Freeland, Doyle Inch Rockies Past Angels

Brenton Doyle crushing a homer for the Rockies in a win over the Angels

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

July 31, 2024

Rockies 2, Angels 1

ANAHEIM, Calif. (Jul. 31) — A Brenton Doyle homer in the eighth inning, combined with strong pitching performances from Kyle Freeland, Tyler Kinley, and Victor Vodnik led the Colorado Rockies past the Los Angeles Angels, 2–1, Wednesday night.

Freeland scattered six hits across seven innings, allowing one run while striking out six. “Freeland is a pretty good pitcher,” Angels manager Ron Washington told reporters in the postgame press conference. “He kept us off-balance tonight, so tip your cap to that.”

“It’s probably as good as we’ve seen all year,” Rockies manager Bud Black said of Freeland’s performance, specifically referring to his fastball location. “All starting pitchers, depending on their stuff, have to pitch in, but especially Kyle.” He added that Freeland’s strength over the years is using his fastball inside to right-handers. Black concluded, “He’s confident doing that. Tonight showed what can happen when he hits that inside corner against a heavy-laden right-handed lineup.”

Rockies – Angels Game Summary

Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a one-out single in the top of the first off Angels starting pitcher Davis Daniel. A two-out walk by third baseman Ryan McMahon put runners on first and second for designated hitter Kris Bryant, who dumped a single to shallow left. Tovar scored easily, giving the Rockies a 1–0 lead. The Angels tied the game with one out in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a homer to right-center by catcher Logan O’Hoppe.

Angels relievers Jose Marte and Mike Baumann tossed a scoreless sixth and seventh, respectively. Freeland did the same, although he had to get out of a jam in the seventh. Consecutive two-out singles to left by O’Hoppe and shortstop Zach Neto brought pitching coach Darryl Scott to the mound. Freeland responded by striking out designated hitter Brandon Drury to end the inning.

With one out in the top of the eighth, Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle clobbered a thigh-high Hans Crouse slider. The towering 108.6-mph blast to left soared 431 feet into the left-field seats and gave the Rockies a 2–1 lead. It was Doyle’s 11th home run and 19th extra-base hit for July. Additionally, it was his 30th hit of the month, bringing his July average to .333 (30-for-90). “It’s incredible,” Freeland said of Doyle’s performance. “(Brenton) coming up in the clutch right there is absolutely amazing. It won us the ballgame tonight.”

Kinley Prevents Rally

Rockies lefty Tyler Kinley was warming in the left-field bullpen when Doyle smashed the go-ahead dinger. “I probably had the best view in the house,” Kinley said, “because it came right over my head in the bullpen.” Kinley faced right fielder Jo Adell first, putting him in an 0–2 hole before walking him. A sacrifice bunt by second baseman Michael Stefanic put Adell on second with one out and the top of the Angels’ order coming up. But Kinley struck out first baseman Nolan Schanuel and pinch-hitter Mickey Moniak — who replaced Luis Rengifo with an 0–1 count after an injury — to end the threat.

“I just couldn’t let that guy score,” Kinley said. “Got ahead of Adell then ended up walking him. Can’t go from 0–2 to 3–2 there to walk him. But once he got on, I liked my chances against who we had coming up in the order. I knew how we were going to attack them.”

Kinley also said that the Doyle home run got them “fired up,” but he couldn’t celebrate for long. “It’s always ironic when you’re warming up to come in a game and we hit a big go-ahead home run,” Kinley explained. “On the inside, you want to jump and scream and you’re fired up and whatnot, but I gotta stay composed because I gotta come in to do a job. Otherwise, I erase what he just did.”

Vodnik Nails It Down

After Matt Moore retired the Rockies in order in the top of the ninth, Victor Vodnik came in to close the game. Rockies relievers have struggled in this situation multiple times in 2024. Vodnik did not. Right fielder Taylor Ward lined to the right fielder before center fielder Kevin Pillar whiffed and O’Hoppe grounded to short.

“Kyle did a really good job,” a smiling Vodnik relayed, “and (Kinley) too. It felt really good to be out there — it’s been a minute since I’ve been out there, and I’m glad I had the opportunity.”

What Went Right for the Rockies

Pitching

Freeland, Kinley, and Vodnik shut the Angels down, combining to allow six hits while striking out nine and walking one. The lone run came on the O’Hoppe home run. Freeland faced the minimum through the first four innings despite giving up two hits. The first baserunner was erased by a 6–4–3 double play. Freeland picked the other runner off. Additionally, Freeland and Kinley both had a runner reach scoring position late — Freeland in the seventh, Kinley in the eighth — but escaped without allowing him to score.

What Went Wrong for the Rockies

Stringing Hits Together

From the second inning onward, the Rockies did not notch more than one hit in any inning. In the second, Elias Diaz hit a one-out double, but a liner to third by Jake Cave and a grounder to second by Charlie Blackmon left him stranded. Brendon Rodgers grounded a one-out single up the middle in the fourth but advanced no further thanks to a flyout to center by Michael Toglia and a groundout to third by Diaz. A leadoff single by Cave in the fifth went for naught due to a foul fly by Blackmon, a fly to right by Tovar, and a strikeout by Doyle. Perhaps the most frustrating situation came after McMahon led off the sixth with a double. Two straight groundouts to the left side forced him to stay at second, making for unproductive outs before Toglia struck out.

Quotes

“Absolutely love his defense. And his offense this year, he’s turned an extreme corner from last year to this year, showing that he can hit for average and power. It’s fantastic to see.” — Kyle Freeland on Brenton Doyle

“That was a big swing. (Crouse) has good stuff. We don’t see this team often, a little bit in spring training. Here’s a fella with a mid-90s fastball and pretty good slider. (Brenton) got a slider he could handle, and that ball was hit hard. That ball was crushed. That was…that was deep.” — Bud Black on Brenton Doyle’s home run off Hans Crouse

Quick Hits

Vodnik hails from Rialto, California, about an hour to the northeast of Anaheim, near San Bernardino. He grew up going to Angels games, this game was like pitching at home for him. “My family were big Angel fans growing up,” he said, “so it was pretty cool to pitch here versus these guys.” Vodnik had “a lot of family, a lot of friends” in attendance. He said pitching in front of them was “a lot of fun.”

The only RBI for the Angels came on the O’Hoppe home run in the fifth inning. That was the sixth RBI by an Angels catcher in the series. The rest of the team combined has five.

Looking Ahead

Freeland (3–4) earned the win, with Crouse (4–2) taking the loss in relief. Vodnik notched his fourth save of the season.

The Rockies (39–70) and Angels (47–61) will play the final game of their three-game set Wednesday evening. Right-hander Ryan Feltner (1–10, 4.99 ERA) will take the hill for the Rockies against Angels righty Carson Fulmer (0–2, 3.77 ERA). First pitch will be at 6:38 pm Pacific/7:38 pm Mountain.