Boxscore Breakdown #53: Sterling Archer – Rays 6, Angels 1

Chris Archer really gave it to the Angels. Um, phrasing.

The Angels offense has been decidedly un-terrible lately, but they were helpless against Archer. I guess you could say that Archer was, Sterling. Sterling Archer. This was just one of those games where the starter is so good that there really just isn’t anything anyone can do. It is a type of game that I like to call… The Danger Zone.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyAn3fSs8_A]

Rays 6, Angels 1

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/12hOOF4lkE6yimj_dRwciGbPBQNw-ZvBQcdkwLOYy-5U/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] Obviously not a great night for the Angel hitters. Erick Aybar came up with two hits to be the only Halo on the positive side of the ledger, but the actual scoring came from Albert Pujols‘ latest moonshot. He’s en fuego right now, but it wasn’t enough for the Angels to get anything else going against Archer.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/12hOOF4lkE6yimj_dRwciGbPBQNw-ZvBQcdkwLOYy-5U/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] This mostly anonymous Rays lineup got it done. When you’ve got names like Logan Forsythe and Jake Elmore leading the way, how could they not? Not to make light of them, they really did take it to Wilson, especially Forsythe, who C.J. just couldn’t figure it out.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/12hOOF4lkE6yimj_dRwciGbPBQNw-ZvBQcdkwLOYy-5U/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] We’ve talked enough about how great Archer was, so let’s just focus on C.J. Wilson. Through the first 5.2 innings, he was pretty much going toe-to-toe with Archer. He just made the one mistake pitch to Forsythe in the first inning, but that was it. Then he just went and lost the strike zone entirely. Four runs later, the game was all but over. To be a little bit lenient on C.J., he was Kole Calhoun being able to dive about three inches further away from escaping the sixth inning without any damage.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/12hOOF4lkE6yimj_dRwciGbPBQNw-ZvBQcdkwLOYy-5U/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] Edgar Ibarra was impressive enough in his MLB debut, though he still isn’t likely to stick around for long. Cesar Ramos had his usual hiccups when forced into an inning where he was overexposed to right-handed hitting. Xavier Cedeno was the lone Tampa reliever and he was nice enough to give the Halos a break by not striking anyone out.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/12hOOF4lkE6yimj_dRwciGbPBQNw-ZvBQcdkwLOYy-5U/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /] Yeah, that sixth inning was a real killer.

Halo A-Hole

Sorry, C.J., but you can’t just count on Calhoun to bail you out with amazing diving catches every game.