Angels rookie Christian Moore, a NYC native, gets 1st MLB hit in 1st visit to Yankee Stadium
NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Moore's first visit to Yankee Stadium came as the Los Angeles Angels' second baseman, even though he grew up a fan of the pinstripes just 20 miles from the ballpark.
'My dad's a huge Met fan,' he explained. 'We argued about it all the time when I was a kid. My brother and I were both Yankees fans growing up so we definitely had a lot of smack talk going on in the house, but it was all friendly. It was all good.'
Three days after his major league debut, Moore tripled past right fielder Aaron Judge for his first big league hit, then threw out Paul Goldschmidt at the plate in the 11th inning to help the Angels beat the Yankees 1-0 on Monday night.
Moore grew up in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, near the Queens border. The 22-year-old had a group of about 40 family members and friends at the game Monday, including dad Charles, mom Lazette, sisters Tysheena and Cynnamon, and brother CJ.
Christian was a two-way player at Suffield Academy in Suffield, Connecticut, and played three seasons at the University of Tennessee, helping the Vols win their first College World Series title with a leadoff homer in the decisive third game of the championship series against Texas A&M. He was selected eighth overall in last July's amateur draft and signed for a $4,997,500 bonus.
He started at Class-A Inland Empire and after two games was moved up to Double-A Rocket City last Aug. 2. Moore hit .234 in 34 games with the Trash Pandas this year, was promoted to to Triple-A Salt Lake on May 20, then batted .350 with four homers, 18 RBIs and a .999 OPS in 20 games.
Last Thursday, he woke up after hitting a two-run homer and an RBI single during an 8-7 loss at Las Vegas and saw a couple of missed calls from Bees manager Keith Johnson.
'I said, `Hey, man. Sorry. I was sleeping,'' Moore recalled. 'He said: `Don't sleep through calls in Baltimore.' And I was like, `Oh, what? What do you mean Baltimore?' And he was like: `You're going to the show.''
Moore flew from Las Vegas to Baltimore. His parents drove there from New York and he debuted Friday night, going 0 for 3 in a 2-0 loss.
He said he attended 15-20 Mets games growing up, but Yankee Stadium was a new experience.
Batting ninth, he flied out in the third and sixth. Then with two outs in the eighth, he sliced an opposite-field liner to right. Judge tried for a sprawling backhand catch, but the ball landed in front of the two-time AL MVP and rolled to the wall. Moore slid headfirst into third.
'His at-bat was much, much better tonight,' Angels manager Ron Washington said. 'And I think from this day forward they'll get better because of the fact he got his first base hit out the way.'
Moore hit an inning-ending flyout in the 10th, then scored in the 11th as the automatic runner when Nolan Schanuel doubled off Jonathan Loáisiga.
New York had runners at the corners in the bottom half and the infield was in when Jasson Domínguez hit a broken-bat, one-hopper to Moore, who charged in a bit and made a perfect sidearm throw to Travis d'Arnaud. The catcher nabbed the ball just to the third-base side of the plate in time to tag a sliding Goldschmidt on the left foot.
Moore had the ball from the triple in his locker and planned to give it to his parents. He hadn't worried about how long it would take to reach the big leagues.
'I just try to put in the work and trust the process,' he said.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
14 minutes ago
- Washington Post
MLB, NASCAR stars talk the legends of Bristol as racetrack transforms for historic ballgame
NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. advises the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves to watch a couple of night races at Bristol Motor Speedway before the Speedway Classic. Once at the racetrack, he recommends a walk up the banked walls to truly appreciate the half-mile bullring. MLB's Speedway Classic on Aug. 2 means either the Reds or Braves will win at Bristol before Stenhouse reaches victory lane at his favorite track. He still plans to watch as they play an MLB game on a ballpark built inside the Bristol infield.
Forbes
17 minutes ago
- Forbes
Why Do The Atlanta Braves Almost Always Beat The New York Mets?
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 24: Pete Alonso #20 of the New York Mets tags out Drake Baldwin #30 of the ... More Atlanta Braves at first base in the seventh inning during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) Only a handful of people have spent as much time this century with both the Braves and Mets than Jeff Francoeur, who opened his career with 730 games for his hometown team before playing 199 games in the Big Apple. So if he can't figure out the Braves' multi-generational dominance of the Mets, what hope is there for the rest of us? 'It's still so weird, man,' Francoeur said early Tuesday night, before the Braves continued doing their part to try and ruin another Mets season with a come-from-behind 7-3 win. 'I can't fathom the fact.' To be fair to the Mets, whatever magic they had over the previous two-plus months disappeared before they arrived in Atlanta last Tuesday. The Mets' 1-10 skid started with a sweep two weekends ago at the hands of the Rays, who won the three games at Citi Field in an increasingly convincing manner. But five straight losses, many in familiarly painful fashion, to the Braves, have underlined the rapidity of the Mets' fall while serving as a reminder of the multi-layered history that may be in the process of repeating itself. The Braves are 37-41 this season and have a winning record against just four of the other 16 teams they've opposed. Yet they are two wins away from clinching the season series against the Mets for the eighth straight season and the 24th time in 32 seasons since Atlanta joined the NL East in 1994. The Braves are 28-10 against the Mets since the start of the 2022 season — a span in which the Mets have won six more playoff games than Atlanta. 'The fact that they can't beat them consistently — it's so weird,' said Francoeur, who broadcast Tuesday's game for TBS. 'Right now, I think the Mets are the better team. But something changes when they play.' The Braves have undoubtedly derived a little more pleasure out of beating the Mets than anyone else this century — some of which stems for how the Mets operated in the before times. Travis d'Arnaud, the only position player to appear in 200 games for both the Mets and Braves since 2000, said in 2024 that no team makes him angrier than the Mets, who cut him in 2019 after he appeared in just 10 games following his recovery from Tommy John surgery. For good measure, d'Arnaud is hitting .307 against the Mets since leaving the team. Later in 2019, infielder Adeiny Hechavarria was released by the Mets one day before he would have earned a $1 million roster bonus, He signed with the Braves, whom he helped to an NL East crown while declaring how thankful he was to no longer be with the Mets. And some of it is the joy hyper-competitive athletes take from vanquishing the same little brother rival over and over and over again. None of the four Braves icons — Francoeur along with Hall of Famers Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones and John Smoltz — in the home broadcast booth could contain their glee June 8, 2023, when Ozzie Albies' walk-off homer capped a third straight comeback win and basically ended the Mets' season. Afterward, Albies declared sweeping the Mets was '(t)he best feeling.' 'I remember when I got drafted in '02 and then got called up in '05 — when we came up to New York, it was like 'We're gonna kick their butts,'' Francoeur said. 'And that's the thing. Chipper ingrained it. Freddie (Freeman) ingrained it. And so it kind of gets passed down.' It even trickles down to the non-uniformed staffers. Told Monday the good vibe surrounding the Mets at Citi Field this season might change if the Braves sweep the series, one member of the traveling party said 'From your mouth to God's ears.' Two more wins by the Braves this week might do a lot more than just change some vibes. Over the last 13 days, the Mets — forever linked with the 2007 and 2008 collapses that cost them playoff berths — have gone from owning baseball's best record and a 5 1/2-game lead over the Phillies in the NL East to clinging to a two-game lead over the Brewers and Cardinals in the race for the last NL wild card berth. The five wins over the Mets also provides a dangerous spark for the Braves, who are six games behind the Brewers and Cardinals but no strangers to impressive in-season comebacks. The 2001 Braves were eight games out of first in June before winning the 10th of their record 14 straight division titles. The 2021 team didn't get over .500 until August and won the World Series. A year later, the Mets led the Braves by 10 1/2 games in June and seven games in August before Atlanta finished on a 35-15 kick to win the division (thanks to a tiebreaker gleaned from sweeping the Mets in Atlanta on the final weekend). Of course, these are the Mets, for whom incredible comebacks are as much a part of the collective experience as agonizing collapses. And there are plenty of memorable moments the Mets have enjoyed at the expense of the Braves. But the Grand Slam Single, the 10-run eighth-inning comeback on June 30, 2000, Mike Piazza's famous home run hit in the first game in New York after 9/11 and last year's playoff clincher in Atlanta all have one thing in common: They were outliers that didn't categorically change the Braves dominance. The 1999 NLCS ended with Andruw Jones literally walking it off after the Mets squandered a pair of late-inning leads following a comeback from a six-run first-inning deficit. The 2000 Mets made the World Series without having to play the Braves in October. Two days after Piazza's homer, Armando Benitez blew a save to cost the Mets a sweep and a chance to move within 2 1/2 games of first place. And last season ended two wins shy of the World Series for the Mets. Last season offered up so many reminders that the Mets are liable to render all this hand-wringing and historical perspective moot by late October or early November. But right now, they are watching history repeat itself in real time…over and over and over again. 'They have outplayed us,' Francisco Lindor said Tuesday night. 'They have played better defense, ran the bases better. They hit better. Overall they have done everything better than us.' For whatever reason, they usually do.
Forbes
17 minutes ago
- Forbes
Two Surprising Stats From Xabi Alonso's Start As Real Madrid Coach
Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso has made his debut at the Club World Cup. Xabi Alonso's return to Real Madrid has started in high-stakes circumstances as the Spaniard took over as coach just in time for the club's campaign at the FIFA Club World Cup, held in the United States this summer. Los Blancos are on track to qualify for the knock-out stages after securing a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabian outfit Al Hilal and a 3-1 win over Mexican team Pachuca. It has been the first opportunity that Madridistas stateside and across the glob have had a chance to see what system, tactics and style Alonso has brought to the club since his arrival from Bayer Leverkusen. Stats from Xabi Alonso's start to life at Real Madrid The numbers don't lie, and while Xabi Alonso may only have had a handful of training sessions with his players, it's been slow progress for the Basque coach as he implements his methodology. Speaking ahead of the game against Pachuca, Alonso reflected that, 'sometimes wanting to do so much so quickly is counterproductive', before insisting that 'prioritizing is important' According to data from Opta, Real Madrid attempted a measly 27 shots in their two matches with Xabi Alonso, which is their second lowest number for the first two games of a new coach in the last 16 years, only beaten by Julen Lopetegui and his short-lived reign when he started with 24 shots in two games in 2018. Leading the way with the most shots on six each are youngster Gonzalo García, a surprise inclusion in Alonso's first line-up, and midfielder Fede Valverde, including a missed penalty in injury time against Al Hilal. There is a reasonably logical explanation behind such a stat. Star striker Kylian Mbappé was struck down by illness with gastroenteritis before the first game of the competition, and is still sidelined and won't be risked against RB Salzburg on Thursday night in Philadelphia. It must also be remembered that the circumstances of Alonso's first two game spits him against some of the best teams from across the globe, as opposed to season-opening league fixtures against domestic rivals. At the other end of the pitch, it hasn't all been plain sailing for Alonso's players either. Al Hilal and Pachuca have both threatened the Real Madrid goal, testing shotstopper Thibaut Courtois who recovered from an end-of-season injury in order to start against the Saudi team. In 180 minutes, the team has conceded 3.7 xG (expected goals), working out at 1.85 xG per 90 minutes. That's compared to an average of 1.16 xG per 90 in La Liga in 2024/25 under previous coach Carlo Ancelotti. In fact, Real Madrid had only conceded more than 1.85 xG four times in the previous 36 matches in the 2025 calendar year before Xabi Alonso's arrival. Again here, there are some mitigating circumstances. Alonso has given debuts to summer signings Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen, both joining from Premier League clubs in Liverpool and Bournemouth respectively. Real Madrid has also conceded a penalty, against Al Hilal, worth 0.75 xG, and been forced to play with only 10 men for 83 minutes against Pachuca, after two costly Raúl Asencio errors.
