Boxscore Breakdown #70: A little short – Athletics 3, Angels 2

First, apologies for the delay in posting this. I started a new “real” job this week, so I’m working some schedule stuff out. Bear with me the rest of this week until I get settled.

As for this game, the real story was how little,tiny Johnny Giavotella almost hit a big fly. It turns out that him being little and tiny didn’t serve him well as he flew out to the warning track. The disappointment of that outcome was evident on Johnny’s face when the ball landed in little, tiny Sam Fuld‘s glove. Not that anyone actually expected Johnny to smack a homer in that situation, but still, seeing how close that came and how close the Angels came to winning the game hurt.

Athletics 3, Angels 2

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1pbnG4Pfbm544-43LPG4yUZrk7MejKSiLYI_WJkG3VBI/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] Albert Pujols was really the only Angel worth a damn and that almost didn’t even happen. Mike Trout and Matt Joyce had two hits a piece, but those hits didn’t amount to much. The real issue, as has been the case seemingly all month, is that the Angels could not avoid the double play.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1pbnG4Pfbm544-43LPG4yUZrk7MejKSiLYI_WJkG3VBI/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] The A’s spread their offense around with all but two players picking up hits. Ike Davis only got credit for a single, but he missed a homer by just a few feet, so it is nice to see RE24 reward him, although I know it isn’t actually taking that into account.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1pbnG4Pfbm544-43LPG4yUZrk7MejKSiLYI_WJkG3VBI/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] Garrett Richards wasn’t all that great, but he’s been worse recently so I guess we will take it. What I can’t take is getting dominated by Scott Kazmir. That is several different kinds of upsetting.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1pbnG4Pfbm544-43LPG4yUZrk7MejKSiLYI_WJkG3VBI/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] Trevor Gott was perfect, but needed three good outfield plays to be perfect. Joe Smith was actually good. Tyler Clippard wasn’t good at all, but ended up with positive WPA marks just for existing on the mound.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1pbnG4Pfbm544-43LPG4yUZrk7MejKSiLYI_WJkG3VBI/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /] Not exactly a barn burner but the Angels certainly had their chances towards the end of the game to push things in their favor, but they came up a little short.

Halo A-Hole

Hit the weight room, Johnny.