Angels explode offensively

The Angels didn’t just win in Cincinnati on April 10. They turned a 6-1 game into a 10-1 game in the eighth inning when Jorge Soler launched a grand slam off Kyle Nicolas, and Major League Baseball’s tracking data put it at 110.4 miles per hour off the bat and 417 feet to left-center. (mlb.com) That swing came with two outs in the top of the eighth, after Mike Trout had already forced in a run with a walk. Soler’s homer was his fourth of the 2026 season and it pushed the Angels into double digits in one shot. (mlb.com) The game had started as a much tighter one. Zach Neto hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, Yoán Moncada had an earlier run-scoring single, and Josh Lowe added a solo homer in the sixth before Soler delivered the loudest swing of the night. (mlb.com) Cincinnati had almost nothing going against Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz through six innings. FanGraphs’ live box score showed the Reds with 1 run and 1 hit through the first six frames, while the Angels had built a 4-1 lead before the late avalanche. (fangraphs.com) The Soler clip is moving because he is still one of baseball’s purest strength hitters at age 34. ESPN’s player page listed him at 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, and his profile already included 3 home runs and 11 runs batted in entering this stretch of the 2026 season. (espn.com) It also landed three days after Soler was at the center of a very different baseball highlight. On April 8, Yahoo Sports reported that Soler and Braves pitcher Reynaldo López were each suspended seven games after throwing punches during a benches-clearing fight in Anaheim, with Soler appealing the penalty. (sports.yahoo.com) So the same player who spent this week in clips for a fight is now back in clips for the thing teams actually pay him to do. On April 10 in Cincinnati, that meant one fastball at 98.0 miles per hour leaving the yard fast enough to turn a solid road win into a runaway. (mlb.com)