Game Recap 7/6/11: And So It Begins… – Tigers 5 Angels 4

I apologize in advance, but I must make this recap as short and sweet as possible. Without further ado, here is today’s much anticipated recap.

Tigers 5 Angels 4

 
Game Notes

• My gut tells me that this just wasn’t a loss, this was the start of the gradual flame out of this team. Will it be as bad as it was just a couple months ago, or will it merely be a slight hibernation period. No one really knows for sure, not even the gods of baseball, because this team is just too unpredictable. Today’s offense was absolutely pathetic, and you know why? Because they don’t adjust. They were ALL OVER Penny in the first inning, they practically had the game put away and him knocked out. Unfortunately for the Angels Penny is no minor league scrub, he’s a World Series veteran who knows a thing or two about this game. One the Angels tagged him for 4 runs he knew he was going to have to adust if he was going to make it out of the second inning. Gone was the pounding fastballs and in were the breaking pitches built to keep hitters off balance. He adjusted to the offense, and once he did it was practically game over from there. The Halos stuck to the original gameplan and it failed them, failed them miserable. My money’s this all being on Hatcher. These are major leaguers here, they got here because they figured out how to adjust and how to play the game, you simply cannot stay in the majors if you don’t adjust. Whatever Hatcher has burned into their minds is screwing these hitters up, and that isn’t just wild speculation.
• If it wasn’t for Callaspo’s screw up in the 3rd the Halos would have had this game in their back pocket. His lazy defense cost the Angels this game, and no it wasn’t just Kohn’s or Taka’s shoddy pitching. That was just the effect to the cause, Callaspo and Joe West were the true root of evil. Chatwood would have been able to get out of the inning much earlier if it wasn’t for them, keeping his pitch count managable going into the later inning. Just like Rojas said after the game tying hit in the 7th, that play was the difference between it being a 3-0/3-1 game and it falling through the Angels grasp.

Halo A-Hole

 

Without Callaspo’s lazy defense and Wests’ shoddy ump’ing this game would have easily been the Angels to win, and probably put them in first place too.