Boxscore Breakdown #125: Fired up? – Angels 8, Tigers 7

The narrative from this game is that Jered Weaver “fired up” the Angels by pulling his typical redass act and screaming at everyone in the dugout after Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun had a miscommunication in the outfield. This display of rage and frustration allegedly inspired the team. Here are the things that happened after Jered’s allegedly inspirational tirade:

• The Angels scored two runs in the fourth. So far, so good.
• The Angels scored two more runs in the fifth. Jered is a true leader and clearly has a career as a motivational speaker awaiting him when the season ends.
• David Murphy grounded into a double play to end the top of the sixth. Oh well, can’t win ’em all.
• Weaver gave up a two-run homer in the sixth. Uh oh.
• C.J. Cron grounded into a double play in the top of the seventh. Well, that’s just got to be a coincidence, right?
• Fernando Salas got in trouble in the bottom of the seventh and had to be bailed out by Joe Smith, but not before he allowed an inherited run to score and nearly blew the lead entirely save for a diving stop by Albert Pujols. The lead is down to run and everyone is starting to wonder if Weaver’s vocal cords can handle another rant.
• Joe Smith got in trouble in the bottom of the eighth and had to be bailed out by Huston Street.
• Huston Street got in trouble in the bottom of the ninth but managed to escape.

If a “fired up” Angels club is a club that needed to tire their bullpen and get a healthy dose of BABIP luck to protect a four-run lead, I want no part. I’m just saying that I don’t think that whatever expletives Jered was shouting in the dugout aren’t going to go down in the pantheon of great sports speeches. Kurt Russell playing Herb Brooks won’t be abdicating the throne anytime soon.

Angels 8, Tigers 7

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UjgjIJkfbCfuQkpw0fSjlyD_TUBbU-p6Lhwkn3F8w_w/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] The Angels scored eight runs but didn’t have a particularly huge day at the plate. Albert Pujols had the big homer and Erick Aybar got loose a bit, but there was also a big helping hand from Alfredo Simon who plated three runs all by himself via wild pitches. They even tried to sabotage their offensive outburst by laying down FOUR sac bunts.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UjgjIJkfbCfuQkpw0fSjlyD_TUBbU-p6Lhwkn3F8w_w/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] Miguel Cabrera came off the DL just in time to give the Angels a hard time. The one thing that probably helped the Angels not blow this game was Victor Martinez coming up short in a few big spots. Otherwise, this beleaguered lineup gave the Halos a pretty good scare.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UjgjIJkfbCfuQkpw0fSjlyD_TUBbU-p6Lhwkn3F8w_w/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] This was the first time we’d seen Weaver look like the guy he was before his DL stint. He blew one four-run lead and nearly blew another. The defense didn’t help, but neither did him only generating two swinging strikes. Honestly, Jered should be counting his blessings that Alfredo Simon was so horrible. Honestly, he should consider it a success that he only had a line this bad. a team with a fully functional offense probably would’ve scored 13 runs and chased him before the end of the second inning.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UjgjIJkfbCfuQkpw0fSjlyD_TUBbU-p6Lhwkn3F8w_w/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] It sure says a lot about the state of the Angels that they had to use their top four relievers and use their closer for a four-out save to win a game where they twice led by four runs. Clearly, Scioscia senses the desperation. The Tigers pen pitched shutout ball, which is an indictment on the Angels offense seeing how the Detroit relief corps is a pool of toxic sludge.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1UjgjIJkfbCfuQkpw0fSjlyD_TUBbU-p6Lhwkn3F8w_w/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /] This is so dumb. The Angels had an 87% win expectancy after the first inning and dropped down to 47% during the third before rebounding to 93% in the sixth. Only then they nearly choked again with their win expectancy plummeting to 66% an inning later. They finished it off, but it wasn’t without a lot of scares along the way.

Halo Hero

Aybar had a great day. Just imagine how great it would’ve been had Scioscia not had him lay down a sac bunt in the top of the first despite Simon failing to get anyone out yet at that point.