Boxscore Breakdown #97: When shortstops lose their mind – Rangers 7, Angels 6

Last night’s game was a weird one for shortstops. Erick Aybar gave away a perfectly good double play to help facilitate a Texas comeback. And then Elvis Andrus did this… for some reason:

[mlbvideo id=”295540983?topic_id=6479266″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]

It is like the shortstops in this game just lost their ever-loving minds. Aybar even had an earlier gaffe in which he took his eye off the ball on a poor throw from Albert Pujols, leading to an error and more runs scoring. I’m not sure how, but I’m also pretty sure that Kyle Kubitza‘s bumbling defense in left field Aybar’s fault, too.

Rangers 7, Angels 6

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1ppQmU7IcG7CsQbzxnfuHe01UK2I-1yzf020rNyfN2gI/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] Kole Calhoun continues to demolish everything in his path. The real bright spot here was Conor Gillaspie showing well in his first game as an Angel. Erick Aybar made up somewhat for his miscues in the field by reaching base three times, but he did also get caught stealing, so he couldn’t even do that right.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1ppQmU7IcG7CsQbzxnfuHe01UK2I-1yzf020rNyfN2gI/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] It was a good day to be a Ranger whose first name started with the letter R. Robinson, Rougned and Ryan were responsible for a lion’s share of the production. Rangers whose first named started with an A, Adrian and Adam, didn’t fare nearly as well.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1ppQmU7IcG7CsQbzxnfuHe01UK2I-1yzf020rNyfN2gI/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] The strand rate gods finally turned their back on Hector Santiago in this game. He battled as best he could, but he just didn’t have it. Yovani Gallardo didn’t have anything either, much the chagrin of his stock on the trade market.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1ppQmU7IcG7CsQbzxnfuHe01UK2I-1yzf020rNyfN2gI/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] It sucks when a bullpen blows a game, but this is the first choke job the Halo relievers have turned in for quite some time. Joe Smith has been terrific this year, but when he has bad day, he has a REALLY bad day. Aybar let him down, but Smith wasn’t exactly helping himself either. The real shame here is that the Angels failed to take advantage of a pretty lousy Texas bullpen.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1ppQmU7IcG7CsQbzxnfuHe01UK2I-1yzf020rNyfN2gI/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /] I got it. I don’t got it. I got it. I don’t got it. I didn’t get it.

Halo A-Hole

The Aybar mental mistake used to be a much more regular thing, so I guess we should be grateful.