Angels pay tribute to Tyler Skaggs with a combined non-hitter



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Photo: John McCoy (Getty Images)

In their first home game since the death of 27-year-old pitcher Tyler Skaggs on July 1, the Angels kicked off a draw without a hitter in a 13-0 win over the Mariners at a night dedicated to the player's memory.

From the jump, it was clear that Friday's game would be particularly special. With the Anaheim crowd on her feet, and every Angels player named Skaggs and her number 45 on the back of their jersey in the honor of their teammate and friend, Skaggs' mother, Debbie, has given the perfect send shot for a first emotional toss.

It was then up to the players to ensure that the game would follow the tone that had been given at this ceremony. They delivered. On the defensive side, Taylor Cole was perfect for two innings, eliminating two batters, before Felix Peña replaced him in the third. Peña scored a goal, hit six shots and did not allow any hits on his seven-run outing – a performance that was preserved in part due to a dive stop Matt Thaiss made in the sixth inning.

He became the 11th non-hitter in the history of the franchise. Coincidentally, number 11 was what Skaggs was throwing at his high school baseball team. Cole told reporters that it was a performance inspired by what the team had seen even before the start of the match.

"It all started today with Debbie's first throw," Cole said. "I could not have made a better pitch so we could get off to a good start. Just a really special evening for our team, fans and family. It's definitely the most special thing that happened to me on a baseball field. "

On the offensive side, the Angels acted as if they wanted to give their dominant pitchers as much room for maneuver as possible. They scored seven points in the first run, which included a two-point homer and a two-point double from Mike Trout, while beating Mike Leake of Seattle. The Trout home player has arrived on the first pitch of his at-bat and has 454 feet.

Trout, who was enlisted alongside Skaggs in 2009, is sure to report After the match, the team's offensive performance proved to be an unlikely additional tribute to Skaggs. The Angels scored seven goals on first base and a total of 13, which is the two-digit mark for the thrower's birthday: 7/13.

"These are just stuff you can not catch up with," said Trout, who has reached the base level exactly 45% of the time in his last 45 games. "Tonight was in his honor and he was watching us tonight. He's probably saying we're mean and it's an amazing game. I am speechless. This is the best way to honor it. It was pretty crazy.

As if it were not wild enough, here is a funny fact about the last time there was a draw in California:

But the emotional edge for the players came long before they discovered any of these statistical links with their fallen friend. It happened shortly after Angels second-baseman Luis Rengifo hit the ground, but he still managed to be in first place for the final, at the top. from the ninth. The dugout of the house was emptied to celebrate what had just been done and to whom it was intended. After the cheers, a particularly dark moment as most people wearing the uniform of the Angels took off their jerseys and put them on the mound of the thrower in a moving homage in the final.

The Mariners were far from immune to the emotional environment in which they had played and offered their condolences and congratulations to their opponents after the match.

"If it does not give you shivers or it does not give you perspective, I do not know if you have a heartbeat," said Mariners named hitter Dan Vogelbach. "You start thinking about all the people who have been affected by this situation, and especially you watch his mother and family walk around, and just … we worry about whether we have a shot or whether we win a match baseball, and they lost their son, so congratulations to them and prayers for them, because I could not imagine living what they lived. "

Scott Servais, the Mariners coach: "There are some baseball gods, I've always said that. You know, we are playing a crazy game. There is a lot of emotion related to this. You are very close to the relationships you have with people you spend so much time with during a season and a career, so it's crazy how things are going. "

But the most salient quote came from Dee Gordon, who, unfortunately, is quite aware of the type of emotions that angels are currently experiencing. Gordon, who burst into tears after playing a leading role for the Marlins in a match in the honor of the late José Fernández, quickly has a thing to say to everyone who just watched this which happened at the Angel Stadium on Friday:

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