Of the 22 balls the Angels put into play Saturday night, 15 were ground balls. Thanks to three double plays turned by the Rangers, those 15 grounders ultimately resulted in 16 outs. Cole Hamels was especially effective getting Angels hitters to roll over, netting 12 of those groundball outs in his six innings of work.
As you might gather, a bunch grounders don’t normally lead to big innings—hard to hit the ball over the fence when it’s gathering moss. For the second night in a row the Angels were useless in the clutch, going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
The good news is that the Angels won’t post a .227 BABIP forever, even if they continue to chop the ball into the ground with impunity, so some better fortune on offense should come soon. With pitch-to-contact lefty Martin Perez on the mound for Texas on Sunday, “soon” could be as early as today.
Run Expectancy Rundown
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1iCY_csldhERCDeY17IvMX8pxZYTkWQOhaU0q5Z7SOME/pubchart” query=”oid=1976391661&format=interactive” width=”623″ height=”389″ /]Yunel Escobar and Craig Gentry did their best to set the table for the heart of the order, reaching base two and three times, respectively, but Mike Trout and Albert Pujols couldn’t come through beyond a weak RBI groundout. Trout eventually tallied his first extra-base hit of the season, but with one out in the ninth and no one on base it was too little too late. Five games in and Gentry, Daniel Nava, and Kole Calhoun are the only Angels regulars batting over .235.
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1iCY_csldhERCDeY17IvMX8pxZYTkWQOhaU0q5Z7SOME/pubchart” query=”oid=1154832181&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”341″ /]Adrian Beltre hit into a double play in his first AB, but then proceeded to be a one-man wrecking crew the rest of the night. He homered and doubled twice on the night, almost equaling the combined extra-base hit total of the entire Angels team so far this season. Backup catcher Bryan Holaday, of all people, was the nail in the coffin for Garrett Richards‘ night, slapping an RBI double just inside the left field line in the seventh.
Starting Pitcher Scores
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1Qhh8JqC-FETXCe59RZGddP8rgsS69lNuTEIlhUsBlFw/pubchart” query=”oid=161400381&format=interactive” width=”584″ height=”293″ /]Garrett Richards was again strong but still not quite at the level he needs to be. Two errors by the Angels’ defense certainly didn’t help his cause, but that doesn’t excuse away the five extra-base hits he allowed in his 6⅔ innings. Cole Hamels was electric for the Rangers. He didn’t strike out many Angels batters, but he didn’t really need to with everyone smacking everything straight into the ground.
Bullpen Battle
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1Qhh8JqC-FETXCe59RZGddP8rgsS69lNuTEIlhUsBlFw/pubchart” query=”oid=1141913419&format=interactive” width=”620″ height=”315″ /]The bullpen let yet another inherited runner score on Saturday, making them a woeful 4-for-8 on the year. For reference, the worst Inherited Scoring % by a team last season was 34%. Jose Alvarez was the culprit this time, so at least the team is spreading the badness around, I guess. Mike Morin and A.J. Achter, in his Angel debut, each turned in a scoreless frame. The Rangers bullpen again overpowered the Angels, allowing just one baserunner in three innings.
Game Flow
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1Qhh8JqC-FETXCe59RZGddP8rgsS69lNuTEIlhUsBlFw/pubchart” query=”oid=41272350&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”315″ /]That two-out rally by the Rangers in the seventh killed it.
Angel Antagonist
Escobar wasn’t the only Angel to err on defense in the seventh, but he is the only one to have three errors in the first five games. Maybe it’s time to start trying him at DH?
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