
Rhett Bollinger
ANAHEIM — Whereas the Angels snapped a three-game dropping streak and averted a sweep by the hands of the Athletics, they noticed catcher Logan O'Hoppe endure a freak harm within the seventh inning on a warmup backswing from A's shortstop Jacob Wilson.
It triggered O’Hoppe to depart the sport and get replaced by Travis d’Arnaud, who later got here by way of with a go-ahead RBI ground-rule double within the eighth to guide Los Angeles to a 4-3 win on Sunday afternoon at Angel Stadium. So whereas the Angels had been happy to select up the victory, there’s some concern for O’Hoppe, who needed to bear testing for a doable concussion after the sport and wasn’t out there to the media.
“He’s doing OK, however we’re clearly working checks on him,” interim supervisor Ray Montgomery stated. “He appears to be OK proper now. We’ll see what occurs. They must undergo the entire protocol and be actually cautious with that stuff.”
The harm occurred after Wilson hit a pop-up in foul floor that first baseman Logan Davidson couldn’t deal with with no outs within the seventh and reliever Luis García on the mound. Wilson twirled his bat again as a part of his apply swing and it hit O’Hoppe underneath his facemask. Wilson apologized instantly however Montgomery stated Wilson must be extra conscious going ahead.
“It was fully unintentional,” Montgomery stated. “And he was as apologetic as anyone. He already felt horrible about it, standing there listening to him. So actually no sick will in the direction of him. However yeah, you do must watch out with it as a result of it will probably clearly inflict a variety of injury.”
O’Hoppe fell to the bottom in ache and was attended to by head athletic coach Mike Frostad and Montgomery. He was in a position to go away the sport on his personal accord, however was changed by d’Arnaud behind the plate.
“I hope he's OK,” d’Arnaud stated. “I used to be taking some swings, and somebody simply yelled, ‘d’Arnaud, prepare.’ And I simply noticed a replay of it. I didn't get an opportunity to see the entire thing. I hope he's OK. I do know Jacob checked on him, too.”
O’Hoppe was 0-for-2 with two hard-hit outs and a stroll earlier than he was faraway from the sport. The 25-year-old is hitting .217/.260/.386 with 19 homers, seven doubles and 43 RBIs in 109 video games this 12 months.
However it was the veteran d’Arnaud who was the hero within the eighth, connecting on an RBI ground-rule double off reliever Osvaldo Bido after Bido walked Chris Taylor on a pitch up and in earlier than hitting Oswald Peraza with a fastball.
The Angels had been hit by 5 pitches on Sunday to set a membership report, and d’Arnaud stated it motivated him to return by way of in that second, because it was irritating to see so many hitters get plunked even when it wasn’t intentional.
“I feel it was extra motivating as a result of they hit 5 of our guys immediately and didn't look like they cared and stored throwing inside,” d’Arnaud stated. “So it motivated me to get the job accomplished. Again within the day, we’d’ve hit somebody. Now I can't say we'll hit somebody, so I don't know what the etiquette is. However I do know we don't play them once more till subsequent 12 months.”
On a lighter word, d’Arnaud stated he was additionally impressed by a go to with a younger most cancers affected person from Miller Kids’s & Girls’s Hospital earlier than the sport and instructed the teen he would hit a pinch-hit homer for him. And whereas d’Arnaud simply missed the homer, his hit proved to be the game-winner with Kenley Jansen closing it out within the ninth.
“I instructed him if I pinch-hit, I’d hit a homer and off the bat I couldn’t consider the trajectory and thought it had an opportunity,” d’Arnaud stated. “If it could’ve went out that might’ve been cool, however I hope it’s OK it was a game-winning hit.”
Earlier than exiting, O’Hoppe additionally helped information rookie Mitch Farris to a strong outing in his second profession begin, because the lefty allowed simply two runs over six-plus robust innings. Each runs got here on homers, as Willie MacIver went deep within the third and Tyler Soderstrom homered to finish Farris' outing to open the seventh.
Farris credited O’Hoppe for his robust begin and stated he hopes that every thing is ok with the Angels' backstop after the freak incident.
“He's nice,” Farris stated. “I can't ask for a greater catcher. He simply gave me the boldness and I leaned on him all through the beginning and all through the week, too. He's simply superior.”