Crazy 8th: Halos win back-and-forth thriller

ANAHEIM -- Over the course of a 58-minute eighth inning, the Angels were subjected to the most extreme ends of their emotional barometers. After seeing a two-run lead slip away on a grand slam by DJ LeMahieu, the Angels mounted their second rally of the evening and responded with five runs to emerge with a wild 10-7 win over the Rockies in Monday night's series opener at Angel Stadium and snap their six-game skid.
"That's baseball," said Eric Young Jr., who drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out, two-run single. "They had that inning where they took the lead. I'm just more excited and proud of everybody around here that stayed resilient. We took our fair share at the plate, and it worked out for us tonight."
LeMahieu's first career grand slam off Jim Johnson gave the Rockies a 7-5 lead in the top of the eighth, but the Angels came back to threaten in the bottom half of the inning after Mike Trout walked, Shohei Ohtani singled and Albert Pujols walked to load the bases with no outs against Adam Ottavino.
Andrelton Simmons brought the Angels within one with a sacrifice fly to right field, and Kaleb Cowart kept the rally alive by drawing a two-out walk. Colorado manager Bud Black then opted to bring in Seunghwan Oh to face Young, who ended an eight-pitch at-bat by lining a single to center field to give the Angels an 8-7 lead. They added a pair of insurance runs on a costly throwing error by shortstop Trevor Story.

"I just wanted to put good wood on the ball," Young said. "He pretty much tried every pitch that he had against me. I was able to lay off some good pitches there down in the zone. Once it got to 3-2, I just told myself to breathe slow and see something out over the plate. He left a little cutter there up for me, and I was able to get it over Story's head."
Noé Ramirez worked a scoreless ninth to pick up his first career save and seal the Angels' win.

Ohtani and Trout homered and combined to drive in half of the Angels' runs, while Kole Calhoun added three hits in the leadoff spot.
The comeback helped atone for an earlier lapse by the club's bullpen. Rookie Justin Anderson took the mound in the eighth looking to protect the Angels' 5-3 lead, but he was lifted after issuing a leadoff walk to Ian Desmond. Left-hander Williams Jerez replaced him on the mound, but he also struggled to find the strike zone, walking David Dahl and Tony Wolters to load the bases with no outs.
Jerez retired Charlie Blackmon on a flyout to shallow left field before giving way to Johnson, who surrendered a grand slam to LeMahieu that gave the Rockies a 7-5 lead.
"Our pitchers had a rough eighth inning," manager Mike Scioscia said. "Fortunately for us, their pitchers had a tougher eighth inning."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ohtani's big day: The Angels were held hitless through the first three innings by Rockies right-hander Jon Gray before scoring four runs in the fourth to erase a two-run deficit. Calhoun led off the inning with a single, stole second and advanced to third on David Fletcher's bunt single, setting up Trout's RBI single to left field.
Ohtani followed by belting a misplaced fastball from Gray out to left-center field for his 15th home run of the season, putting the Angels in front, 4-2. It marked the Angels' first lead since Aug. 19, a streak that spanned 51 consecutive innings. Ohtani's 412-foot blast was made all the more impressive by the fact that it came only hours after he completed a 50-pitch simulated game as part of his rehab from a sprained elbow ligament.

"We wanted to kind of read him, see how he did and if he was going to be able to DH," Scioscia said. "He was adamant. He said, 'Oh, I feel good. I want to hit.' He had a good night for us tonight." More >>
Trout stays hot: In the sixth inning, Trout sneaked a solo home run just inside the left-field foul pole to make it 5-2. It was his 31st home run of the season and his first in four games since returning from the disabled list. Trout missed 15 games with right wrist inflammation before being activated off the disabled list on Friday. He is 6-for-14 with two RBIs and two walks since rejoining the Angels. More >>

SOUND SMART
Ohtani joined Babe Ruth (1919 Red Sox) and Jimmy Ryan (1888 Chicago White Stockings) as the only players to hit 15 home runs and collect four wins in a single season.
• Carlos Gonzalez liner rips Albert Pujols' glove off
UP NEXT
The Angels will close out their five-game homestand by facing the Rockies in Tuesday's series finale at 7:07 p.m. PT at Angel Stadium. Left-hander Kyle Freeland (11-7, 2.96 ERA) will start for Colorado. The Angels will rely on their bullpen, sending Noe Ramirez (4-4, 4.76) to the mound to for his first career start, one day after earning his first career save.