Hector Santiago turned in his first sub par start of the season and the Angels dropped the series opener in Arlington 4-2. All told, it really wasn’t that poor of a start for Santiago, allowing four runs in 5⅔ innings. As has haunted him in the past, though, a two-out rally by Texas in the sixth inning turned a one-run lead into a two-run deficit, too large a gap for the quiet Angel bats to overcome.
There was good and bad to take from Santiago’s start. Allowing eight hits and striking out one is obviously not great, but he also only walked one batter and ended the night with 99 pitches thrown in nearly six innings—there were starts last season when he threatened 100 pitches in the fifth inning. His BABIP going into the game was absurdly low, and now it sits at a still-low .230. That luck was bound to run out eventually. That he kept the Angels in the game in a tough park for pitchers without his best stuff is still an encouraging sign.
And, for real, if the Angels just hit Colby Freaking Lewis like they were supposed to they would have won anyway.
Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/114mZhheFHiyYgaocqT0PDXAWRzCkSoXK87Kko29J7qo/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”429″ /]All Geovany Soto does is hit. He is posting a .416 wOBA in his brief playing time this year while Carlos Perez continues to scuffle in nearly double the plate appearances. Perez is the better defensive option, which we all know Mike Scioscia loves, but every time Soto collects another extra-base hit it seems silly that he doesn’t get more starts behind the dish.
Mike Trout was the only other positive on the RE24 ledger. Rafael Ortega had a rough day with the bat but he did collect another outfield assist, his fourth of the season. Ortega has saved four runs defensively this year, so if his bat is somewhat for real he might be the best left field option in the organization. For now, the Angels can boast one of the better defensive outfields in the game.
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/114mZhheFHiyYgaocqT0PDXAWRzCkSoXK87Kko29J7qo/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /]Mitch Moreland collected the go-ahead base hit in the sixth inning. Ryan Rua put the Rangers on the board with a solo homer in the fifth inning when it looked like Santiago was going to cruise to another win.
Adrian Beltre grounded into a killer double play in the sixth inning that appeared to extinguish the Texas rally. Unfortunately for the Angels the next three Rangers recorded a RBI base hit.
Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/114mZhheFHiyYgaocqT0PDXAWRzCkSoXK87Kko29J7qo/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /]Not a great night for Santiago, but Colby Lewis wasn’t much better. Lewis must have made a sacrifice to the BABIP and sequencing gods because he didn’t strike out any Angels, allowed nine hits, and still threw seven innings and earned a “quality start.” Twenty-one of the balls in play Lewis allowed were fly balls, which is usually a recipe for disaster in Texas. The Angels weren’t particularly bad with runners in scoring position either, going 1-for-4 on the night. A good, or lucky, job by Lewis of scattering the hits.
Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/114mZhheFHiyYgaocqT0PDXAWRzCkSoXK87Kko29J7qo/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /]Nate wrote about the Angel relievers’ curious inability to strike out batters this year and the trend continued in the series opener. Cam Bedrosian, Greg Mahle, and Cory Rasmus combined for 2⅓ innings of shutout ball and didn’t strike out a batter.
Sam Dyson and Shawn Tolleson slammed the door on the Angels in the final two innings, allowing only one base-runner. Tolleson has eight saves, the second most in baseball, and a 6.00 ERA. That’s…odd.
Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/114mZhheFHiyYgaocqT0PDXAWRzCkSoXK87Kko29J7qo/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /]The Angels looked to be on a steady climb to victory but couldn’t cash in enough times with their ample amount of base-runners. The game was effectively over after the sixth inning.
Angel Antagonist
It feels a bit unfair to give this distinction to Santiago because he wasn’t especially awful, but I gotta give it to someone.
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