In what has been a tough season for the Los Angeles Angels, Thursday night was another painful outing.
From a positive angle, the team hit seven solo home runs, tied for the most in a game by any team all-time.
However, the Angels eventually lost against the Oakland Atheltics 8-7 in Anaheim, California, and in doing so, tied an MLB record for the most home runs scored in a defeat.
They are just the sixth team ever to hit seven homers in a loss, and the first since the Minnesota Twins did it last year to the Detroit Tigers.
“I thought we swung it pretty good,” interim manager Phil Nevin said. “We had seven solos and two other hits. I’ve definitely never seen that. I was thinking about that in the dugout.
“So we swung it good, and they say solo home runs won’t beat you, but you feel like if you hit seven you might, but it didn’t work out for us.”
Shohei Ohtani continued his excellent season with two home runs, his 11th multiple homer game in the MLB and fifth this season.
Mickey Moniak, Jared Walsh, Kurt Suzuki, Taylor Ward and Jo Adell all also added their own home runs, but it wasn’t enough in the losing effort.
It was the first time since 1900 when a team scored seven solo home runs but no other runs. The seven home runs tied an Angels record set in 2003.
According to Elias Sports, teams are now 113-6 all-time when hitting seven home runs in a game.
“When you hit seven home runs in a game, it’s a positive thing,” Walsh said. “We would’ve liked to get the win, but the offense, we’ve been needing to pick it up, so it’s a positive sign.”
The Angels now have a record of 44-61, while the Athletics improve to 41-66.