Boxscore Breakdown #45: The bat dies a hero – Angels 4, Padres 3

The true hero of this game was the bat of Albert Pujols. It gave its life for the greater good. Though it has shattered into dozens of tiny splinters, we shall remember Albert’s bat for the truly selfless sacrifice that it made. We will also remember Albert for his defiant stare into the Padres bench for having the audacity to pitch around Trout to get to him, as if allowing himself to get sawed off by Kimbrel was part of his plan all along. Seriously Albert, you got busted up but the ball found a hole. Let’s not act like you hit some towering homer here. You got lucky.

Angels 4, Padres 3

Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/18oq0rLgpYCvIdurE6B1P0M2t2NEQXW2XRFETZLNQMpQ/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /] It was a good day to be a struggling Angel hitter as Matt Joyce, Marc Krauss and Johnny Giavotella each had two hits. Actually, it was a good day to be anyone but David Freese, the only Angel to not pick up a base hit. I also love that Albert had the walk-off winner and still finished with a negative RE24.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/18oq0rLgpYCvIdurE6B1P0M2t2NEQXW2XRFETZLNQMpQ/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /] Will Venable had the big hit for the Padres, though it wasn’t actually an impressive hit so much as a well-placed one. That Matt Kemp trade isn’t looking so hot for the Pads, is it? In fact, this Padres lineup doesn’t look all that different than the Angels lineup, and I don’t mean that as a compliment.

Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/18oq0rLgpYCvIdurE6B1P0M2t2NEQXW2XRFETZLNQMpQ/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /] Jered Weaver had a pretty good game but he should have had a better game. I completely fail to understand the logic of Scioscia making the call to the bullpen when he did. I don’t think Jered understood it either. Tyson Ross was worse than his Game Score indicates, but the Angels inability with RISP figured in prominently into this game… and most Angels games, really.

Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/18oq0rLgpYCvIdurE6B1P0M2t2NEQXW2XRFETZLNQMpQ/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /] The completely unnecessary Jose Alvarez appearance didn’t work out so well, but at least Scioscia finally took advantage of Joe Smith‘s incredible pitch efficiency and had him go multiple innings. It was almost like he should’ve just brought Smith in to replace Weaver instead of Alvarez. The Padres bullpen is normally infallible, but apparently Craig Kimbrel is mortal now.

Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/18oq0rLgpYCvIdurE6B1P0M2t2NEQXW2XRFETZLNQMpQ/pubchart” query=”oid=451609002&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”316″ /] The Angels had the win expectancy all the way up to 93% before Alvarez’s misadventure, so again, I would like an explanation for that bit of idiocy.

Halo Hero

Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.