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Angels pitcher Tyler Anderson throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Angels pitcher Tyler Anderson throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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ANAHEIM — Red hot, even if he is not about to admit it, Logan O’Hoppe is putting a charge into the Angels’ offense that has powered its way through opponents early in the season.
O’Hoppe stretched his home-run streak to four consecutive games and helped the Angels to a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday with his offerings from both behind and alongside the plate.
As the catcher, O’Hoppe helped the pitching staff get past a playoff team from last season while finally getting a handle on the Guardians’ Jose Ramirez, who hit three home runs in the series opener but went 0-for-4 with three walks over the past two games.
It remains early, but the Angels have won each of the three series they have played in a feat that has not happened for the club since 2018 when it came out on top over the first five series.
“It’s been awesome,” O’Hoppe said. “My parents were here this weekend, and I was telling them, it feels like it’s my senior high school again. And we won it all that year. It’s that same kind of feel. It’s just good to come to the park every day and it doesn’t feel like a job at all. It’s hanging out with the boys and getting your job done.”
With a 6-3 record, the Angels have also tied the franchise record for most wins over the opening nine games of a season. It is the 14th time the club has opened a season 6-3, with the last coming in 2021.
“I’ve learned they can play and that’s what we’re here to do is to play baseball,” manager Ron Washington said when asked to assess the early play of his team. “It’s nice to see your offense come alive. But they can play and I expect them to play until there is no more baseball left to play.”
After their struggles from 2024, the Angels are exceeding expectations, but O’Hoppe suggests there is more in the tank, at least personally. After hitting a home run in his third consecutive game Saturday, the everyday catcher for the second consecutive season said his swing still was a work in progress.
“I’m just working on it every day,” O’Hoppe said. “I don’t feel like things are going well or bad. I feel very neutral, and I’m gonna enjoy it, get some sleep and get to work again tomorrow.”
That tomorrow was Sunday and his swing looks better than neutral now. Even the numbers say so. O’Hoppe became the first catcher in franchise history to hit a home run in four consecutive games.
After Sunday’s game, he was not about to change his assessment.
“No, you can keep trying to get me again,” O’Hoppe said. “We’ll enjoy the flight (to Tampa) tonight and the much needed off day tomorrow, I’m sure, for a lot of guys, and recover and then get back to work on Tuesday.”
On the mound, left-hander Tyler Anderson delivered a solid five innings, working out of a major jam in his final frame. In a 2-2 tie, Anderson loaded the bases on a walk, a hit batter and an intentional walk to Ramirez. He escaped the mess by striking out Carlos Santana on a 3-2 changeup.
Washington was about to go to his bullpen with Santana headed to the plate, but the mild-mannered Anderson had other ideas.
“My intention was to take him out … but he talked me out of it and thank God he talked me out of it because that ignited us,” Washington said.
What did Anderson say to Washington during the mound visit? Washington wasn’t telling, and neither was O’Hoppe, joking that he had the pitch-com earbud inserted and he couldn’t hear the conversation right next to him. Anderson merely said he “pleaded” his case.
“Sometimes you go to the mound and you look into a guy’s eyes and touch their body and you find things that way,” Washington said. “He was determined that he was not coming off that mound and I walked off.”
The Guardians took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Lane Thomas. O’Hoppe tied the score on his home run in the second inning, his fifth of the season, and Tim Anderson made it 2-1 five batters later on an RBI single.
The Guardians tied it in the fourth inning on Kyle Manzardo’s home run just inside the right-field foul pole off Anderson.
The Angels took the lead for good on a solo home run from Jorge Soler in the sixth inning, his second in two nights. A pair of insurance runs came in the seventh when Luis Rengifo and Soler hit sacrifice flies.
Kyren Paris made it a 6-2 lead for the Angels with a home run to deep center in the eighth, his second. The Angels hit seven home runs over the past two games after hitting six over their first seven games.
After getting multiple innings from three relievers over the previous two games, a reset Angels bullpen was fresh and effective. Ryan Zeferjahn returned from hamstring tightness Friday to pitch a scoreless sixth inning, while Ben Joyce delivered 1⅓ innings.
Kenley Jansen pitched a scoreless ninth inning in a non-save situation. His strikeout of Gabriel Arias was his 1,225th as a reliever, tying Lee Smith for fifth most all-time.
“I feel like it’s been the whole year, really, where it’s top to bottom,” O’Hoppe said about getting contributions from all areas of the roster. “We’re getting stuff done. If one part, or one aspect in this room slips, then the other will pick them up. If we don’t pitch so well then the offense will pick us up and vice versa, and so on and so on.
“There’s no panic when we’re down, there’s no panic when things aren’t going well. We know that we can execute the job at hand, and we’ll keep doing that.”
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