It's official. The Angels will end the ceremonial first half of the season under .500. The loss tonight means that even if they win the next two the Halos best case scenario is 46-47 to head into the all star break. Now if you had checked with me about a month ago and told me that was going to be their record at this point I would be ecstatic, but lately the team has been playing better so I assumed a favorable tally would be expected at this point. Alas, the pitching let us down again tonight and we head into the weekend still staring up at a winning record.
Game Notes
— At this point in the season the Angels slash line against left handed pitching is .239/.305/.391 which is last or near last in the American league ( I couldn't bear to actually look to see if we were last). When we look back on the 2013 season this will undoubtedly be one of the key plot points of their unfortunate demise. We all knew Josh Hamiton would probably suck against southpaws (.151 batting average), but the real mystery seems to be Mark Trumbo (.218 BAA). In fact the team has almost as many strikeouts as hits (177 to 198).
— How come no one is asking about Raul Ibanez and PED's? Two homers tonight which gives him 24 for the season and he's like 80. I'm not saying, I'm just saying!
— Garrett Richards is one crazy enigma. I so want him to be reliable so he can work his way back into the starting rotation. His stuff is legitimate top of the rotation material but he just can't seem to put it together. One might argue that this is due to the ping pong effect Mike Scioscia has put him through moving him from starter to bullpen to minors back to the bullpen. Even in that merry go round he has his bullpen role changed from set up man to long man to mop up. That's a lot to put a guy through. I had hoped that a shut down night from Richards would have finally seen him back as a starter but another crappy outing but the brakes on that. Now you have to wonder if he will ever live up to his potential.
Halo A Hole
Oh look, Jerome's back!! Another putrid outing and, all of a sudden, the Angels are desperate for anyone who can pitch into the sixth inning. Jerome's sinker is flat and his fastball doesn't move enough to fool hitters so when he gets hit, it's hard. Like tonight. And the last two starts. Yuck!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
