Angels walk it off in wild fashion to take series victory against Orioles

ANAHEIM, Calif. – In a 162 game season, all things wild, weird and wacky can happen. Wednesday's game between the Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles was all three. 

Things looked bleak for the Halos most of the game. They jumped on the Orioles early with two-run home run by Jorge Soler in the bottom of the first inning, but that would be that last that would be seen of the Angels' offense for a long while. 

To make matters worse, Los Angeles ace José Soriano had one of the worst starts of his season, going just three innings while allowing five runs five earned runs on six hits. 

"Just missed the pitch, a couple pitches, and paid the price," Soriano said. 

So from the top of the third on, the Angels were dealing with a 5-2 deficit as their bats went dormant. They had just one hit after the first inning going into the eighth, but that's where things started to change.

Two-out rally

Donovan Walton led off the inning with a double, but two quick outs followed him. Looking to get something going, Angels manager Kurt Suzuki pinch-hit Vaughn Grissom for catcher Tyler Heineman and delivered on a RBI single to revive the offense. 

Nolan Schanuel and Denzer Guzman followed and both worked walks to load the bases for Wade Meckler, remarkably one of the hottest Halo hitters since he made his season debut.

Meckler delivered on a single down the right field line to score two runs and square the game up 5-5. 

So far, the Angels had put together a fairly standard comeback attempt, but the insanity wouldn't begun until extras. 

Orioles outfielder Taylor Ward blooped in a single to right field to advance the designated runner to third base and Gunnar Henderson followed with even more improbable contact, chopping a ball just ahead of the plate. 

Silseth's game-saving play

Angeles reliever Chase Silseth charged toward the barely-rolling ball and seeing the go-ahead baserunner racing home, flipped to catcher Logan O'Hoppe, who put the tag on just in time to keep the game tied. 

"I kind of saw him running down the line, I saw Logan [O'Hoppe] Silseth said. "I was like, 'probably not going to get him at first. So just might as well go for it."

Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Baltimore Orioles third baseman Blaze Alexander (23) is tagged out by Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe (14) during the 10th inning at Angel Stadium.

Pete Alonso would eventually single in a run to put the Orioles ahead once again, but the Angeles weren't done yet. 

Once again, the Angels put two outs quickly on the board in their half of the inning, putting the fate of the game in Nolan Schanuel's hands. 

Schanuel and O'Hoppe make some magic

Schanuel sent a soft dribbler to the second base side that by all accounts should have ended the game right there, but Baltimore pitcher Keegan Akin couldn't handle the throw from second and lost the ball, which ended up getting kicked down the line by the still-running Schanuel. 

The designated runner scored and Schanuel made it all the way to third while ball raced into right field and just like that, the Angels were alive again. 

O'Hoppe was up next and just made contact on a check swing that chopped the ball straight in front of home plate.

Baltimore catcher Samuel Basallo was forced to come forward to field it while Schanuel ran down the line and simply sidestepped the catcher as he leaped for the tag, reaching home and walking off the game for the Angels 7-6.

"It's a baseball play," O'Hoppe said of his walk-off chopper. "It's just one of those freak plays where it worked out."

Every single run the Angels scored was on two outs and while the extra inning circus that decided the game had it's fair share of luck involved, the game as a whole was a picture in resilience by the Halos and they were rewarded for their efforts with a series victory.

"Down to the last out of the inning, down to the last out of the game… The guys… keep fighting to the end," Suzuki said.