Angels celebrate Washington's 72nd birthday with wild win

ANAHEIM -- After getting swept in an ugly series against the Twins over the weekend, Angels manager Ron Washington called a team meeting after Sunday’s loss to express his disappointment with the way his team was playing.

The Angels, who had lost nine of 10, responded promptly to Washington’s message, as they bounced back with a 6-5 win in the series opener against the red-hot Phillies on Monday night at Angel Stadium. They found themselves in an early 3-0 hole, only to recover and score the go-ahead runs on a wild pitch from Seranthony Domínguez in the seventh.

And it led to a much more vibrant postgame atmosphere, as the Angels celebrated Washington’s 72nd birthday with a cake after the game that featured a photo of Washington as a young player with an afro.

“It just happened to be my birthday but we certainly needed it,” Washington said with a smile.. “We came out there tonight and actually showed what we can do. Now we just got to find the consistency. Tonight we played the game. Get them over, get them in. We bunted. It’s a beautiful thing to watch when you execute and we’re capable of executing.”

Washington emphasized to his players that they are better than what they had been showing recently and was frustrated with the way they were beating themselves with shoddy defense and baserunning miscues. But the Angels cleaned it up against Philadelphia, playing smart and aggressive baseball, stealing three bases and not committing any errors or defensive lapses.

But it looked rough early, as right-hander Griffin Canning had trouble finding the strike zone in the opening frame and loaded the bases with nobody out after a hit by pitch and a walk. The Phillies took the lead on a two-run single from Alec Bohm and a sacrifice fly from former Angels outfielder Brandon Marsh.

Canning, though, settled down from there and got through five innings to keep the Angels in the game.

“It's not great to put us in a 3-0 hole but it could have been easy for us to kind of cower down and not fight back,” Canning said. “But the offense and the bullpen came in and did a great job. The offense did their thing and got us back in the game.”

Canning, though, settled down from there and the Angels got on the board quickly in the first on a solo shot from Jo Adell, who was moved up to the No. 2 spot in the order. Adell has surprisingly been the club’s hottest hitter this season and crushed his fourth homer of the year to give the Angels a sigh of relief after Canning’s shaky first inning.

“I’m glad I got a pitch to handle,” Adell said. “I worked the at-bat kind of like we planned on. I was able to do some damage and it was nice to be able to start it off.”

The Angels kept chipping away from there, scoring in the second on an RBI single from Ehire Adrianza and twice more in the sixth. Logan O'Hoppe came through with a sacrifice fly against his former organization, while new addition Cole Tucker added a two-out RBI single to tie the game.

“It was my first game up here this year and just knowing how the team's been playing it was cool that put us back in the ballgame,” Tucker said. “Just move the line to the next guy. That’s what it’s all about and what we’d been talking about all day.”

The Angels took the lead in the seventh, keyed by back-to-back singles from Zach Neto and Adrianza. Mike Trout moved the runners over with a grounder to the right side, swiped second for his sixth stolen base of the year and then the Angels scored twice on a wild pitch from Domínguez.

“Tonight the baseball gods blessed us,” Washington said. “We got two runs on a situation that’s been happening to us.”

Closer Carlos Estévez was called on for the first time since Tuesday but picked up his fifth save of the year, striking out Marsh with a runner on second after a sacrifice fly from Bohm. It led to a much happier clubhouse after the game, as players were excited to share the win with Washington on his birthday.

“It was great,” Adell said. “We had a throwback picture of him from one of his baseball cards on the cake. He had the ‘fro out. He got a kick out of that. He's such a motivator and such a great guy. I'm honored to go and play for him every day.”