Boxscore Breakdown #129: Back on top – Angels 9, Athletics 4

5

Disaster averted, everyone. Go back to your homes. Nothing to see here. Move along. The Angels are back on top of the AL West and MLB, just as everything should be. All is right with the world once again. No need to panic.

Run Expectancy Rundown

Basically, everyone was terrific on offense except for David Freese who was “meh” and Gordon Beckham who was a disaster. #FreeGrantGreen. But seriously, Josh Hamilton had another huge game, which would excite me if we hadn’t seen him do this before. Let’s all stop declaring him fixed or broken forever and just accept that he is a wildly streaky performer.

What the hell got into Albert Callaspo? It is like he decided to avenge his trade from the Angels all in one night. Andy Parrino continued to be a thorn in the Angels’ side, so count me in as someone pulling for Oakland to complete a trade for Yunel Escobar.

Starting Pitcher Scores

Did I call it or what? Scott Kazmir and his stupid mustache got bombed again by the Halos. It turns out they really didn’t need to be so hard on him (not that I am complaining) because Weaver was brilliant, almost. For six innings, there was a brilliant narrative building about Weaver stepping up his game to fill the ace-shaped void left by Garrett Richards, then he just fell apart in the seventh. Fortunately, he had plenty of cushion.

Bullpen Battle

Jason Grilli had another rocky outing, but it was an otherwise uneventful night for the Angels bullpen. Jesse Chavez couldn’t stop the bleeding in relief, but that isn’t the story. The real story is that the Angels managed to overwork Sean Doolittle so much the previous two games that he landed on the DL. Mission accomplished.

Game Flow

No drama here, it was over in a hurry.

Halo Hero
Boxscore Breakdown #129: Back on top - Angels 9, Athletics 4
This could have gone to a lot of people, but I feel compelled to give this Hero to Josh in order to stroke his preciously fragile ego.

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