The Los Angeles Angels lost their first two games of the season, with the Baltimore Orioles recording dominant 11-3 and 13-4 victories. LA needed to put in a better performance on Easter Sunday to change the narrative, and a 4-1 win certainly helped.
Interestingly, a fan attended the game dressed as Jesus, and many linked this to the team's improvement on Easter Sunday.
Fans were quick to share their thoughts and jokes on Instagram:
With the team embarking on what is expected to be a tough campaign without Shohei Ohtani, fans were happy with the win and tentatively optimistic. A lot of their hopes rest upon Mike Trout, who is the face of the franchise in 2024.
Ron Washington's team meeting pushes Angels to victory on a quiet day for Mike Trout
With the LA Angels coming away as 4-1 winners over the Orioles, you'd be forgiven for thinking Mike Trout was integral. While his influence cannot fairly be quantified, he did have a quiet day and didn't record a hit in his four at-bats.
After losing the first two games to Baltimore by wide margins (11-3, 13-4), manager Ron Washington called a team meeting. He told reporters:
"Just wanted to let them know they've played only two games and we can't get off track. Our focus is on a 162-game championship season. Not two games. The two games haven't gone like we wanted, but we just got to make certain that we come to the ballpark ready to go."
Outfielder Taylor Ward shared his thoughts with the media after the team meeting on Saturday:
“Everything that Wash has done so far, I love it. It might just be what we need.”
The meeting certainly appears to have worked, as it was a more resilient LA on display on Easter Sunday. Next up for the franchise is a three-game series against the Miami Marlins, who lost all four games of their opening series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
LA will be looking to take their Easter performance forward and show everyone that this was no fluke. With not many believing the team has what it takes to make the playoffs, it will be interesting to see if they can silence their critics.