Boxscore Breakdown #7: The Tropedo Strikes Oakland – Angels 4, A’s 1

The Angels got the first evidence Monday of how their stockpile of starting pitching might actually pay off over the course of the season, with Nick Tropeano matching Sonny Gray pitch for pitch through five shutout innings in Oakland. The Tropedo shut down the A’s in order only once in his five frames but made the most of his pitches when he needed to, striking out six and holding the offense hitless in six RISP at-bats.

The Angels also got their first real sign of life from their offense, with a two-run blast from Mike Trout and the first RBI of the season for Daniel Nava and Andrelton Simmons. If the increase in fly balls and line drives hit on Monday is any indication, things should get better as the series goes on. Not having to face a starter of the same caliber as Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester, Cole Hamels, or Gray until at least next week should help.

Run Expectancy Rundown

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It’s amazing what happens when the top of the lineup all group their hits together. That’s exactly what Yunel Escobar, Daniel Nava, and Mike Trout did in the sixth, mashing a double, single, and home run on three consecutive pitches to give the Halos all the runs they’d need. Kole Calhoun extended his hitting streak to five games, Carlos Perez notched his first extra-base hit of the year, Albert Pujols stole a base standing up(!), and Cliff Pennington reached twice for the second time in two starts. C.J. Cron is now 0-for-15 in his last four games, and 2-for-26 overall—he might need to drop even lower in the order.

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Josh Reddick had Tropeano’s number all night, tallying a double, single, and a (intentional) walk in three times up against the right-hander. Everyone else was kept mostly in check, with singles getting sprayed here and there. Coco Crisp got credit for a triple in the fifth, but the ball would have been caught had Calhoun known where the wall was instead of doing a weird jump thing and having the ball ricochet in and out of his glove.

Starting Pitcher Scores

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As noted above, Tropeano pitched very well Monday. The right-hander now owns a 2.13 ERA in five starts for the Angels since last September, which is more than four full runs better than Matt Shoemaker‘s ERA (6.75) in his last five starts. Just sayin’.

Gray dealt with control issues for the second straight start. He walked two batters or fewer in 23 of his 31 outings last season, but now has seven walks (three yesterday) in 13⅓ IP so far this year. He’ll probably figure it out, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.

Bullpen Battle

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The Angels bullpen has held both leads it’s been handed so far this season. Monday was the tougher of the two, with the ‘pen keeping the A’s (mostly) off the board for four innings. Fernando Salas needed a huge double play to get out of trouble in the sixth, but otherwise things went pretty smoothly. Joe Smith got pulled after giving up a run in the ninth, but that was necessary only to pad Huston Street‘s save totals. On the other side, the A’s bullpen had its scoreless streak snapped at 11 innings. Liam Hendriks was the culprit yet again; he’s responsible for five of the six runs Oakland’s relievers have allowed this year.

Game Flow

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That sixth inning rally was extremely helpful.

Halo Hero

With another strong start or two, Tropeano could have to start looking for apartments in Orange County.