With a winning record and some slumping teams in front of them, the Los Angeles Angels have a realistic chance at making the playoffs for the first time in the career of Shohei Ohtani. Despite being in contention, the Angels can’t avoid some Tungsten Arm O’Doyle moments.
One of those came in Thursday’s game against the Seattle Mariners.
The Angels led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. That lead grew when Ohtani sent a ball into the seats in right field for his 40th home run of the season.
"THIS. IS. 40."
Shohei Ohtani hits his league-leading 40th homer of the season. pic.twitter.com/PBrtcRozjj
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 4, 2023
But the celebration was short-lived.
The Angels called upon Carlos Estévez, who was 23-for-23 in save opportunities coming into Thursday’s game, to finish the Mariners off. It didn’t happen.
After Cal Raleigh and Ty France walked to start the inning, Dominic Canzone singled to load the bases with nobody out. But after striking out Teoscar Hernández and jumping ahead 0-2 against Cade Marlowe, it seemed like Estévez had gained control. Then Marlowe turned around his 0-2 fastball, sending it deep into the seats for a grand slam.
Cade Marlowe takes Carlos Estévez DEEP for a grand slam to give the Mariners a 5-3 ninth-inning lead against the Angels. pic.twitter.com/lGavMF4n5t
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) August 4, 2023
And with that, the Tungsten Arm O’Doyle jokes were out in full force.
Shohei Ohtani hitting his 40th homer and the Angels giving up a grand slam to blow it in the 9th minutes later is extreme Tungsten Arm O'Doyle stuff.
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) August 4, 2023
Tungsten Arm O’Doyle lmao https://t.co/aqnrDb8IAT
— David Helman (@davidhelman_) August 4, 2023
Tungsten Arm O’Doyle kind of night.
— Joe Doyle (@JoeDoyleMiLB) August 4, 2023
https://twitter.com/danegnzlz/status/1687314949402431488
You won’t believe this, but the Angels blew this game very bigly and made a Tungsten Arm classic out of this tweet. https://t.co/vVdUScUT7J
— Mike Mitchell (@MikeMitchNH) August 4, 2023
I will never get over the fact that Tungsten Arm O’Doyle was a JOKE and then Shohei Ohtani did something not seen since “Mudcat Grant” and the Angels lost.
— Max Toscano (@maxtoscano1) August 4, 2023
Shohei Ohtani is going to be the greatest baseball player who ever lived and I'm only going to think about the Tungsten Arm O'Doyle tweet. pic.twitter.com/jFW2VkwS3J
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) August 4, 2023
Following Thursday’s games, the Toronto Blue Jays hold the American League’s third and final Wild Card spot with a 60-50 record. That’s two games ahead of the Boston Red Sox, 2.5 ahead of the Mariners and New York Yankees and four ahead of Los Angeles.
