Shohei Ohtani was done early. Jared Walsh and the rest of the Los Angeles Angels certainly were not.
The later it got, the better they played.
Walsh hit a tying grand slam off Aroldis Chapman in a seven-run ninth inning for his second homer of a long night, and the Angels stunned the New York Yankees 11-8 in a rainy game that finished after 1 a.m. on Thursday.
“Euphoria. That’s the only way I can describe it,” Walsh said.
Ohtani’s highly anticipated pitching debut at Yankee Stadium was a wild wreck. He got only two outs and was charged with a career-worst seven runs — but the Angels persevered through more than two hours of weather delays and bailed him out with an unprecedented rally.
“Everybody has got ownership in that,” proud manager Joe Maddon said.
“Obviously since I’ve been here, probably the craziest, bestest result that we’ve had,” he added. “A mind once stretched has a difficult time going back to its original form. I want to see a bump out of this. I want to see us understand what it takes to win and win against a good team in a very unfriendly environment. Bully for them.”
