Josh Hamilton grounded into three double plays and struck out the other two times he came to the plate. Mike Trout did everything he could to will his team's offense into something resembling legitimacy. Instead, he was anchored at first, with Scioscia failing to employ his favorite (until this year) offensive tactic of activating his speedy base runners.
The good news is, Albert Pujols is really starting to hit the ball with authority. A night after after 4 hits and one long, long foul ball, Big Albert tied the ballgame up in the eighth inning, slicing a majestic fly ball cutting through the Marine Layer and depositing the baseball into the Angels bullpen and supporting starter Joe Blanton.
By the way:
Joe Blanton was phenomenally good. Seriously, who was this guy? He struck out 11 Mariners over 6 2/3 innings, and did his very best to win the ballgame. Of course, it wouldn't be 2013 Angels baseball if the offense didn't immediately fall into a coma as soon as the starting pitcher finally dominates. But, such is life.
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Game Notes
— Kendrys Morales lined a shot just off Erick Aybar's glove to give the Mariners the lead in the 10th. What a terrible trade, by Jerry Dipoto! No? Not a funny joke? Okay.
— Chris Iannetta, coming in as a pinch-hitter in the 7th inning, walked twice. Again. He now has 40 walks on the season, and 35 hits.
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Halos A-Hole of the Game
Arte's prized signing of the Winter World Series, 2012, is your worst player today.
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