Thanks to an incredibly uninspired start by Joe Blanton, which can ultimately be attributed to a terrible managerial decision to allow him to kick the superb Jerome Williams out of the rotation in order to keep the now 1-10 Blanton in the rotation. So many times did the Angels battle to keep themselves within fighting distance of the Red Sox only to have Blanton make that all for naught.
Even though Blanton pitched horribly Robert Coello did nothing to help the fact while giving up 3 earned runs to push the game even farther out of the Angels hands, which as we saw later in the game was something they could have very easily pulled in with a huge 8th inning rally that was killed prematurely by, what else, horrible baserunning.
I think I'm gonna be sick.
Game Notes
— This game was very easily counted off as a loss just as soon as Blanton stepped on the mound. Despite him "turning the corner" according to Scioscia he obviously showed he's made no progress in that department. Blanton gave up 7 runs (6 earned) on 8 hits and 3 home runs, typical line from a pitcher that lacks quality such as he. It would be so easy for the Angels to finally smarten up and shoot Blanton to the bullpen and let Williams return to the rotation full-time after he makes his start Wednesday to compensate for the double-header yesterday. This won't happen because the Angels are notoriously slow at making important and more likely than not improving decisions for the roster. We can all agree this organization is just filled with bad decision makers from the top to the bottom. Speaking of the bad decision makers at the bottom.
— The 8th inning was looking like it could have seriously turned things around for the Angels in the game. Despite trailing 10-3 going into the 8th they were able to rally together to bring 2 runs across the board, and with Mike Trout up with Ianetta and Shuck on base Trout looped a base hit to right field. The usually aggressive 3B coach Dino Ebel decided to hold up Ianetta at third instead of waving him around, and some people seem to question this decision, but is that really necessary? Daniel Nava has proved to be a very capable right fielder and he was in prime position to throw out a slow runner catcher in Ianetta at the plate. It's not like we had Trout or Aybar running, it was a catcher. It appeared that J.B Shuck missed Dino's stop sign because he wildly overran 2B which allowed him to be tagged out trying to return to the bag, killing a potential monster inning. Even though there were 2 outs the Angels had Hamilton coming up to bat with the bases loaded in a 5 run game. That could have easily swung things in the Angels favor; maybe he doesn't go yard, but he could have very easily kept the inning alive with a single or a double. Absolutely disgusting showing by the Angels in the 8th inning, just pure, complete incompetence on the shoulders of J.B Shuck.
— This really isn't as debilitating as a loss as it might come off initially only due to the fact that it was Joe Dirt pitching the game. The Angels need to be able to prove they can push through his ridiculously terrible starts and get on a good foot regardless of Blanton constantly shitting on this team. If they can do that they'll still be in a prime spot to fight to get a playoff spot. It's still there, they just need to keep fighting hard regardless of their own players stopping them from making any serious progress.
Halo A-Hole
I knew you were going to be a giant tank of horseshit coming into the season, so I'm not overwhelmingly surprised by your constant atrocities on the mound. What really gets me is your comments to the press on how you have "nothing to prove" and your complete lackadaisical approach to pitching. You see sir, guys like Jered Weaver have nothing to prove, guys like Kershaw or Verlander; they have nothing to prove. You know what makes them so special? They still go out and pitch like they have to prove to the world they earned the right to be who they are.
You sir, are nowhere near that prime level of talent, so you indeed have plenty to prove. Moreso than anyone else in the league. I say this from the deepest and darkest part of my bowels.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
