Boxscore Breakdown #135: Slip up – Rangers 2, Angels 1

The Angels can’t afford any slip ups right now as they cling to their last breath of playoff life, yet they slipped up at the worst time. Taylor Featherston couldn’t maintain his balance when changing direction on what should’ve been an easy groundball. Instead, he not only failed to field the ball cleanly, he failed to even touch the ball. It bounced right passed him, allowing Texas to put a man on third to score the eventual go-ahead run. That tiny misplay cost the Angels the game and took a huge bite out of their chances of making the playoffs. They’re still barely alive, but they can’t afford any other slip ups like that one.

Rangers 2, Angels 1

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/133HFAklFtV2vzhg20ld5PMCWoNlkKxy0-dIcMOdL6eU/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] C.J. Cron drove in all of the Angels runs for the second game in a row, only this time that wasn’t a good thing. With three hits and just two walks on the day, this was a pretty disheartening performance from a lineup that had shown flashes of turning things around. NOPE.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/133HFAklFtV2vzhg20ld5PMCWoNlkKxy0-dIcMOdL6eU/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] Rougned Odor drove in the winning run with a sac fly but had the lowest RE24 for the Rangers because apparently RE24 is trolling Angels fans. Texas had their opportunities but did an Angels impersonation whilst batting with runners in scoring position.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/133HFAklFtV2vzhg20ld5PMCWoNlkKxy0-dIcMOdL6eU/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] After the first inning, it looked like Jered Weaver was going to be in for another rough night, but he managed to pull it together. Derek Holland never had a rough innings, so he just kept it together over eight dominant innings.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/133HFAklFtV2vzhg20ld5PMCWoNlkKxy0-dIcMOdL6eU/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] Joe Smith gets the goat horns here, but really, it wasn’t all his fault as his defense let him down. It was disappointing that he couldn’t get a grounder out of Odor when he needed it, but he never really should’ve been in that position.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/133HFAklFtV2vzhg20ld5PMCWoNlkKxy0-dIcMOdL6eU/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /] The Angels avoided letting this game get ugly a couple of times, but otherwise I see no evidence of this team putting up much of a fight at any point, despite the importance of the game.

Halo A-Hole

You could’ve at least knocked the ball down, Taylor. If you aren’t going to field, what good are you?