ANAHEIM -- After not homering for nearly a month, catcher Logan O'Hoppe broke out in a big way against the Astros on Saturday.
O’Hoppe crushed a pair of two-run homers and helped guide José Soriano through 6 2/3 strong innings to lead the Angels to a 9-1 win at Angel Stadium. O’Hoppe hadn’t gone deep since May 22 before he connected on a two-run blast off lefty Brandon Walter in the third. He then hit another off right-hander Kaleb Ort in the seventh. It marked his fourth career mulithomer game and his second this season, as he also accomplished the feat on May 21.
He admitted it’s been rough offensively over the last few weeks, but he was pleased to get things going with his two homers.
“It's been a tough stretch, but you go through it and no one's immune to it,” O’Hoppe said. “It’s not over by any means. It’s one game. You have to ride the highs and not get too low with the lows. So I’m happy to see a good sign for the first time in a couple weeks, but it has been pretty tough.”
It gave bench coach Ray Montgomery the victory as manager, as he’s filling in for Ron Washington, who is out indefinitely with a health issue. Washington, though, watched batting practice from the dugout before the game and watched the win from a suite at the ballpark.
Montgomery liked the way O’Hoppe swung the bat, including his lineout in the fifth inning that left the bat at 104 mph.
“I thought his at-bats were good all night,” Montgomery said. “Not just the home runs, but the line drive to right field too. It’s not quitting on the work and working on the things that he needed to get him back to where he needs to go. Playing the position he plays and what he has to do every day, just from a game-planning standpoint. There's a lot of things that go into what he has to do, so it was good to see.”
Taylor Ward also snapped the club’s 0-for-26 funk with runners in scoring position with a two-run double in the third inning. Just three pitchers later, O’Hoppe deposited a 1-1 cutter over the left-center-field fence for his 15th homer of the year.
O’Hoppe credited a shift in mentality after he grounded out in his first at-bat, as he believes overthinking things has been an issue for him this season.
“Going up there with too many thoughts isn't good for you, at all,” O’Hoppe said. “And I've done that the past couple weeks just trying to search for the right thing. And after that first at-bat, I was like, ‘Screw it. I'm gonna wipe the slate clean and just hit,’ and simplify it as much as I could. And I got a couple good pitches to hit.”
His second homer came on a 1-1 sweeper, and O’Hoppe pumped his fist as he saw it go over the wall, once again in left-center field. After a recent slump, O’Hoppe is 4-for-11 with three extra-base hits over his last four games.
“I know I handled this little stretch better than I did last year's,” O’Hoppe said. “I still want to find ways to improve. But yeah, we'll go into tomorrow with a clean slate and get after it.”
The Angels’ issues with runners on base continued early in the game, as Zach Neto was stranded at third base after leading off the first inning with a double. But they got on the board in the second on a two-run blast from Luis Rengifo, who is starting to show signs of getting out of his season-long slump. He’s hitting .310 (9-for-29) with three homers and five RBIs over his last nine games.
“Same thing [as O’Hoppe], he's working on it,” Montgomery said. “Obviously, he knows getting the ball in the air for him is paramount. I think they've had some pretty good sessions before the games and after just talking through and why that’s important for him.”
It was more than enough offense for Soriano, who struck out 10 and allowed just one run on three hits and three walks. He’s been on an impressive run, with a 0.87 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings over his last three starts.
“I was very excited to have that support,” Soriano said through interpreter Manny Del Campo. “They did everything they could to maintain that big lead. And it motivated me a lot to keep going.”