Up is Down, Black is White, and the Angels Bullpen Pitched Three Scoreless Innings

Signs of life from the Angels last night, especially from the bullpen. They managed to take the rubber match in the best of three series thanks to a solid effort from career minor-leaguer Matt Palmer, three innings of scoreless relief, clutch offensive performances, and four Tigers errors.

Palmer struggled early, allowing single runs in the first two innings before settling down in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. He struggled in the seventh, leaving the bases loaded. Daniel Davidson and Jason Bulger allowed the inherited runners to score, but Bulger got a key double play grounder to Chone Figgins to end the threat. Bulger followed that with a perfect eight, and Justin Speier pitched a perfect night to preserve the win.

At the plate, Howie Kendrick finally hit his first double of the season in the first inning. It took two bases loaded walks in the fourth inning for the Angels to tie the game. Torii Hunter his sixth homer of the season in the fifth to give the Angels their first lead. They added three more runs in the sixth, and four in the seventh, two coming home on Chone Figgins’ bases loaded, two out bunt single, which blew the game open. Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, Maicer Izturis, Kendry Morales, and Garry Matthews each had two hits.

With Seattle’s victory, the 6-9 Angels remain 3.5 games out of first, tied with Texas and a half game in front of Oakland.

Thoughts on the game:

• You kind of had to see it to believe it, but the Angels scored ten runs last night, only three of which were produced on balls that left the infield. Hunter homered, and Abreu and Izturis had RBI singles to the outfield. But two runs came home on bases loaded walks, three on infield singles, and two on Figgins’ bunt single (one of which was attributed to an error on the play).
• Bobby Abreu stole his eighth base, which leads the league. He also beat out an infield hit, which scored a run. He doesn’t look fast, but he is really running well. Now he just needs to deliver some extra base hits.
• Justin Speier is looking downright serviceable. He’s appeared in five games and only given up single runs in two of them. In 5.2 innings, he’s allowed only five baserunners, and struck out six. Right now, he’s their best reliever.

Yet Another Bullpen Implosion: Tigers 12; Angels 10

It’s starting to sound like a broken record, but once again, the Angels relievers were handed a lead, and once again, they imploded, allowing seven runs over the final four innings, turning a 7-5 lead into a 12-10 defeat.

Joe Saunders was not sharp, allowing five runs over his five innings, but Kendry Morales and the Angels offense delivered him seven runs. Justin Speier allowed a run in the sixth, but the Angels matched that and handed a two run lead to Scot Shields, who claimed earlier in the week that a adjustment to his mechanics had solved the problems he faced earlier in the season.

Time for another adjustment. He faced four batters and allowed all four to reach, two via the single, and two via the walk, one of which drove in a run. Jose Arredondo allowed the three runners he inherited to score, thanks in no small part to a miscue by short stop Erick Aybar.

Brandon Wood sat for the second straight game since his call up, but the Angels offense didn’t need him. Kendry Morales homered and doubled, driving in five of the Angels ten runs. Torii Hunter and Maicer Izturis each delivered three hits. Juan Rivera and Gary Matthews each picked up two hits. On the evening, the Angels knocked Tigers pitching around for 16 hits, but for the second time in a week, an enormous offensive outburst couldn’t make up for shoddy pitching.

Thoughts on the game:

• Brandon Wood’s call up has so far defied all logic. He’s the Angels top offensive prospect, and he’s now played seven games in the last 13 days. One would think that after missing time to attend funerals, the Angels would want him in the lineup every day. Calling him up just to have him sit makes no sense.
• For the last few years, the Angels bullpen has been a significant advantage, practically reducing games to seven innings for opponents. This year, not only is the advantage gone, they’re giving opponents a head start. They need to take at least a three run lead into the seventh inning or they’re in trouble.
• Crazy to think, but this team would actually be a couple games worse without Torii Hunter. Fortunately, everyone else in the AL West keeps losing.

Angels 5; Tigers 4

Cross posted at SoCal Sports Hub.

Joe Saunders came into this game looking to right the ship. The left-hander had given up 15 earned runs in 10.2 innings over his last three starts, including six in an inning and a third in his last start against one of the league's worst offenses. Last night he took the hill against one of the best, and settled in for a solid 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out two.

Offensively it wasn't pretty for the Angels. They manages only eight hits, but turned those, along with four walks, into five runs, enough to hang on for the 5-4 victory. Torii Hunter laced a two run double to left in the top of the first for the early lead, driving in Chone Figgins, who had singled, and Mark Teixeira, on base courtesy of the walk. Detroit responded with a two out run in the first to cut the lead in half. Following a Vlad Guerrero double, Torii Hunter singled to drive in his third run of the game.

Saunders got a little squirelly in the third inning. He hit Placido Polanco, then gave up back to back doubles to Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera to tie the game. Hunter then doubled with one out in the fifth, and two consecutive Tiger errors on ground balls by Mike Napoli and Brandon Wood allowed him to score the go ahead run. That's where the game stood until Scot Shields delivered a gopher ball to Miguel Cabrera in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game.

In the ninth inning, the Angels manufactured the go ahead run. Figgins led the inning off with a walk, and promptly stole second. Garret Anderson got him over to third on a ground out, and Mark Teixeira delivered the sac fly that brought Figgins home. Frankie Rodriguez worked a shaky ninth inning, allowing a single and a walk before retiring Polanco for the game's final out, and his league leading 54th save. The Angels magic number sits at seven, making it conceivable, thought not probably, that they could clinch the division this weekend in Chicago at games I will be attending in person.

Angels top three performers:

1) Torii Hunter had three hits, two of them doubles, and drove in three of the Angels' five runs.

2) Jose Arredondo entered the game in the bottom of the seventh with the tying run on second and one out. He retired the only two hitters he faced (the first by strikeout) to preserve the lead for Saunders.

3) Joe Saunders didn't pitch his best game, but following a string of bad performances, and facing an excellent offense, he got himself back on track with a quality start. He lost the win on Shields' blow hold.

Jeff Weaver of the game:

Tough call, here. The bottom of the order continues to underwhelm, though Wood and Sean Rodriguez deserve credit for two stellar plays in the field in the second inning. Garret Anderson was 0-5 and left four men on base, though he did provide a productive out that led to the eventual winning run. But the nod probably goes to Scot Shields, whose two out gopher ball in the eighth allowed the Tigers to tie the score.

What to look for tonight:

Smooth and Steady Jon Garland takes on Zach Miner, who owns a surprising 8-4 record to go along with a 3.46 ERA. He's 3-2 in his last five starts, and that includes a start in which he lasted only an inning and a third and gave up five runs. Take that start away and he's got an ERA barely over one in four of his last five starts. The Angels could conceivably reduce their magic number to five.

Game Time is 4:05 PST on FSN.

Two straight

No one could have reasonably expected Santana to win today the way he's been going. As I've said before (and it's no great analysis), Santana during the day on the road is a recipe for disaster.

If they had taken some momentum into today's game, it may have been a different story, but Mike Scioscia, whom I can only assume was a little upset with Mike Napoli and his three run homer yesterday, inexplicably turned the ball over to arguably the AL's worst reliever this season. Predictably, he allowed the Tigers to double their lead, and predictably, the Angels almost came back, only to lose by one. And while the souls over at Halos Heaven may not like it, Vlad was almost as at fault as Bart and Scioscia, grounding into a double play with the tying run on first.

So what had the makings of nice trip has turned into a precarious journey, which now requires the Angels to take 2 of three against the suddenly not so terrible Yankees to salvage a .500 trip. And while they've had great success over the Yankees in the last 10 years, that has to end some time.

As for me, I missed today's game, partly because of work, and partly by design, as I had no desire to see Santana get drilled. And last night's game ended just in time for me to head over to Schuba's to catch the Broken West, this time headlining (they supported the Walkmen earlier). While the mix was a little too heavy on the guitar and to light on the vocals, the show was otherwise excellent. Not to sound like a music snob, but shows with less than 100 people are kind of cool to see when you really like the band, and they really are excellent.

Angels 6; Tigers 3

Last year the Angels gave up 80 unearned runs. Only the Cleveland Indians allowed more. And despite the offensive woes, I've maintained that it was the main reason that the Angels failed to win the AL West. Part of that was also a function of some bad luck. It seemed every time they made a mistake, they paid for it.

This year, their team ERA is the best in the AL. In addition they've cut their unearned run percentage by over 30% (from .49 to .33), which is a sign that a) their defense has played better, and b) mistakes haven't translated into a lot of runs. And at no time have they played better defense than they did last night.

HGHMJ made two terrific catches in center field, one which save at least two runs early in the game. In addition, Chone Figgins and Robb Quinlan each saved extra bases, and Orlando Cabrera ended the night with his spear of a Carlos Guillen liner that would have put the tying run in scoring position, and the winning run on base.

For Figgins, Cabrera, and Quinlan, it wasn't all defense. Figgins went 2-4 and scored both times he reached base, Quinlan took Mike Maroth deep in the sixth inning to provide the Angels final run of the game, and Cabrera added a two run shot of his own. Mike Napoli has pushed his average all the way up over the .250 mark, collecting two hits last night, including a fourth inning homer.

The only struggles came from John Lackey, who had trouble finding the strike zone until he really needed to, walking four against only three strike outs. But he held the Tigers to one run through five innings, and turned the ball over to Dustin Moseley, who continued to impress with two scoreless innings. Even Darren Oliver looked sharp until the ninth inning, at which point he remembered he was Darren Oliver and loaded the bases with nobody out, at which point the Angels required the services of Frankie Rodriguez.

Good start to the trip. Win one more in Detroit, and they can head to New York with their eyes on another solid road trip. As an added bonus, Homerin' Howie Kendrick rejoins the lineup tonight to take over for a slumping Erick Aybar.