Boxscore Breakdown #141: Fool me twice – Angels 8, Twins 5

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on Mike Scioscia for trying to run the bullpen game from the exact same playbook as the first time.

When Cory Rasmus started to falter, he went right back to Michael Roth, even though it didn’t work well in the first game. It didn’t work well this time either, so Scioscia did what he did last time and brought in his worst reliever, Yoslan Herrera, hoping he could pull yet another rabbit out of his hat. He couldn’t, despite it being a moment that could’ve decided the game. He had more options at his disposal this time, but he still went with Herrera, only this time he got burned.

Fortunately, the Twins also tried and failed with the same plan that cost them the previous game, with Casey Fien and Jared Burton taking turns blowing the game. I guess Scioscia isn’t the only own getting busted for fooling me twice.

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17NAdOcSisoSoeGuHdf5Tjbw8yT2l5VWc36p7ERQayJU/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”318″ /] Hey, look! Howie Kendrick finally woke up. It’s nice to see him catching fire with the playoffs coming around the corner. If Josh Hamilton is going to miss extended time or be limited the rest of the year, they’ll need someone to pick up the slack. Albert Pujols wasn’t far behind though and he was the one to ultimately deliver the go-ahead base hit. Brennan Boesch got another shot at a start and continues to not do very much to prove he should keep playing, especially in the field.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17NAdOcSisoSoeGuHdf5Tjbw8yT2l5VWc36p7ERQayJU/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] The crazy thing about this series is that the Angels aren’t getting beaten by guys like Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer. It is the scrubs on the team like Escobar and Hicks that are somehow causing them so much grief. Then again, these scrubs were mostly facing the bullpen scrubs of the Angels, so I guess it kind of makes sense.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17NAdOcSisoSoeGuHdf5Tjbw8yT2l5VWc36p7ERQayJU/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] So much for getting four innings of out Rasmus, right? At least the Angels were able to get to Hughes enough to keep the game within reach.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17NAdOcSisoSoeGuHdf5Tjbw8yT2l5VWc36p7ERQayJU/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] Neither bullpen was good, but Minnesota’s was much worse, fortunately. The big hero in it all was actually Cam Bedrosian who had a big bounce back performance. The real issue though was Scioscia forcing himself to use Huston Street again when Grilli was more than capable of handling a three-run cushion.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17NAdOcSisoSoeGuHdf5Tjbw8yT2l5VWc36p7ERQayJU/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /] The Angels had their shots at taking control of the game, but using the dregs of the bullpen for the sake of using them kept short-circuiting those plans. Fortunately, the non-dreg part of the Twins bullpen was able to bring the Angels back from the brink.

Halo Hero

Every time Albert wins a game for the Angels, his contract hurts just a little bit less.