The Los Angeles Angels defeated the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday, improving their record to 7-3. The Angels held on to win 4-3, putting them one percentage point ahead of the Texas Rangers for the top spot in the American League West.
Even though ace outfielder Mike Trout hasn’t produced much, Los Angeles has gotten off to a scorching start. Trout is just 6-for-35 to begin the season, despite hitting three home runs in 10 games. Out of all the eligible batters on the squad, his batting average of.171 is the lowest.
Four-time All-Star Kenley Jansen’s late-inning genius has been one of LA’s main factors in their early success.
Jansen pitched his fifth consecutive scoreless inning since joining the Angels on Tuesday, recording his third save of the season. Jansen took over the closer position after agreeing to a one-year, $10 million deal with Los Angeles this offseason. The Angels made a historic announcement regarding Jansen after Tuesday’s game.
“Kenley Jansen becomes the fourth pitcher in MLB history to reach 450 career saves and passes Lee Smith for fifth place on the all-time strikeouts list by a reliever,” the team stated on X. Trout was one of the first who responded to the team’s historic news by praising his new colleague on Instagram. Trout posted, “450 let’s go,” on his Instagram story.
When the right-handed closer was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Trout and Jansen faced off against each other multiple times. The two future Hall of Famers, who are now colleagues, want to help the Angels make their first postseason appearance since 2014.
