Game Recap 7/23/12: In the books – Angels 6 Royals 3

To be fair did anyone really expect anything other than a victory from tonight’s game? I mean, if the Angels are going to be playing to gain some ground on Texas these are the kind of games they need to win. A struggling pitcher on the mound, especially when given the fact that he’s a lefty which the Angels have absolutely smashed on this season, really didn’t give way to any doubt that the Angels would keep this home stand rolling on the right note. 

Every side of this team contributed greatly to end up victorious over the Royals, the pitchers pitched well enough to keep the Angels just ahead of the Royals while the hitters collected clutch base hits to give the Angels the eventual win. A pretty good night in Angels land if you ask me.

and holy crap did you guys see Ichiro is a Yankee now??

 Angels 6 Royals 3

Game Recap

• C.J Wilson’s struggles with his command and keeping runners off the basepaths hasn’t really showed any signs of going away, though he hasn’t let it affect him in any major way. Regardless of the 9 hits he still kept the Royals to just 3 pesky runs, one of them being a game-tier in the 7th inning. Luckily for the Angels the offense was right there to get his back in the 8th inning with Kendrys coming up with a huge 2 out bases loaded pinch hit single. Unfortunately for C.J Jepsen swooped in at the last minute to steal his win, though I guess he kind of deserved it since he didn’t do all too bad actually. It’s hard for me to envision Jepsen putting up this kind of performance for the whole season, but for now it’s nice to see him make a decent stopgap until a proven reliever can step into the picture. Trade bait anyone?

• I’m getting tired of swooning over Trout’s spectacular performances night in and night out, how about we give some love to a guy who doesn’t get very much playing time these days? Izturis pulled off some pretty good stuff tonight with a rally extending base hit and a clutch RBI, though his defense left a tad bit to be desired. Or how about Bourjos, a guy who didn’t do much with the bat all night but pulled off some stunning HR robbery? It probably wasn’t the most impressive home run to rob, but the way he was so casual and routine with it made it all the more impressive. Think that’s building up the ever growing trade value of Bourjos? I hope he can keep that under control until the deadline passes, for our sake

• While Kendrys has been wishy-washy all season with constantly disappearing and reappearing power it’s refreshing to see his clutchness still very much in order. Being summoned off the bench to pinch hit in a tough spot isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do, but he pulled it off and put the game away for the Angels. If this team wants to even come close to catching the Rangers they’re going to have to keep this kind of clutch hitting on the roll. 

Halo Hero

Tonight he makes a great pinch hitter, tomorrow he makes a great trade chip.

Don’t shoot the messenger.