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    bobmccullough@RTBIO
    Sep 20, 2025, 13:02
    Updated at: Sep 20, 2025, 13:02

    September baseball is full of rookie call-ups doing wild, unpredictable things, and the Los Angeles Angels added to the list last night during their 7-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies at the offensive playground known as Coors Field. 

    Specifically, rookie shortstop Denzer Guzman and fellow first-year infielder Christian Moore both homered on the same night for the second time in the last four days. Both rookies homered against the Brewers in last Tuesday’s 9-2 loss, and they did it again last night. 

    We’ll leave it to the baseball historians to figure out the last time this happened, if indeed it ever has. It was a quirky footnote to an otherwise competitive game between two bad baseball teams, with the Rockies rallying for four runs in the sixth inning to extend the Angels latest losing streak to eight games. 

    To add to the quirkiness, both rookies homered in the second inning. It was Guzman’s second home run and Moore’s seventh,  but the 3-2 lead that resulted didn’t last long. 

    There’s some hope here for the future, but it does come with a downside. Moore has struck out 50 times in just 133 at bats, while Guzman has whiffed 12 times in 19 plate appearances. Clearly, making contact isn’t a priority here, with both players taking an all-or-nothing approach. 

    The silver lining behind the strikeouts is the youth factor. Moore and Guzman are both 22, and Guzman especially has shot up the minor league ranks. The Angels still don’t know what they have with either guy, but at least they’ve had successful debuts in the power department. 

    The pitching, unfortunately, has been a lot more problematic. It’s the big reason the Halos have fallen into the AL West basement, while the Athletics continue to play spoilers. The last time the Angels had a game in which they gave up less than five runs occurred during the second loss in the current streak, a 2-1 defeat versus the Mariners. 

    Last night’s pitching punching bag was starter Mitch Farris, who gave up six earned runs in 4-1/3 innings to bump his ERA up to 6.52. The Coors Field factor is always in play in games like this, but losing this series to the Rockies would be yet another indignity in a season that’s been full of them. 

    Perhaps the most amazing number from this game is that over 47,000 fans came out to see it, at least according to the listed attendance. Presumably the adult libations flowed fast and furious in a stadium that’s been described as the best bar in Denver’s LoDo neighborhood.