignore. The three hitters the Angels’ reliever faced in his first game back — Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia and Xander Bogaerts — were the last three hitters he faced in his last game last season. “Those guys,” Street said, “blasted me last year.” Last July 31, Street attempted to earn a save at Angel Stadium. He recorded two outs and let two Red Sox aboard before Betts singled in a run. His season already on tenuous ground, Street gave up back-to- back home runs to Pedroia and Bogaerts, turning a three-run lead into a two-run deficit. He did not pitch again that season and soon underwent knee surgery. After his return was delayed nearly three months because of a lat strain, Street entered Friday night in Boston to face the same men and retired them in order, punctuating his inning with a called third strike on Bogaerts. “That’s redemption,” Street said. “That’s the beauty of the competitive spirit. That’s that first step, whether you want to call it symbolic or metaphorical. I think any competitor would remember the guys who knocked them off the mound and ended their season with a five-spot.” Street continued: “Let’s be honest. It’s one inning, and guys get out all the time. So, I’m not over-hyping this. I am telling you, though, 1,000%, I was thinking about it on the mound and warming up.” Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, Street threw his second scoreless inning since his return. Middleton’s expression Rookie right-hander Keynan Middleton’s exuberance after striking out Cody Bellinger to end Monday’s eighth inning generated talk about what the 23-year-old must still learn as he adjusts to the major leagues. “I love the emotion,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Every young pitcher needs to temper and harness that emotion, and Keynan will. He’s a great kid, and he wants to do well. I think there’s an emotional relief with every pitcher that pitches toward the back of the game. “But you need to harness it, and you need to understand that emotion is something that can be a double-edged sword.” June 28, 2017 Page 4 of 20 Short hops Mike Trout hit soft tosses Tuesday, the next step after several days of swinging off of a tee. Batting practice will follow. A return before the July 11 All-Star Game remains a possibility. … Outfielder Cameron Maybin and designated hitter Albert Pujols did not start Tuesday. Pujols’ day off had been scheduled since the weekend, when Scioscia revealed Pujols would play first base in one of the two games at Dodger Stadium. Maybin, 30, does not have a specific ailment requiring rest, but he had played 15 of the previous 16 nights. … Left-hander Tyler Skaggs (oblique strain) has returned to Southern California from the team’s Arizona spring-training facility. Scioscia said Skaggs would be evaluated Wednesday to discern if he can continue his throwing program. For the Angels, Tuesdays have been a magical day this season By Pedro Moura It began one month ago in St. Petersburg, Fla., when the Angels’ radio play-by-play man, Terry Smith, informed the team’s television analyst, Mark Gubicza, that the Angels were 7-0 on Tuesdays in 2017. Every Tuesday on Fox Sports West, Gubicza hosts a signature segment, in which he asks players their preferences in specific categories like burgers, candies, or superheroes. So the natural connection was made: The Angels are undefeated on “Gubi Tuesdays”. As the club continued to garner improbable victories on Tuesdays — the streak was up to a dozen entering Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium — the connection strengthened. When he wakes up on Tuesday each week, Gubicza’s social-media mentions are flooded with fans heralding his segment. He loves the concept. “First of all, I have zero effect on the game, nor do I think I have any effect on the game, other than the entertainment part of it,” Gubicza said. “Still, it’s kind of fun, though.” An effervescent, relentlessly positive man, Gubicza has taken to reminding players and coaches of the fun fact, grinning as he does it on the bus or in the dugout hours before a game. And then he waits for their incredulous response. By Tuesday’s first pitch, at least half of the Angels were familiar with the streak, whether through forces within the team’s traveling party or outside of it. Reliever Blake Parker discovered it on the “SportsCenter” bottom line last week in a Manhattan, N.Y., hotel room, when the television continued to flash it along the ticker. The Angels’ manager, Mike Scioscia, has referenced it in postgame news conferences, citing Gubicza. On Tuesday, he deferred questions about it to the broadcaster. “I don’t believe in it,” Scioscia has told Gubicza. “But I guess the numbers say I should.” When he pitched, Gubicza was superstitious. Over a 14-year, 132-win career spent almost exclusively with the Kansas City Royals, he took to wearing concert T-shirts under his uniform to combat the mid- June 28, 2017 Page 5 of 20 summer humidity. He would start with Aerosmith, and then introduce Rush and Pink Floyd iterations in the later innings, when the sweat built up on his body. He understands the nature of randomness and that this trend is a fluke unlikely to hold up to continued testing. Only one team has ever won more games on Tuesdays to begin a season: the 1997 Baltimore Orioles, who won 16 consecutive and 94 games overall. As a then-Cleveland Indian, Angels pitching coach Charles Nagy knocked those Orioles out of the playoffs. On Tuesday afternoon, Gubicza informed Nagy of this team’s statistic. Nagy made a face, seemingly acknowledging the jinxing potential. “It is beautiful how everyone says, ‘Well, not now,’ ” Gubicza said. “And then it keeps going.” Tuesdays in 2017 7-6, at Oakland, April 4 — The club recorded its first victory of the season in dramatic fashion. Danny Espinosa hit the winning home run in the ninth inning after Matt Shoemaker made his return to the mound from emergency brain surgery. 6-5 (10 innings), vs. Texas, April 11 — The Angels notched their first extra-innings victory since 2015, in another comeback that required a three-run ninth inning. Then-Rangers reliever Sam Dyson coughed it up and has since been traded. 5-2, at Houston, April 18 — The Angels came back again, but earlier, on the strength of an Albert Pujols three-run homer in the fifth inning. 2-1 (11 innings), vs. Oakland, April 25 — After both teams were scoreless through regulation, Mike Trout clubbed a home run in the 10th inning to tie it, and Espinosa scored the winning run with two outs in the 11th. 6-4 (11 innings), at Seattle, May 2 — Pujols doubled in Trout for the winning run, then humorously stole third when Seattle forgot about him. He later scored an insurance run. 7-3, at Oakland, May 9 — In an odd game, the teams hit five home runs, including one by Ben Revere, the major league hitter least likely to hit a home run. 7-6 (11 innings), vs. Chicago White Sox, May 16 — Picked up off the scrap heap in April, David Hernandez stumbled in his attempt to save a three-run ninth-inning lead. But Cameron Maybin logged a five-hit game in his first start as the club’s leadoff hitter and scored the winning run. 4-0, at Tampa Bay, May 23 — Early home runs by Maybin and Trout and a star turn from Shoemaker made for a rare suspense-less victory. 9-3, vs. Atlanta, May 30 — Pujols hit the 599th home run of his career and batted again for his first chance at No. 600 amid an outlandish third inning. The Angels scored all nine of their runs in that frame. June 28, 2017 Page 6 of 20 5-3, at Detroit, June 6 — After the Angels raced out to an early lead, closer Bud Norris loaded the bases in a tense ninth inning before striking out Alex Avila on a backdoor slider to end the game. 3-2 (11 innings), vs. New York Yankees, June 13 — With the streak in double digits, Eric Young Jr.