This story is getting old. The Angels lost by one and were 1-for-whatever with men in scoring position. A talented offense they have, but not with RIP for whatever reason. They hit .246, 11th in the AL, with RISP but are .258 and 6th in the AL overall.
It isn’t all bad though as they have a 101 wRC+ with RISP, though that is down from their 109 overall. One would have to think that those will even out before long, but we’ve been saying that for weeks now and this RISP issue is not an issue unique to this season. It is time to end this story and start a new one.
Run Expectancy Rundown
Chris Iannetta was the entire offense, pretty much. Mike Trout tried to create some offense and even started stealing some bases (and in front of Pujols, no less!). The problem though is that the recently hot Albert Pujols and less recently hot Josh Hamilton both went ice cold and stranded everybody. I’m just saying when you have a night where Raul Ibanez has a hit, two walks and a stolen base and you don’t win, you’ve wasted an opportunity.
Like the Angels, the Indians really only had two guys bringing the offense, Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley. Unfortunately, those two were just a little bit better.
Starting Pitcher Scores
This is status quo for Weaver now. He’ll compete but he just isn’t going to dominate. When he makes mistakes, he is going to pay for them. That still makes him useful, just not elite anymore. Trevor Bauer followed in the footsteps of many recent opposing starting pitchers in that he allowed too many hits but somehow got away with it.
Bullpen Battle
The Angels relievers kept the Halos within comeback distance, but Terry Francona wisely rode the hot hand of Carlos Carrasco who picked up a seven-out save since the Angels just couldn’t figure him out.
Game Flow
The Angels certainly had their chances at overtaking the Braves, mostly in the early going. The real backbreaker was the failed hit-and-run in the eighth that spoiled their last real threat.
Halo A-Hole
Pujols was the most guilty of missing opportunities, so he gets to bear the Halo A-Hole crown on everyone else’s behalf.
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