Boxscore Breakdown #98: Can’t keep up with the Joneses – Orioles 4, Angels 2

What does it take to beat the Angels at home? Apparently it takes Matt Shoemaker making just two mistakes all night and Adam Jones making the most of both of those mistakes. Oh, and a strike zone the size of Yellowstone Park.

I’m not normally one to blame things on an umpire, but jeebus, Eric Cooper’s strike zone was just absurd. All I know is when you are calling a game and there are nine strikeouts are of the looking variety, that you are probably doing something wrong. Factor in that the pitchers are Bud Norris and Matt Shoemaker and you are really doing something wrong.

In Cooper’s defense, his zone was mostly consistent. It was apparent quite early that his zone was big and that he was going to call a lot of strikes, especially low and away. At that point hitters need to adjust accordingly, which is easier said than done. But when you get rung up on a low-and-away pitch in one key at-bat then get rung up on a similar pitch in the next at-bat, well, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.

Run Expectancy Rundown

Hank Conger and Josh Hamilton were pretty much the entire offense. I’m surprised that Trout didn’t get dinged harder for his two looking strikeouts. The real killer though turned out to be the bottom of the order pairing of Efren Navarro and John McDonald. So, yeah, let’s get C.J. Cron called up as soon as we can and Erick Aybar back in the lineup the instant he feels close to 100%.

The Orioles offense was literally all Adam Jones, Nick Markakis and sequencing. Shoemaker gave up five hits, two of those were homers by Jones. The more overlooked issue is that the other two hits were Markakis right before Jones hit his homers. That’s just lousy hit sequencing luck.

Starting Pitcher Scores

Shoemaker really got a raw deal. He pitched very well and benefited from only one of the called strike threes from Cooper, so his ten whiffs in 5.2 innings was truly impressive.

Bullpen Battle

A totally uneventful bullpen match-up. The Oriole relievers were perfect. The Angel reliever allowed one hit and hit one.

Game Flow

Even after the first inning Jones homer, the Angels hung in there. The problem is that after the second Jones homer, they couldn’t get anything going against the Baltimore bullpen.

Halo A-Hole

Seriously, screw you, Eric Cooper. Have a little self-awareness and realize you are doing your job poorly when you are responsible for nine backwards-Ks and complaints and grievances from both sides.