ANAHEIM — In the summer of 2022, when Logan O’Hoppe was still in Double-A with the Philadelphia Phillies, his team faced Max Scherzer, who was rehabbing with the New York Mets.
“He carved me up then, punched me out twice,” O’Hoppe said. “That was a lesson learned. Can’t let anything go when he’s on the mound.”
The lesson paid off two years later, this time in the big leagues. O’Hoppe hit a pair of first-pitch homers against the Hall of Fame-bound Scherzer, although it wasn’t enough for the Angels, who lost to the Texas Rangers, 5-4.
“I watched him growing up a ton,” O’Hoppe said. “He’s been so dominant his whole career, but doesn’t matter being on losing end now.”
After O’Hoppe’s second homer, in the fourth inning, tied the score, it remained tied until Rangers slugger Adolis García hit a solo homer against Angels right-hander Luis Garcia in the top of the eighth.
“Tonight he tried to put us on his back,” Angels manager Ron Washington said of O’Hoppe. “We just came up short.”
It was the eighth loss in the last nine games for the Angels (37-54), who equaled their season-worst at 17 games under .500.
This season has been over for a while, leaving the Angels to simply see what they have for the future.
And they clearly have their catcher.
O’Hoppe, who also singled in his third at-bat against Scherzer, now has 14 homers, equaling his total from last season. He’s batting .282 with an .825 OPS.
It was the second multi-homer game of his career, including one last September in Seattle.
O’Hoppe got a first-pitch hanging curveball that he hit out to left-center in the second inning. In the fourth, Scherzer threw him a first-pitch fastball down the middle and O’Hoppe hit it out to center.
“I just knew I couldn’t let good pitches go with a guy like that on the mound,” O’Hoppe said.
The homer helped the Angels erase an early 4-1 deficit, but they never got the lead.
Starter Roansy Contreras had a second straight rough outing, allowing four runs in two innings. The Angels have given Contreras the ball three times as a starter, and he has yet to last more than three innings.
It seems he will continue in the rotation until the Angels are ready to bring up Reid Detmers, Chase Silseth, Kenny Rosenberg or Sam Bachman.
Contreras allowed a Josh Smith homer in the first inning, and in the third he couldn’t get a single out. He allowed three straight hits, driving in a run. After an intentional walk loaded the bases, he gave up an infield hit.
“He was getting ahead of hitters, and then when he needed to leave the strike zone, he didn’t,” Washington said. “It’s a growing time for him. He’s 24 years old. He’s got to learn those type of things. Hopefully he can gather that information and become the type of baseball player we need him to be.”
Contreras was spared a loss, though, because the Angels were able to do some damage against Scherzer.
In between O’Hoppe’s homers in the second and fourth innings, the Angels scored two in the third on consecutive hits from Anthony Rendon, Nolan Schanuel and Taylor Ward.
Ward hit a routine single to right, but the ball skipped past right fielder Derek Hill. Ward, who hurt his knee on Sunday, tried to go all the way to third on the error, but he was thrown out.
After O’Hoppe’s homer tied it, his single int the seventh gave them a shot to take the lead. The Angels loaded the bases with two outs, but Schanuel grounded out to end the inning.
“We played our butts off tonight,” Washington said. “Put ourselves in position to do something really good. But we just couldn’t get that hit.”
LOGAN O'HAMMERED THAT ONE@Angels I #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/ZSqsownhbL
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) July 10, 2024
AND HE DOES IT AGAIN@Angels I #RepTheHalo pic.twitter.com/kqPiqm4uw2
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) July 10, 2024
Wash discusses the loss and O'Hoppe's game@Angels I #AngelsLive pic.twitter.com/7zWhxhu9Iy
— Bally Sports West (@BallySportWest) July 10, 2024
