Boxscore Breakdown #156: One-Run Kings – Angels 5, A’s 4

I guess we maybe should have guessed that the Angels would emerge victorious in a one-run game at least once this series. The A’s have had far and away the worst luck of any team this season in close games, going 18–34 (.346) in one-run contests. If you extend that back to last year’s trade deadline—i.e. the Yoenis Cespedes trade—Oakland is an even worse 24-49 (.329), making one wonder just what they did to piss off the baseball gods so absolutely. The Angels, meanwhile, have been nearly unbeatable (17–3) in one-run games since August. So, yeah, the writing was sort of on the wall with this one.

The walk-off hero Monday night was David Murphy, extending the Angels’ winning streak to six and putting the team just two back of the Rangers for first in the AL West. #TeamEntropy’s chances are looking pretty dang good right now. Not sure if that’s good or bad at this point.

Run Expectancy Rundown

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1tVHPfiWtAJ_YKx2lFTCgZRJmYCFhQRZEoo4QdV_tzHY/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /]

David Freese takes the RE24 crown for his swinging bunt ROE in the ninth, but the accolades should really go to David Murphy for his pinch-hit walk-off single, C.J. Cron for his three-hit night, and Johnny Giavotella for tallying yet another extra-base hit. Mike Trout didn’t have a great night, but he did reach base for the 11th straight game and for the 23rd time in 25 games this month.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1tVHPfiWtAJ_YKx2lFTCgZRJmYCFhQRZEoo4QdV_tzHY/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /]

Coco Crisp came on as a pinch hitter in the sixth and ended up going 2-for-2 on the night. Billy Butler had an RBI double and Marcus Semien blasted his 14th dinger of the year. The A’s as a team though went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Starting Pitcher Scores

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1tVHPfiWtAJ_YKx2lFTCgZRJmYCFhQRZEoo4QdV_tzHY/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /]

Hector Santiago had his magic act working once again, escaping a self-made, bases-loaded jam in the first. He mostly settled down from there, though, retiring 13 of his final 17 batters. Felix Doubront was not godd but also not completely terrible, which pretty much sums up his career.

Bullpen Battle

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1tVHPfiWtAJ_YKx2lFTCgZRJmYCFhQRZEoo4QdV_tzHY/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /]

The Angels bullpen again shined, holding Oakland off the board (other than an inherited run) for the final 3⅓. This time it was Cam Bedrosian and Trevor Gott throwing scoreless innings. Who knows who’ll step up next time.

The Oakland A’s had Sean Doolittle warming but went to Edward Mujica instead because ¯_(ツ)_/¯. For once, the “no closers in a tie game on the road” stupidity worked in the Angels’ favor.

Game Flow

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1tVHPfiWtAJ_YKx2lFTCgZRJmYCFhQRZEoo4QdV_tzHY/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /]

Never any doubt. Yep, totally had it the whole way…

Halo Hero

David Murphy gets his second walk-off as an Angel in two months, or as many as Josh Hamilton in two years with the Halos.