Boxscore Breakdown #160: Tuned up – Mariners 4, Angels 3

This was supposed to be a nice tune up game for Jered Weaver as he readied himself for Game 1 of the ALDS. Instead, he was the one that got tuned up.

In a fitting piece of symmetry, Weaver ended his regular season as he began it, with a middling and mildly concerning loss at the hands of the Mariners. Gone was the velocity spike that Weaver had seen in his last two starts. In those games, he was consistently working his fastball in the 88 MPH to 91 MPH range. In this game, he maxed out at 88 MPH. Perhaps he was just easing back on the throttle a bit so he wouldn’t exhaust himself before the postseason, but in so doing, he showed how much thinner his margin for error his without the extra speed on his heater. Giving up three homers to an offense like the Mariners certainly can’t be what he had in mind

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1prjLLcGl5Hzc4BmOixa2VqWZYc_rv7s1d9p8YJxoDoE/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”402″ /] Kole Calhoun and Mike Trout combined for back-to-back jacks to get the Angels back in the game, but the Halos never really had an actual runner in scoring position until the ninth inning. Brennan Boesch has another miserable game. For all the “we don’t need Hamilton” sentiment out there, realize that Boesch is a top alternative to Josh and then get back to me. I think you might reconsider your stance.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1prjLLcGl5Hzc4BmOixa2VqWZYc_rv7s1d9p8YJxoDoE/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] I’ll accept responsibility for this one. I mocked the terrible season Kendrys Morales is having in the series preview only to have him rip a solo shot, a single and what would’ve been a double if not for Mike Trout’s stellar leaping snare. The Mariners had a pretty solid day offensively, even without the three homers. That’s with Robinson Cano and Kyle Seager doing practically nothing, too.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1prjLLcGl5Hzc4BmOixa2VqWZYc_rv7s1d9p8YJxoDoE/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] We already talked about Weaver’s dinger problems, but he wasn’t alone with Iwakuma surrendering two bombs in an otherwise excellent outing. He certainly remembered his old magic over the Angels after getting bombed by them last time out. Of course, he also left the game with some sort of injury, so it is possible that the Seattle rotation could be even more short-handed than Anaheim’s if the Mariners somehow sneak into the playoffs and advance to the ALDS.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1prjLLcGl5Hzc4BmOixa2VqWZYc_rv7s1d9p8YJxoDoE/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] Joe Thatcher sat down the heart of the Mariners lineup in order as part of his desperate bid to be placed on the postseason roster. He fell behind all three hitters though, so the process wasn’t nearly as impressive as the result. He’ll probably get one more appearance this series to make his final attempt at convincing Scioscia to carry him. The Angels did almost cause another Fernando Rodney blown save, which would’ve been sweep, but they left the job half done. That didn’t stop Fraudney from celebrating with his stupid arrow schtick though.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1prjLLcGl5Hzc4BmOixa2VqWZYc_rv7s1d9p8YJxoDoE/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /] The Angels fell behind fast and weren’t ever in good position to reclaim the game. Even their threat in the ninth wasn’t as big as it might have seemed.

Halo A-Hole

You were just easing back on the throttle, right, Jered?