Josh Lowe Just Announced Himself, and the Angels Are 2-0
Friday night in Houston didn't feel like a team just hoping to stay competitive. It felt like a team that actually believes in itself.
The Angels beat the Astros 6-2 at Daikin Park, and while Mike Trout once again delivered — a solo home run in the fifth and a three-hit night that marks the first time in his 16-year career he's gone deep in the first two games of a season — the story that's going to stick is Josh Lowe.
Lowe has been an Angel for all of two games. He came over from Tampa Bay in January and most fans were still figuring out his name when he stepped up in the second inning with a 1-1 tie and sent a first-pitch fastball from Mike Burrows into the Crawford Boxes. Three-run homer. Just like that, game over.
That's the kind of at-bat that changes a clubhouse's energy. Lowe didn't wait to get comfortable. He didn't ease in. He showed up, and when the moment was there, he took it.
Zach Neto capped the night with a solo shot in the ninth, because apparently the Angels decided this weekend was for hitting baseballs very far.
Yes, Kikuchi gave up two runs and wasn't sharp through four-plus innings. The bullpen covered the rest — four and two-thirds scoreless from Silseth, Zeferjahn, Bachman, and Romano. That's a unit that could be genuinely good this year, and Friday was another data point.
The number that keeps getting more fun: 2-0. The Angels haven't started a season this way since 2007. Mike Trout was drafted in 2009. That means in his entire professional career, he has never been on an Angels team that won its first two games. Until now.
Fans in Anaheim have been asked to be patient for a long time. This weekend, the Angels are returning the favor.
