Boxscore Breakdown #105: Clobber Kluber – Angels 5, Indians 4

The losing streak is over! All is once again right in the world. The Angels not only won, but they won against Corey Kluber,a bona fide ace, and did so without Albert Pujols, no less. This was quite the encouraging win, not just because they clobbered Corey Kluber but because they didn’t roll over and die after spotting the defending Cy Young winner a 3-0 lead before he ever took the mound and because they managed not to blow the lead despite having ample opportunity to do so. This was a win the Angels badly needed.

Angels 5, Indians 4

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UIB-kH8_eYsbQKpJX0zELF7vV9oNGjAGzwshM8_TMNs/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”343″ /] Conor Gillaspie just endeared himself to the entire Angels fandom with his go-ahead dinger off Kluber. Also getting on the board with two hits was C.J. Cron, who hopefully is showing signs of life again. Kole Calhoun had a very good night which should’ve been even better if not for a leaping Michael Bourn. Every single Angel starter had a hit.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UIB-kH8_eYsbQKpJX0zELF7vV9oNGjAGzwshM8_TMNs/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] Geovany Urshela had a rough night, but I’m also 90% sure that his name is made-up. Yan Gomes had the one big blast off Richards while Carlos Santana and Michael Brantley found their success via dinkers and nubbers.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UIB-kH8_eYsbQKpJX0zELF7vV9oNGjAGzwshM8_TMNs/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] Garrett Richards was dominant for six innings, the only problem was that he pitched 7.1 innings. His 11 strikeouts tied a career-high and are as great a sign as anything that he is getting close to recapturing his ace form of 2014. Kluber just didn’t have it in this game. He allowed ten hits, but there were at least half a dozen very hard hit balls that were either right at a defender or snared via a terrific defensive play. The fact that all four of his strikeouts were of the looking variety, and with a big assist from a wildly inconsistent strike zone, demonstrates his inability to prevent guys from making contact.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UIB-kH8_eYsbQKpJX0zELF7vV9oNGjAGzwshM8_TMNs/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] Joe Smith and Cesar Ramos combined to allow an inherited runner to score, but they didn’t really do anything wrong other than have bad BABIP luck. The Cleveland bullpen was able to stop the bleeding and give the Angels bullpen a chance to much things up.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UIB-kH8_eYsbQKpJX0zELF7vV9oNGjAGzwshM8_TMNs/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /] Things looked pretty bad for awhile there, but the Angel bats finally broke through.

Halo Hero

I can already here that certain segment of Angels fans lobbying for Gillaspie to be the new starting third baseman over Freese.