Boxscore Breakdown #131: Total collapse – Athletics 11, Angels 5

The collapse of the Angels in August is now complete. That isn’t to say that the collapse is only now official, rather it means that August is done. The Angels are now free to continue collapsing into September and there is little reason to think that they won’t. In fact, their collapse has now reached a point where it has become contagious. Last night Shane Victorino tumbled into the left field wall at O.co Coliseum and the wall just fell apart. That’s how fast this spreads! One small instance of contact and the stadium is now collapsing. I’m pretty sure this is how the zombie plague in The Walking Dead started.

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Athletics 11, Angels 5

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17zJM3O2v1cswMehG_0LUs94qQp3AkM4BZyLy1oEmigY/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] It was actually a pretty good night for the Angels offense. They had lots of hits and walks and C.J. Cron even stole home. Of course, they hit nothing but singles and Grant Green made one of the dumbest steal attempts of the season, so it wasn’t without its faults. Erick Aybar was the big winner on the night and Kaleb Cowart went out on a high note as he is now likely to return to the minors and/or bench for the next little while.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17zJM3O2v1cswMehG_0LUs94qQp3AkM4BZyLy1oEmigY/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] According to this chart, Billy Burns was the only guy standing in the way of progress. Everyone else was teeing off on the Halos. Actually, that’s not even true. Oakland “only” had nine hits, they just barely left anyone on base.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17zJM3O2v1cswMehG_0LUs94qQp3AkM4BZyLy1oEmigY/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] Hector Santiago got staked to a three-run lead early and did everything he could to blow that lead as quickly and spectacularly as possible. His awful performance of late stands out in a rotation full of guys that have had bad second halves. Felix Doubront wasn’t very good either, but Santiago was just so much worse.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17zJM3O2v1cswMehG_0LUs94qQp3AkM4BZyLy1oEmigY/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] The bullpen was terrible and allowed a bunch of runs but I’m not even mad. This crew is exhausted. There is nobody happier about the September call-ups arriving than the fatigued elbows and shoulders of the Angel relievers.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/17zJM3O2v1cswMehG_0LUs94qQp3AkM4BZyLy1oEmigY/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /] That was some cliff Hector pushed the Angels off of. The fall was quick, but at least the game was interminable.

Halo A-Hole

That’s now three straight starts where Santiago hasn’t been able to get through five innings. He finishes the month with a 6.21 ERA and 5.61 FIP. But, hey, he’s got that All-Star selection to hang his hat on, right?