Jorge Soler’s grand slam

The swing that blew this game open came with two outs in the eighth inning, when Jorge Soler turned a 3-1 Angels lead into a 10-1 cushion with a grand slam to left-center against Cincinnati reliever Nicolas Daley. Major League Baseball tracked it at 110.4 miles per hour off the bat and 417 feet. (mlb.com) That one pitch changed a tight game into a rout. The Angels beat the Cincinnati Reds 10-2 on Friday, April 10, and Soler’s homer capped a five-run eighth inning that erased any late-drama angle. (espn.com) Soler had already helped start the scoring before the slam. He doubled with two outs in the third inning and then scored when Yoán Moncada reached on an infield single, giving Los Angeles a 2-0 lead. (espn.com) The game stayed close for most of the night because Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz kept Cincinnati quiet. He worked seven innings, allowed 2 hits and 1 run, and left with Los Angeles up 3-1. (espn.com) The other half of the story was the lineup finally stacking damage instead of waiting on one swing. Zach Neto and Josh Lowe also homered, so Soler’s grand slam landed as the loudest hit in a game where three Angels left the yard. (sports.yahoo.com) For the Angels, the timing mattered almost as much as the distance. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak at Great American Ball Park, which gave Soler’s homer the feel of a release valve instead of just a highlight. (sports.yahoo.com) Soler is not a slap hitter who pokes singles through gaps; he is a 6-foot-3, 235-pound designated hitter and outfielder whose job is to change the scoreboard with one swing. Friday’s blast was his fourth home run of the 2026 season, and it came on a 98.0 mile-per-hour four-seam fastball. (baseball-reference.com) (mlb.com) That is why the clip spread so fast after the game. A bases-loaded swing from a proven power hitter is baseball’s version of one clean knockout punch: one moment, four runs, and a dugout that can exhale before the last out is even recorded. (mlb.com)