Thursday, May 07, 2009
Doc'd: Blue Jays 13; Angels 1
This game was over early, as the score indicates. Anthony Ortega retired just four batters, two fewer than he allowed to score. The Blue Jays scored two in the first and five in the second on their way to an easy victory. The cushion was far more than Roy Halladay needed. Halladay shut out the Angels for 7.2 innings before the hustle of Howie Kendrick and a two out single by Jeff Mathis got the Angels on the board.
The offense was as innefective as the pitching. The Angels collected just _ hits, and never really threatened. Gary Matthews probably had the roughest night for the Angels, going 0-3 with three strike outs in his first three at bats. It didn't matter, but Justin Speier followed up the other night's poor outing with, well, another poor outing. He allowed five runs in the eighth.
* Mike Scioscia was ejected in the top of the eighth after Justin Speier hit Rod Barajas, prompting a warning to both benches. It came right after Speier had allowed five runs in two batters, culminating in Lyle Overbay's three run homer.
* On the bright side, if you're going to give up 13 runs, you may as well do it when Doc Halladay is on the mound. Chances are three runs will be enough to beat you, so the rest are just superfluous.
* Two guys are going to have to go back to the minors when John Lackey and Ervin Santana come back. Anthony Ortega just made one of those decisions really, really easy.
The offense was as innefective as the pitching. The Angels collected just _ hits, and never really threatened. Gary Matthews probably had the roughest night for the Angels, going 0-3 with three strike outs in his first three at bats. It didn't matter, but Justin Speier followed up the other night's poor outing with, well, another poor outing. He allowed five runs in the eighth.
* Mike Scioscia was ejected in the top of the eighth after Justin Speier hit Rod Barajas, prompting a warning to both benches. It came right after Speier had allowed five runs in two batters, culminating in Lyle Overbay's three run homer.
* On the bright side, if you're going to give up 13 runs, you may as well do it when Doc Halladay is on the mound. Chances are three runs will be enough to beat you, so the rest are just superfluous.
* Two guys are going to have to go back to the minors when John Lackey and Ervin Santana come back. Anthony Ortega just made one of those decisions really, really easy.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
No Relief: Angels 9; Yankees 10
Yet another night when the Angel offense delivers more than enough to win. Yet another night when the bullpen can’t hold on to a huge a lead. Rafael Rodriguez, Jose Arredondo, and Brian Fuentes combined for six earned runs in two innings, and blew a five run lead. This is starting to get ridiculous.
Jered Weaver shook off a tough first inning in which he allowed four runs. He followed it up with five scoreless frames, and left with a lead that he had to think was safe. But after a solid seventh inning, Rodriguez ran into trouble, and started the snowball that became four run eighth for the Yankees, with the runs evenly split between Rodriguez and Arredondo. Brian Fuentes entered in the ninth and failed to retire any of the four batters he faced. A walk and three singles later, the Yankees finished the comeback and celebrated a 10-9 victory.
The Angels got offense from almost everyone. Robb Quinlan was the only Angel who failed to reach base. Erick Aybar and Gary Matthews each had three hits. Matthews added four RBIs, three coming on a bases loaded triple in the sixth inning. Jeff Mathis drove in three runs, two with a single and one with a squeeze bunt. But yet again, their effort was undone by baseball’s worst bullpen.
Thoughts on the game:
A lot of people were happy to let Francisco Rodriguez leave. His numbers would be the best in this bullpen by far. The haters will point toward his post season struggles as justification for letting him leave. Well, good news. The Angels probably won’t have to worry about post-season failures this year.
The Angels drew 7 walks. That’s gotta be close to a record for this decade. And they still lost.
This is the sixth game in which the Angels have scored 8 or more runs. They ‘ve lost four of those games. That’s pathetic.
Jered Weaver shook off a tough first inning in which he allowed four runs. He followed it up with five scoreless frames, and left with a lead that he had to think was safe. But after a solid seventh inning, Rodriguez ran into trouble, and started the snowball that became four run eighth for the Yankees, with the runs evenly split between Rodriguez and Arredondo. Brian Fuentes entered in the ninth and failed to retire any of the four batters he faced. A walk and three singles later, the Yankees finished the comeback and celebrated a 10-9 victory.
The Angels got offense from almost everyone. Robb Quinlan was the only Angel who failed to reach base. Erick Aybar and Gary Matthews each had three hits. Matthews added four RBIs, three coming on a bases loaded triple in the sixth inning. Jeff Mathis drove in three runs, two with a single and one with a squeeze bunt. But yet again, their effort was undone by baseball’s worst bullpen.
Thoughts on the game:
A lot of people were happy to let Francisco Rodriguez leave. His numbers would be the best in this bullpen by far. The haters will point toward his post season struggles as justification for letting him leave. Well, good news. The Angels probably won’t have to worry about post-season failures this year.
The Angels drew 7 walks. That’s gotta be close to a record for this decade. And they still lost.
This is the sixth game in which the Angels have scored 8 or more runs. They ‘ve lost four of those games. That’s pathetic.
Friday, May 01, 2009
The Speier We Know and Don't Particularly Care For: Angels 4; Yankees 7
Just when you thought it was safe to bring in Justin Speier, he reverts to 2008 form. He allowed three eighth inning runs as the Angels dropped their first game in the new Yankee Stadium by a score of 7-4.
Anthony Ortega provided the Angels with a quality start, lasting 6.1 innings while allowing three earned runs. A fourth run came home on Bobby Abreu’s misplay of Derek Jeter’s fourth inning RBI single. Ortega allowed 10 baserunners, while striking out two, but he gave the Angels a chance to win, and that’s the best they can hope for. Scot Shields completed the seventh before Mike Scioscia turned to the surprisingly effective Speier in the 8th, who promptly turned back into a pumpkin. After retiring the first batter he faced, he allowed the next five hitters to reach (one on an intentional walk), and by the time he was done, the Yankees had turned a tie game into a three run advantage.
At the plate, Howie Kendrick shrugged off yesterday’s ofer and reached base three times, twice via the hit and once via the walk. He also stole two bases. Mike Napoli and Chone Figgins both delivered two hits, and both were caught stealing once. Napoli, however, did homer (his fourth) in his first at bat. Kendry Morales went cold again, going 0-4wi with three strike outs after his recent hot streak.
Thoughts on the game:
* Justin Speier’s ERA went up about three points, which isn’t really an indication of how he’s been pitching on the season. But he clearly didn’t have it tonight.
* Ortega’s quality start was a nice surprise, but the Angels really need to win games when either he or Matt Palmer give them the chance, because they probably aren’t going to give the team many chances in 2009. This team really needs John Lackey and Ervin Santana back. Sheesh, they need Dustin Mosely back. I can’t believe I’m writing that.
* Nothing against Jeff Mathis, but I’ll take the defensive deficiencies from Napoli in exchange for his far superior bat.
Anthony Ortega provided the Angels with a quality start, lasting 6.1 innings while allowing three earned runs. A fourth run came home on Bobby Abreu’s misplay of Derek Jeter’s fourth inning RBI single. Ortega allowed 10 baserunners, while striking out two, but he gave the Angels a chance to win, and that’s the best they can hope for. Scot Shields completed the seventh before Mike Scioscia turned to the surprisingly effective Speier in the 8th, who promptly turned back into a pumpkin. After retiring the first batter he faced, he allowed the next five hitters to reach (one on an intentional walk), and by the time he was done, the Yankees had turned a tie game into a three run advantage.
At the plate, Howie Kendrick shrugged off yesterday’s ofer and reached base three times, twice via the hit and once via the walk. He also stole two bases. Mike Napoli and Chone Figgins both delivered two hits, and both were caught stealing once. Napoli, however, did homer (his fourth) in his first at bat. Kendry Morales went cold again, going 0-4wi with three strike outs after his recent hot streak.
Thoughts on the game:
* Justin Speier’s ERA went up about three points, which isn’t really an indication of how he’s been pitching on the season. But he clearly didn’t have it tonight.
* Ortega’s quality start was a nice surprise, but the Angels really need to win games when either he or Matt Palmer give them the chance, because they probably aren’t going to give the team many chances in 2009. This team really needs John Lackey and Ervin Santana back. Sheesh, they need Dustin Mosely back. I can’t believe I’m writing that.
* Nothing against Jeff Mathis, but I’ll take the defensive deficiencies from Napoli in exchange for his far superior bat.
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