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3 Atlanta Braves takeaways from a glorious night in Southern California

By Alan Carpenter

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 12: Luke Jackson #77 of the Atlanta Braves reacts to defeating the San Diego Padres 5-3 in a game at PETCO Park on July 12, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 12: Luke Jackson #77 of the Atlanta Braves reacts to defeating the San Diego Padres 5-3 in a game at PETCO Park on July 12, 2019 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CA – JULY 12: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim players layed their jerseys on the pitchers mound after they won a combined no-hitter agasint the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on July 12, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The entire Angels team wore Tyler Skaggs #45 jersey to honor him after his death on July 1. Angels won 13-0. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – JULY 12: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim players layed their jerseys on the pitchers mound after they won a combined no-hitter agasint the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on July 12, 2019 in Anaheim, California. The entire Angels team wore Tyler Skaggs #45 jersey to honor him after his death on July 1. Angels won 13-0. (Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

We’re a site that concerns ourselves with the Atlanta Braves, but there was more than just baseball played out last night on the West Coast.

We’ll get to our Atlanta Braves game in just a bit, I promise.  But about 100 miles away from Petco Park, there was something bigger – much bigger – going on… and that will be Takeaway #1 for today.

Angels all Around

The Anaheim Angels, after nearly 2 weeks since losing starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs to what are still unexplained circumstances, were back home in Angels Stadium on Friday night – their first game back after this tragedy.

They did it right… in all possible respects.

Skaggs’ family all participated in the ceremonial first pitch.  It was well known that Tyler’s mother Debbie had effectively been his personal pitching coach – like Chipper Jones‘ Dad was still his hitting coach – during his career.  She started off the night by firing a strike from the top of the mound without hesitation.

That and the red #45 jerseys adorning every Angel in uniform set the tone for the night.

45 wasn’t the only number of note on Friday… there were lots of references to 7, 13, and 0.

The Angels scored 7 times in the 1st inning.  They walked 7 times in the game… and Mike Trout nearly had 7 RBI by himself, though he’s now hitting .307 for the year.

That potent offense ended up with 13 runs, 13 hits, and 13 RBI.

Why these numbers?  Well, today happens to be Tyler Skaggs’ birthdate… 7/13.

The other number was 0.  That’s the number of runs and hits that the Seattle Mariners came up with.  Yes – Taylor Cole (2 innings) and Felix Pena (the last 7) combined to completely shut down the Seattle offense… just one 5th inning walk short of a perfecto.

As the game ended, the scene was made even more poignant with yet another display of tribute by the players.

https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1149918757822877696

We’ve seen baseball tributes before.  For their part, the Angels raised the bar on such events last night to a level that may never be matched.  Very well done, baseball players.

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