All those good feelings about a fully reformed Angels roster lasted all of an inning and a half before Mike Trout begged out of the game due to more back discomfort. That combined with a failed threat in the first inning really took the wind out of the Angels’ sails. Their efforts to get back on track were aborted before they ever really began.
Run Expectancy Rundown
Josh Hamilton‘s return couldn’t have gone much better with him hitting a homer (off a lefty!) and drawing a walk. Actually, it could’ve gone better had that stupid hill in center not been in existence. The problem is things didn’t go well for anyone else. The Angels actually didn’t miss Trout all that much since Collin Cowgill homered in his stead. What didn’t work was that whole letting Chris Iannetta face right-handers thing or that whole letting Raul Ibanez remain employed thing.
Dexter Fowler had a big night both in the field and at the plate, though a lot of his offense came from not swinging the bat. That goes for many of the other Astros as well. The real highlight though was Jonathan Singleton crushing his first homer (which I kind of called, I just had the wrong pitcher). Even with Wilson being as bad as he was, it goes to show that this Houston offense is surprisingly respectable.
Starting Pitcher Scores
Well, it turns out that having seen Collin McHugh just a few weeks ago didn’t do the Angels a fat lot of good. They made him use a lot of pitches, but they weren’t able to actually do any damage against him. As for C.J. Wilson, he was supposedly sick, which would explain his lack of velocity and command, but it doesn’t explain why Scioscia stuck with him for as long as he did.
Bullpen Battle
There was a whole lot of bullpen usage in this game. The Angels wasted no time in letting Cam Bedrosian make his debut and he looked just as great as we all hoped. His stuff is just electric and it would be no surprise if he worked himself into a prominent role very, very quickly. Matt Shoemaker did himself no favor with his poor outing and he all but erased any hopes of an Angels comeback. That is the real shame here because the Houston bullpen stinks, but the Angels made it look decent.
Game Flow
Here’s recap we’ve read a lot in the last week: The Angels threatened early but failed to cash in then their starting pitcher melted down shortly thereafter and put the offense in an insurmountable hole that they only halfway climbed out of. Game, blouses.
Halo A-Hole
Pro tip, C.J, next time you are sick, go ahead and feel free to sit the game out.
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