The Angels got what they deserved in this one. For the first time all season, I found myself rooting for the Halos to lose a game because I would’ve hated to see them getting rewarded ineptitude and ignorance.
The failure to hit with RISP is once again rearing its head to ruin the Angels season. Part of that is bad luck like lining into an unassisted double play only because the runners were in motion. Part of it is having a stars and scrubs roster that can’t generate offense when the stars are slumping. Part of it is a manager stuck in the Stone Age ordering the team to give away outs when they are already doing a fine job of that on their own.
As easy as it is to say that hitting the clutch isn’t a skill, it is just as easy to question how it is the Angels keeping having problems in this area. They are once again having guys openly talk to the media about how much they need to stop pressing and putting pressure on themselves, something the manager should be able to influence, but clearly hasn’t because he is too busy trying to think of new and creative reasons for not using Huston Street in a tied extra inning game on the road.
It is times like these that really make you wonder if Jerry Dipoto wasn’t right to be concerned that the coaching staff wasn’t properly relaying scouting reports to the hitters. Something is clearly broken with the Angels offense and it isn’t something just rearranging the batting order is going to fix. This is a process problem and that is not something for which the players are responsible.
The Big Catorce however…
White Sox 3, Angels 2
Run Expectancy Rundown
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Conor Gillaspie did his best to avenge his DFAing by his old team, but apparently no one on his new team felt like helping him. To be fair, there were some encouraging performances, including a three-hit day from Albert Pujols, another multi-hit game from C.J. Cron and Carlos Perez actually drawing some walks. The real problem was that the guys coming off the bench completely fell on their face in big moments.
Starting Pitcher Scores
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Andrew Heaney had a solid bounceback performance. He didn’t go deep into the game, but he handled a right-hand dominant lineup well enough. The real complaint here is that the Angels made frigging John Danks look like a stud. They didn’t get much going against him at all despite the fact that John Danks sucks.
Bullpen Battle
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Fine work from the Angels bullpen despite Mike Scioscia‘s best efforts to mismanage them. Cesar Ramos obviously didn’t do his job, but someone was going to give up a run at some point. The real issue is that Ramos is in a real slump right now and I think Scioscia knows it, but he just ran out of arms and had to call on him. The White Sox relievers racked up the WPA, but they tried giving away this game so, so many times.
Game Flow
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I can’t even look at this. So many chances to win the game, so many failures.
Halo A-Hole
There were a lot of guys to choose from, but DeJesus twice was up with a chance to win the game with two outs but grounded out instead.
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