ANAHEIM -- It was the Jo Show in front of a sold-out crowd of delirious Angels fans who couldn’t believe what they witnessed Saturday night.
Angels right fielder Jo Adell robbed not one, not two, but three home runs in an absolutely unbelievable and unprecedented defensive effort to preserve a 1-0 win over the Mariners in the club’s first home win of the season. Adell took away homers from Cal Raleigh in the first, Josh Naylor in the eighth and J.P. Crawford in the ninth, with his final catch seeing him end up in the stands in the right-field corner before he lifted his glove up in jubilation to signify an incredible catch upheld after a review.
“That was crazy,” Adell said. “Just after the first one, we were pretty fired up out there. And then I got the second one, which looked identical to the first one. And I was like, ‘Wow, like my routes are on point tonight.’ The third one was just grit, just top of the ninth, getting it done.”
Angels players and coaches were amazed by what they saw, as even nine-time Gold Glove winner Torii Hunter called it the greatest defensive performance he’d ever seen. Hunter, a special assistant with the Angels, sat with Adell at his locker before the game and couldn’t have been more proud to see what he witnessed after their work together in recent years.
“I’ve never seen three and I’ve never seen a guy on the third one fall in the stands, catch the ball, keep his feet in like he's a wide receiver, and come up with the catch,” Hunter said. “I was so excited, jumping up and down. The pressure almost caused me to pass out. I’m 50. I can’t have that kind of pressure. It was amazing, man. It was the greatest defensive game I've ever seen.”
Adell’s final catch will long be remembered by Halos fans, as Crawford ripped a 2-1 slider from closer Jordan Romano down the right-field line, but Adell held onto the ball despite ending up in the stands for the first out. Adell, a Gold Glove finalist in right field in 2024, made the play as his legs hit the wall and before he was out of play, making it a catch. The drive would’ve been a homer in 23 other parks, per Statcast.
“I don't think I've ever gone from so sad to so happy so quickly,” Romano said. “He put a good swing on it and I'm like, ‘Oh man, like, that's probably gone.’ And then I just see Jo come running, diving into the stands, best catch I've ever seen, incredible.”
In the eighth, Adell also took away a homer from Josh Naylor that would’ve tied the score with an almost exact copy of his first catch. Reliever Sam Bachman gave up a deep drive to right to Naylor on an 0-1 slider, but Adell timed it perfectly. It wasn't struck quite as hard as Raleigh's, as it had an exit velocity of 98 mph and would've been a homer in 10 other parks.
“It was the Jo Show,” manager Kurt Suzuki. “This guy works as hard as anybody I've ever been around. His work ethic, attention to detail, his desire to improve every single day. To see him do that, I don't believe you'll see that again. That was impressive.”
In the first, it looked like Raleigh finally snapped his homerless streak to open the season. But Adell had other ideas, as he robbed Raleigh of a home run with a leaping catch at the right-field wall. It left the bat at 104.7 mph with a launch angle of 28 degrees but wasn’t quite enough to leave the yard.
"You just tip the cap,” Raleigh said. “I don't think I've ever seen a guy rob two homers in a game, much less three. So it's just one of those things where baseball can amaze you night in and night out.”
It would have been a homer in 20 other parks, including Seattle’s T-Mobile Park. But instead, it simply went for a long out, and Kochanowicz was able to get through a scoreless opening frame, which set the tone for a strong outing and allowed Zach Neto’s leadoff homer in the first to stand as the game’s lone run.
“Personally, I've never even seen a guy rob two homers in a game, so three times is honestly hard to believe,” Kochanowicz said. “But hats off to Jo. He's looking great out there so far.”