Angels Stat of the Day: August 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Angels this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

• Angels Stat of the Day, July 2021

Aug. 31: Angels 6, Yankees 4 -- Angels turn five double plays
The Angels induced five double plays against the Yankees, which were the most by the Angels in a single game since April 25, 2013, at Seattle. The last time the Angels turned five double plays at home came on July 18, 2006, vs. Cleveland. The club record is six double plays, which they did against the Red Sox on May 1, 1966, and is also tied for the American League record.

Aug. 30: Angels 8, Yankees 7 -- Mayfield enjoys power surge
Shortstop Jack Mayfield smacked his first career grand slam off Yankees right-hander Corey Kluber and has been showing a power surge at the plate in the second half. Since the All-Star break, he's tied for the team lead in homers with nine, joining two-way star Shohei Ohtani. Mayfield had two career homers in 65 games prior to the All-Star break.

Aug. 28: Angels 10, Padres 2 -- Upton collects 1,000th RBI
Veteran left fielder Justin Upton reached a milestone, as he recorded his 1,000th career RBI with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning against reliever Daniel Hudson. Upton became the eighth active player to reach the mark, joining Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, Robinson Canó, Nelson Cruz, Evan Longoria, Ryan Zimmerman and Joey Votto. Upton is the only active player with at least 300 home runs, 150 stolen bases and 1,000 RBIs.

Aug. 27: Padres 5, Angels 0 -- Runs tough to come by
The Angels were shut out by right-hander Joe Musgrove, as their hitting woes continued with a three-hit output. They have scored only one run over their past 23 innings.

Aug. 26: Orioles 13, Angels 1 -- Halos end whirlwind road trip
The Angels are ready to go home. Following Thursday afternoon's rubber game, they return to Angel Stadium on Friday after a 10-game, 11-day and five-city road trip. The club made stops in New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Williamsport, Pa., (for the MLB Little League Classic) and Baltimore. This was the organization's first five-city road trip since April 20-May 3, 1990.

Aug. 25: Orioles 10, Angels 6 -- Ohtani makes history
When Shohei Ohtani stepped into the batter's box at Camden Yards, he made history before he even took a swing. He is the first starting pitcher to record a plate appearance at the ballpark in its 29-year history. He also became the first pitcher since Babe Ruth in 1919 to make multiple pitching starts in a season while also leading MLB in home runs, per the Elias Sports Bureau.

Aug. 24: Angels 14, Orioles 8 -- Racking up runs
When the Angels arrived in Baltimore for the final leg of their road trip, they hoped the offense would wake up after notching just two runs in the previous three games. In the win on Tuesday, the club recorded 14 runs, its most all season. It marked the Halos' most runs scored since Aug. 29, 2020, when they scored 16.

Aug. 22: Indians 3, Angels 0 -- Shohei busy on bases
The Angels couldn't get much offense going against the Indians in a 3-0 loss in the Little League Classic at Bowman Field, but two-way star Shohei Ohtani went 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base. It was the 20th game this season in which he reached base safely at least three times. His season-high is four times on base, which he's done five times this year.

Aug. 21: Indians 5, Angels 1 -- 3 won't get it done
The Angels were limited to three hits, which was the ninth time this season they've been held to three hits or fewer. They fell to 0-9 in those contests.

Aug. 20: Indians 9, Angels 1 -- Nothing if not consistent
The Angels have hovered around .500 all season, and with their loss to the Indians on Friday, they fell back to .500 for the 25th time. Los Angeles is one away from the club record set in 2017, when it hit .500 on 26 occasions.

Aug. 19: Angels 13, Tigers 10 -- Marsh hits two triples
Rookie center fielder Brandon Marsh hit his first two career triples against the Tigers on Thursday. He became the first Angels player to hit two triples in a game since Erick Aybar on Sept. 2, 2011, against the Twins. Aybar was also the last Halos player to do it on the road, when he did so on Sept. 6, 2009, against the Royals.

Aug. 18: Angels 3, Tigers 1 -- Ohtani sets club mark for left-handed bat
Two-way star Shohei Ohtani had himself quite the night against the Tigers on Wednesday, setting a career high by pitching eight innings and hitting his MLB-leading 40th homer of the year. He set the club record for homers by a left-handed hitter in the process, passing Reggie Jackson's 39 homers in 1982.

Aug. 17: Angels 8, Tigers 2 -- Walsh's walk(s) in the park
All-Star first baseman Jared Walsh set a career high by walking four times at Detroit on Tuesday. It was the first four-walk game by an Angels player since Mike Trout in 2018 and the first by an Angels first baseman since Mo Vaughn in 2000.

Aug. 16: Yankees 2, Angels 1 -- Suarez's road success
The road doesn’t seem to bother left-hander José Suarez, who is 5-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 10 appearances (four starts) away from Angel Stadium.

Aug. 15: Angels 3, Astros 1 -- Gosselin's career-high homers
With his home run in the bottom of the eighth inning against Astros right-hander Cristian Javier, Phil Gosselin, 32 years old and in his ninth Major League season, notched a career high in homers with his fourth of the year. Gosselin connected on an 0-1 fastball and launched it 430 feet to left field. The long ball had an exit velocity of 107 mph, according to Statcast.

Aug. 14: Astros 8, Angels 2 -- A grand problem for the Halos
Astros outfielder Jake Meyers hit a grand slam off Junior Guerra in the sixth inning, marking the third grand slam in the last four games allowed by an Angels pitcher. It’s the first time in Angels franchise history this has occurred.

Aug. 13: Astros 4, Angels 1 -- Sandoval's nighttime woes
In three years pitching in the Majors, Patrick Sandoval has struggled in night games. Those issues continued as he gave up four runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Astros. With the loss, Sandoval fell to a 2-12 while his ERA rose to 4.60 across 115 1/3 innings at night.

Aug. 12: Angels 6, Blue Jays 3 -- Ohtani, Vlad Jr. collide
When Shohei Ohtani faced off against Vladimir Guerrero Jr., it marked the third time since 1918 where the top two home run leaders faced off in a hitter vs. pitcher matchup (minimum of two home runs each). The only other two times in AL/NL history where it has happened since 1918 came when Babe Ruth (11 HR) faced off against Tillie Walker (9 HR) on July 5, 1918, and earlier in 2021, when Ohtani (14 HR) pitched to the Indians' José Ramírez (12 HR) on May 19.

Aug. 11: Blue Jays 10, Angels 2 -- Ohtani 1 shy of Mr. October
Shohei Ohtani launched his 38th homer of the season, moving himself up in the Angels' record books. Ohtani's 38 homers are the second most in a single season by a Halos left-handed batter. He trails only Reggie Jackson, who hit 39 home runs in 1982.

Aug. 10: Blue Jays 4, Angels 0 (Game 2) -- Ohtani's leadoff triple
After going hitless in Game 1 of the split doubleheader, Shohei Ohtani began Game 2 with a leadoff triple. It was his fifth three-bagger of the year, and it was the Angels' first leadoff triple since Zack Cozart hit one on March 31, 2018, against the A's.

Aug. 8: Dodgers 8, Angels 2 -- Adell doubles twice
Angels outfielder Jo Adell has looked better in his second stint in the Majors after a rough rookie season. He doubled twice and for the second time in his six games this season after failing to double twice in any of his 38 games last year. It was his third career game with multiple extra-base hits, as he also homered twice against the Mariners on Aug. 29, 2020.

Aug. 7: Dodgers 5, Angels 3 -- Angels can't climb three games above .500
The Angels have been stuck either two games above or below .500 ever since June 30. They had a chance to move up three games over .500 for the first time since April 20 with a win over the Dodgers, but instead they lost to fall to 56-55 on the season.

Aug. 6: Angels 4, Dodgers 3 (10 innings) -- Mayfield on homer spree
Jack Mayfield had two homers through his first 66 career games but has been on a tear since the All-Star break. Mayfield smacked a solo homer against the Dodgers in the sixth, giving him seven blasts in 20 games in the second half. It's the second-most homers in the American League since the break, just behind Toronto's George Springer with eight.

Aug. 5: Angels 5, Rangers 0 -- Starters stepping up
With Dylan Bundy's 6 1/3 scoreless innings, Angels starters have thrown 118 1/3 innings since the All-Star break, holding opponents to a .198 batting average (87-for-440) and posting a 3.35 ERA (44 earned runs). Entering Bundy's start, the Halos led the Majors in starters' innings pitched (112) during that span.

Aug. 4: Angels 2, Rangers 1 -- Rare Ohtani 0-fer
In 13 of his 16 starts on the mound this season, Shohei Ohtani has also hit. He has been held hitless in only five of those, including Wednesday night's outing against the Rangers. He went 0-for-3, but threw six solid innings of one-run ball in the victory.

Aug. 3: Angels 11, Rangers 3 -- Jo passes the eye test
In the first plate appearance of his first game back from a season-long stint in Triple-A, Jo Adell did something he almost never did in his rookie season: Walk. His first walk of 2020 came in his seventh game and he only took free passes seven times in 132 plate appearances.

Aug. 2: Rangers 4, Angels 1 -- Rodriguez's strong start
The Angels sent Chris Rodriguez to Double-A Rocket City in June to make a starter out of him, and judging by Monday's outing, they succeeded. Rodriguez allowed three earned runs (four total) over six-plus innings, notching career highs -- at any pro level -- in innings pitched, pitches (86) and strikeouts (seven).

Aug. 1: A's 8, Angels 3 -- Unfortunate 1st for Shohei
Shohei Ohtani is human after all. The two-way star grounded into two double plays for the first time in his career against the A's. He has hit into 17 double plays in 353 career games, but he had never done it twice in a game until Sunday.