Orioles officially have Angels fans complaining the season is rigged

The Baltimore Orioles' Wednesday afternoon game against the Angels had it all: impressive but imperfect starts from both Dean Kremer and Tyler Anderson, bullpen implosions on both sides, a parade of home runs (including No. 10 on the season for Mike Trout), small ball that resulted in a close game, and a nail-biting review on a Jo Adell steal of second to end it all in a heartbreaker for the Angels.

Gunnar Henderson continued to be one of the best players in baseball, with a 3-3 day at the plate and his eighth home run of the season. His game-ending tag on Adell was the subject of some controversy that immediately had Angels fans crying foul, with one fan going as far as to imply that MLB is pulling strings and making calls in the Orioles' favor because they're "MLB's new golden child."

And, okay — was Adell probably safe at second? Maybe. But while an allegation of MLB rigging games is already ridiculous on its own, it feels even more unlikely that MLB would care about rigging them in the 16-8 Orioles' favor specifically when their opponents are the 10-15 Angels. We'd imagine they'd save stuff like that for an opponent who's actually competitive.

Angels fans are crying foul after close loss to Orioles on Wednesday

The Angels' loss could have something to do with reliever José Suarez giving up four hits and four runs in 2/3 innings, effectively blowing up all of the good work Anderson had done in his two-run, seven strikeout start. The Orioles' bullpen didn't exactly do their team favors either. Both Jacob Webb and Yennier Cano gave up a home run apiece in back-to-back innings, and that came after Kremer gave up two runs, including a homer. The O's also weren't even capitalizing on run opportunities as well as the Angels were; they left three runners stranded to the Angels' one.

So the alternative to rigging here might just be that...the Angels' bullpen is bad? Their offense isn't as good? Either, both, whatever — being the benefactor of fixed games just feels like a pretty depressing accusation for an equally depressed fanbase to level at one of the best teams in baseball. The Angels have only won one series on the year so far, so maybe their fans should do a little introspection before accusing other teams of cheating.