Boxscore Breakdown #40: Unbroken – Angels 4, Blue Jays 3

Albert Pujols is bruised but not broken. Literally. That’s not just a metaphor. His hand got hit by a pitch, but he escaped with just a contusion and no fractures. Now if you want a metaphor, the Angels were bruised in this game but unbroken. They fell behind early after a big inning, but survived that blow to battle back and win. Ironically, they won on the strength of a clutch double from Marc Krauss, the guy who who replaced the contused Pujols. That’s the kind of thing you need to have happen to escape without breaking.

Angels 4, Blue Jays 3

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1rmE1jUeZtfzBx84bk9BIIuD4unbVmS7YFj17Eth6wTE/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] Mike Trout slumps don’t tend to last very long do they? Matt Joyce slumps do last a long time, but he took another positive step forward in this game. We also saw Taylor Featherston get back-to-back starts and back-to-back games of looking lost at the plate. At least he stole a base though. The real big hit came from Marc Krauss of all people. Granted, he made an out in the ninth inning where he could’ve given the Angels a bigger cushion, but let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1rmE1jUeZtfzBx84bk9BIIuD4unbVmS7YFj17Eth6wTE/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] Danny Valencia was the only Jay with multiple hits and he stole a bag as well, which was kind of surprising. The real story here though is that Jered Weaver went right into the teeth of one of the biggest trio of sluggers in baseball (Donaldson, Bautista, Encarnacion) and escaped without even allowing a hit. That seemed impossible a month ago.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1rmE1jUeZtfzBx84bk9BIIuD4unbVmS7YFj17Eth6wTE/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] Like I just said, this was a really impressive accomplishment for Weaver even if his line wasn’t as good as his previous two starts. Drew Hutchison improved by his standards, but got roughed up by Angels standards.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1rmE1jUeZtfzBx84bk9BIIuD4unbVmS7YFj17Eth6wTE/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] Joe Smith continues to not mess around as he had yet another single-digit pitch count outing. Huston Street actually coughed up a hit, but he’s still pretty locked in otherwise and these two are a big reason the Halos have so many one-run games of lately.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1rmE1jUeZtfzBx84bk9BIIuD4unbVmS7YFj17Eth6wTE/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /] That big inning from Toronto felt like a deathblow to the Angels given their lack of offensive prowess, but win percentage wise, they were still plenty alive. It helps to have Mike Trout answer back with a home run immediately.

Halo Hero

This might very well end up being the highlight of Marc Krauss’s Angels career.