Boxscore Breakdown #7: Deficit reduction – Angels 6, Rangers 3

After getting swept at home by the Royals, the Angels were on the precipice of falling into another deep deficit to start their season, a deficit that they’ve only been able to pay their way out once in the last few years. Then they went and had an early deficit to get out of in this game, which they did manage to do, ironically against a pitcher (stupidly) nicknamed “National Det.” Will this prove to be a metaphor for their early season or just a coincidence?

Angels 6, Rangers 3

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1F1GlCuVwrR5647PGv7kX5Y2Ink67b0zIj-pOSFJMcjw/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] Hey, look! The offense broke out a bit and the platoon strategy started to pay off, too. Cowgill had the big blast to tie the game up and David Freese continued to show his value as a cleanup hitter against southpaws. Matt Joyce got the start because of Calhoun’s injury and did come away with a double, however I’m guessing that it gets changed to an error seeing how it hit Choo right in the glove. Also of note, Mike Trout stole a base!

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1F1GlCuVwrR5647PGv7kX5Y2Ink67b0zIj-pOSFJMcjw/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] Prince Fielder led the charge for Texas and he didn’t even need to bunt against the shift to do it. Meanwhile Shin-Soo Choo was both a disaster in the field and at the plate. This isn’t your daddy’s Rangers offense that used to be able to pour it on after jumping out to a 3-0 lead.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1F1GlCuVwrR5647PGv7kX5Y2Ink67b0zIj-pOSFJMcjw/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] Matt Shoemaker had the rough start in the first inning where everything was getting hit, not particularly hard, but he was clearly catching too much of the plate. After that though, he locked it down. He also racked up the Ks again, once more quieting concerns after his poor spring. Ross Detwiler was the yin to Shoemaker’s yang as Detwiler succeeded early despite shaky command only to see the wheels completely come off in the fifth inning.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1F1GlCuVwrR5647PGv7kX5Y2Ink67b0zIj-pOSFJMcjw/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] The Rangers relievers more or less stopped the bleeding, plus they introduced us the name Stolmy Pimentel, for that we are grateful. The Angels bullpen completely locked things down and I am certainly coming around on Cesar Ramos being a pretty nice addition.

Defensive Dynamics
The Rangers had their defensive issues in the outfield to help get the Angels on the board, but the Angels had their own issues with their pitchers being almost as bad at pickoff throws as Jon Lester.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1F1GlCuVwrR5647PGv7kX5Y2Ink67b0zIj-pOSFJMcjw/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /] The Angels were really in bad, bad shape after that first inning and they didn’t really put much of a dent in their disadvantage until they just cracked the whole thing open and flipped the percentages during their big fifth inning. After that, it was Texas’s turn to not put much of a dent in the disadvantage.

Halo Hero

Big ups to Shoemaker for salvaging this after his slow start. The Halos really needed a good start from someone in the rotation after the last series and Shoe gave them exactly that.