Notes and quotes from Angels loss against Yankees

ANAHEIM, Calif. — After a whirlwind of a day with the announcement that owner Arte Moreno was selling a majority stake of the team to Stan Kroenke, the night concluded with the Angels’ 7-3 loss against the Yankees. 

It was a similar story to the other 85 losses the Angels have had this season, but here are some notes from the game that stood out. 

Grayson Rodriguez settled after first inning

The Angels were down quickly, as right-hander Grayson Rodriguez allowed a two-run home run to Spencer Jones and then a solo shot to Jazz Chisholm Jr. the very next batter to give the Yankees an early 3-0 lead. But after that, Rodriguez settled in and allowed one more run the rest of the outing. 

His final line was four earned runs in six innings of work with seven strikeouts and two strikeouts. 

“Changeup started working a little bit better for me, made some adjustments with it,” Rodriguez said was the key to settling in after the first inning. “They took some bad swings on it, so really worked that into the game plan.”

Rodriguez filled up the strike zone in this one. He threw strikes at a 67% clip and landed the first pitch for a strike in 81% of his batters faced. 

Strikes have been a common theme for the Angels’ rotation, as they just concluded the month of August with the lowest rotation ERA (2.51) in baseball in that month. In August, the Angels’ rotation landed pitches in the zone at a 44.2% clip, which led all of baseball.

“Any time you’re a pitcher, it’s hard to pitch from behind,” Rodriguez said. “Getting ahead is step one. I’ve said this a lot, but a lot of outings, when you struggle, it’s cuz you’re falling behind in the count. You can’t pitch behind in the count to big-league hitters. That’s just not how it is.”

Wade Meckler stays hot

Wade Meckler turned in a 3-for-4 effort in this one, which marks his third straight game with multiple hits. Since coming back from the concussion injured list, he’s 8-for-17 (.470). 

“It’s a very simple approach, simple swing,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Not a lot of movement, as you guys can tell, but, he just finds a way to put the barrel on the ball. That’s a skill, and he can do it really well. I think the key with him is he knows himself. He knows who he is. He doesn’t try to do too much and he just barrels it up.”

Meckler is now hitting .302 with a .770 OPS on the season, along with making some memorable catches in the outfield, such as the home run robbery in the ninth inning on Friday night. 

“He’s been a model of consistency, I guess, to say the least, the spark plug, whatever you want to call it. He doesn’t say much, just goes out there and plays like a maniac and has great at-bats.”