Angels Honor Skaggs with Epic No-Hitter

Something amazing happened in Friday's game between the hosting Los Angeles Angels and the visiting Seattle Mariners. On the night the Angels honored the late Tyler Skaggs who was found dead in his hotel room on July 1 during the team's recent road trip in Texas against the Rangers, the Halos did something fit for a movie script. In the team's first home game at Angels Stadium since the loss of their teammate, two Angels pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter just hours before what would've been Skaggs' 28th birthday. And given the circumstances in what's been an emotional two weeks for the club and community, it will go down as one of the most made-for-Hollywood storybook endings to occur on a baseball diamond. Factor in some of the stats in the game and you might be left with goosebumps.

With fans creating a makeshift shrine outside of the ballpark with flowers and signs to remember the 27 year old California native, inside the ballpark the team unveiled a mural in left-center field featuring an image of Skaggs delivering a pitch alongside his name and jersey No. 45. Following a video tribute and an emotional 45-seconds of silence in memory of Skaggs, his mother Debbie was called on to throw out the ceremonial first pitch as she delivered a perfect strike that helped set the tone for what would ultimately be a historic and memorable night that both Angels and baseball fans alike will one day be sure to tell their grand kids about. With Halos manager Brad Ausmus electing to go with an opener to begin the game, Taylor Cole who threw the first two innings before handing the ball off to Felix Pena for the final seven frames on a mound that was painted with Skaggs' number. With the entire team donning Skaggs' name and jersey No. 45 on the back of their uniforms to pay tribute to their fallen teammate, a decision green-lighted by MLB, the two pitchers logged eight combined strikeouts and the only blemish in their way of tossing a perfect game was a fifth inning walk by Omar Narvaez who proved to be the lone base runner on the night for Seattle.

Before out No. 27 sealed the 11th no-hitter in Angels franchise history, the Halos wasted little time pouncing on their opponent as they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead in the first inning alone. And leading the charge was none other than 2-time MVP Mike Trout who was a close friend of the late pitcher and was drafted by the Angels alongside Skaggs in the 2009 MLB Draft. Now for the eerie part. During their first inning onslaught, Trout who had a monster night finishing 3-for-4 with 6 RBI's, launched a 2-run home run that measured 454-feet, eerily similar to Skaggs' uniform number. Those 7 runs in the first inning would jump start a 13-run night for the Halo offense and coincidentally, Skaggs was born on 7-13-91. Still not creeped out yet? Try this; Skaggs was born on the same day that marked the last time a combined no-hitter was recorded in the state of California when the Baltimore Orioles tossed one against the Oakland A's. Facing just one batter more than the 27-batter minimum, Angels pitching faced 28 batters just less than two hours before what would've been Skaggs' 28th birthday. And finally, Friday's game marked the 11th no-hitter in Angels franchise history and oddly enough, Skaggs' old Santa Monica High School jersey number was No. 11, a jersey Tyler's brother Garrett was seen wearing during the pregame ceremony.

But perhaps the most special event that took place on Friday night was how the team honored their fallen member one last time once the game concluded. After sharing a much deserved celebration following the final out with many players pointing towards the sky, the team gave one final salute to Skaggs as each player removed their No. 45 jersey and placed it on the pitchers mound. With plans to keep his clubhouse locker in tact both at home and on the road for the remainder of the season, the Angels couldn't have drawn up a better way to bid Skaggs a farewell. The Angels are no stranger to mid-season tragedies as 2019 marks the 10-year anniversary after losing Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart who was tragically killed in a car accident just hours after pitching in a game on April 9, 2009. And as hard as these type of things are for both the team and the organization, the Angels as a whole did a fabulous job at paying tribute to one of their very own, proving once again that baseball is more than just a game.

Noteworthy: Friday's no-hitter was the Angels' first since Jared Weaver twirled one against the Minnesota Twins on May 2, 2012 and marked the fourth time the Mariners have been no-hit in their franchise history. The 13-0 win is tied for the largest run-differential in an AL no-hitter (13 runs) since at least 1908 (1938 Yankees vs Cleveland).

Rest in Peace, Tyler Skaggs (July 13, 1991 - July 1, 2019)

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San Francisco Giants Month in Review: June 2019

As temperatures across the country begin to increase and offensive numbers begin to soar, the San Francisco Giants entered the month of June hoping the same could be said for their win total. Or at the very least, an improvement from their dismal May in which the team's pitching woes led to a sub-par record of 10-16. And with three-straight wins against the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets to start the month, things finally began to look up for Bruce Bochy's ball club, even if it was short-lived. Making his fourth big league start, pitcher Shaun Anderson would kick things off with a stellar outing as he earned his first career win after pitching 7 innings of 2-run ball as the Giants beat the Orioles, 8-2. Needing 105-pitches to get the job done, Anderson who had never tossed more than 102-pitches in a game at any level of his career, college included, became the first Giants starter to go seven innings or more since Madison Bumgarner back on April 13. Anderson's seven frames ended an SF era record and snapped a streak of 40 consecutive games in which a Giants starter failed to go seven innings deep, the longest such streak in over 100 years for the Giants franchise and longest streak in the MLB this year.

But it would be a blessing and a curse as Buster Posey who hit his third homer of the season in the 8-2 win, left the game with a hamstring injury. Thanks to another strong outing the following day by Jeff Samardzija (6 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts), the Giants managed to take 2 of 3 from the Orioles to claim their first series victory since May 17-19 at Arizona. And with a 9-3 extra-inning win over the New York Mets in their next ballgame, skipper Bruce Bochy in his 13th year with the club, etched his name into the record books by becoming just the second Giants manager in franchise history (138 years) to win 1,000 games. One of only 25 managers in MLB history to have won 1,000 games with one team, Bochy who had won another 951 games at the helm of the Padres, is the most winningest manager in SF Giants history. And even if you combined the two records from Bochy's time with the Giants and Padres, he would still fall shy of the Giants' all-time leader in wins held by John McGraw who owns the club record with 2,583 wins as skipper of the New York Giants from 1902-1932. Unfortunately, Bochy's milestone would be the only positive during the Giants' trip to Queens as the Mets claimed the next two games to take the series.

Looking to put a forgettable month of May behind him in which he boasted an ERA of 19.16, starter Drew Pomeranz bounced back with five shutout frames over the Dodgers. And though he didn't factor in the decision, the Giants were able to pull off the 2-1 win and hand ace Clayton Kershaw his first loss in nearly a year (July 21, 2018), a span of 22 starts and snapping L.A.'s streak of 17 consecutive wins in games started by Kershaw. However, for the second consecutive series, the Giants would take Game 1 only to lose the next two and drop the series. With a day off before their next series, a short two-gamer against the San Diego Padres, the Giants would pull off the two-game sweep of their division rivals to claim their first home series victory since May 1. And with saves in each game, closer Will Smith improved to a perfect 16-for-16 in save opportunities to start the year, surpassing former Giant Craig Lefferts for the most consecutive saves to start a season among left-handers in franchise history; a record Smith would only add to. And with the Milwaukee Brewers coming into town for a three-game set, the Giants would see their longest winning-streak of the season reach four-games as San Francisco took the first two against the Brew Crew before losing in the finale.

Hitting the road to renew rivalries with the Dodgers once again, San Francisco would see another one of their young hurlers record career win No. 1 as Tyler Beede was next to answer the call. Holding L.A.'s menacing lineup to only 1-run over 6 stout innings, Beede pitched around five walks and struck out seven Dodger hitters to become just the fourth Giants pitcher during the SF era to record career win No. 1 at Dodger Stadium and the first since Shawn Estes on July 13, 1996. But yet again, the Dodgers would drop the first game only to storm back the rest of the way to take the series, three games to one. But a visit to the desert for a three-game series against the Diamondbacks would help the Giants get back on track as they took two of three from the snakes. And in Game 1 of that series, an 11-5 win, the Giants received a big game from one of their newest members in outfielder Alex Dickerson. Acquired via trade just 11 days earlier from the San Diego Padres, Dickerson made his Giants debut a memorable one as he collected a career-high 6 RBI's after going 3-for-5 at the plate, one of those hits being a 458-foot grand slam, the longest home run hit by a Giants player this season. With the grand salami, Dickerson became one of only three players in franchise history to hit a grand slam in his Giants debut, joining only Bobby Bonds (June 25, 1968) and Brandon Crawford (May 27, 2011).

Returning home to begin a seven-game homestand, Pomeranz took the mound against the Colorado Rockies, logging a 5 inning, 11 strikeout performance to tie a career-high in K's. It would be the most punchouts by a Giants pitcher in an outing of five or fewer innings since the current mound distance was established in 1893 and the first double-digit strikeout performance by a Giants pitcher since April of last year (Johnny Cueto). But unfortunately for him, his offense failed to show up as the Giants were blanked, 2-0. The team would get another strong outing the following day, this time by Madison Bumgarner (6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 11 K) who rebounded from his worst start of the season after allowing six earned runs in just 3 2/3 innings against the Dodgers. But Colorado would dust off the loss with a 6-3 win in the rubber-match to take the series, two games to one. Hosting the Dbacks for a four-game stint before turning the calendar to July, the Giants would get a "vintage" performance from their ace as Bochy put it. Following his first double-digit strikeout performance since April 2, 2017 against the Rockies, MadBum dazzled again to the tune of seven strong innings in which he allowed only one run on four hits, no walks and struck out nine Arizona hitters to tie his old teammate Tim Lincecum to become the franchises second leading strikeout leader. With 1,704 career K's, all in a San Francisco uniform, Bumgarner trails only Hall of Famer Juan Marichal for the most strikeouts in San Francisco Giants history.

Fading deeper and deeper into the abyss that is the NL Western Division standings heading into July, the Giants find themselves 19 games behind the first-place Dodgers despite June being their first winning month of the season. At 14-wins and 13-losses to bring their overall record to 36-47 at the halfway point of the MLB season, San Francisco will look to gain some momentum before entering the All-Star break. With a chance for the team to rest for a few days in anticipation for the second part of the season, one Giant who won't be missing out on the festivities is closer Will Smith. Named to his first career All-Star Game after logging a perfect 21-for-21 in save opportunities, the most saves before the All-Star break by a Giants lefty, Smith is the franchises first southpaw reliever to be named to the Midsummer Classic since Gary Lavelle in 1983. And his 21 consecutive saves to start a season are the most since Rod Beck converted 28 straight back in 1994. Having held opposing batters to the second-lowest on-base percentage (.218) and fourth-lowest OPS (.494) in the league among relievers, the 29-year old closer ranks 3rd in the National League in saves. And since taking over as the team's full-time closer in June of 2018, a role Smith was none too familiar with prior to being traded from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016 as he had only one career save prior, Smith has run away with the job since becoming Bochy's ninth inning guy. Along with Bumgarner who's helped raise his stock with consecutive strong outings, Smith, the Giants' lone representative in this year's All-Star Game, could also have his days with the ball club numbered as we inch closer to the trade deadline and both players begin gaining attention from playoff contenders.

June would also see the Giants enter their first MLB Draft under new general manager Farhan Zaidi. Owning the 10th overall pick, the Giants would select outfielder Hunter Bishop out of Arizona State University. With many MLB scouts and analysts calling him a perennial All-Star, something the Giants have long been in need of in the outfield, Bishop compared himself to a mix between Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich when asked who he'd most liken his skill set to. And we all remember the last time an ASU outfielder batted lefty and manned the outfield for the Giants, just some guy named Barry Bonds. Coincidentally, the Bay Area native even went to the same High School as Bonds. The last two times the Giants held the No. 10 overall pick, they selected a pair of guys named Tim Lincecum (2006) and Madison Bumgarner (2007). Giants brass and fans alike are hoping to complete the trifecta with the recent selection of Bishop.


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