It was a wild game decided by a check swing with an exit velocity of just 18.9 mph, and it wouldn't have been possible without the help of two crazy plays on balls that left the bat at only 67 mph. Logan O’Hoppe ultimately was the hero, as he walked it off on a tapper 15 feet in front of home plate to lift the Angels to an unlikely 7-6 win over the Orioles in 10 innings on Wednesday afternoon at Angel Stadium. It scored Nolan Schanuel, who had reached on a run-scoring error with two outs on a weak grounder to second base with an exit velocity of 67 mph. Schanuel went all the way to third on the error, a missed catch by reliever Keegan Akin while covering first base on the throw from second baseman Jeremiah Jackson, which allowed him to score on O’Hoppe’s slow roller to catcher Samuel Basallo. “It was wild,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “I feel like we were in the game the whole time. The bullpen did an unbelievable job keeping us right there and the guys just kept battling. And then we came through in the end.” The offense looked dormant most of the afternoon after Jorge Soler hit a two-run homer in the first but they overcame a three-run deficit in the eighth, with Wade Meckler coming through with a game-tying two-run single with two outs. It set up the rally in the 10th inning and O’Hoppe was pleased to come through when it mattered the most, even if it came on a check swing on a pitch out of the zone. “It's a baseball play,” O’Hoppe said. “It's just one of those freak plays where it worked out. I worked in the cage the whole game to try to see the ball better. And then I hit a pitch out of the zone but it worked out for us.” It was the second unusual play in the inning after Schanuel reached on what looked to be a game-ending grounder to second. But Pete Alonso and Akin both broke late to cover first base, and Schanuel reached on an error while inadvertently kicking the ball down the line to reach third base.
