Jesus Christ what a game. A highly un-Weaver-like start made it seem like the Angels were down and out for the count very early on, and that held up all the way until the 9th inning. A monster of an inning led the Angels to rally for 5 runs while down 6-0 to come one run within winning the game. Unfortunately with Trout up to bat with 2 men on he did the last thing we would have wanted to see, he walked….putting the game in Albert Pujols hands. Now I don't want to ride the poor guy into the ground, but Pujols is probably one of the last guys we want to see up to the plate with bases loaded and down by 1 against Mariano Rivera. Trout was the best hope the Angels had, two absolutely epic players battling in Trout and Rivera, two of the best in the game going head to head in a huge moment. It's unfortunate Trout took a base on balls, we could have all predicted a lousy strikeout by Pujols, at least with Trout it would have been easy to stomach.
Maybe now we can get Pujols out of the three hole?
Game Notes
— Weaver had it really hard in this afternoons affair. The typical 2-out runs that we're all so used to seeing is what killed Weaver today as he gave up 5 runs in the 3rd off of a 3 run bomb to Hafner and a double to Overbay. Despite such a rough inning he was still able to get through 6 innings for the Angels while handing the ball to Williams who allowed only 1 run in 3 innings of relief work. Even though Weaver looked just short of terrible today Williams looked fantastic in his new role, instead of having to burn through 2 or 3 separate relievers the Angels can safely rely on Williams to chew up a considerable amount of innings. In games like this with the Angels down 5 runs you don't really want to burn through your bullpen in a losing effort, so being able to throw out one guy who can still put up a quality performance over multiple innings is somewhat of a godsend as many clubs cannot say they have the same in their pens. The Angels had a good run today, but it wasn't good enough.
— Aside from the 9th inning the offense was absolutely flat today. Outside of the 9th inning no one besides Trout put up any considerable effort at the batters box today, practically the majority of the teams output was in the 9th inning. The Angels were forced to battle 3 different pitchers in the 9th, able to work a few men on base against Sabathia before seeing him pulled for David Robertson who gave up a walk and a hit to Trumbo while strikeout Kendrick (of course). Once Rivera came in things really got interesting as he surprisingly gave up THREE hits to the Angels which brought the run total up to 5 in the inning. Three hits in an inning off of the legendary Mariano Rivera is quite a feat, unfortunately the Angels were killed by the walk to Trout which led to Pujols coming up with the bases loaded. This is a recipe many of us aren't too pleased to have to watch, especially in the 9th against Mariano Rivera in the midst of a 5 run rally. Without coming across as redundant I would have much rather had the game live or die off of Trouts bat than Pujols. Watching Trout give up his potential game winning AB to Albert Pujols was incredibly disheartening. These are the things you have to live with as an Angels fan.
— Despite Mariano Rivera being an incredibly beloved figure I would have loved….no…..KILLED to see him blow his final save opportunity in Anaheim in such a grand fashion. Nothing would have please me greater than seeing this come to fruition. This loss was less Mo being Mo and more Pujols being……Pujols 🙁
Halo A-Hole
I don't want to talk about this anymore. Please don't make me talk about this anymore. This isn't an angered or frustrated A-Hole designation like most, this is just….sad….and pitiful.
I don't want to talk about this anymore.
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