I’m not normally one for trash-talking and chest-puffing in sports. It’s a game and you shouldn’t take it too seriously. But after Pujols and Trout loosed those pantomime arrows at Fernando Rodney, I couldn’t have been happier.
The best thing about arrows? They can be fired right back at your opponent. pic.twitter.com/q1o4OIpxa7
— Los Angeles Angels (@Angels) July 20, 2014
Seriously, eff Fraudney. Eff him so hard. He can claim all he wants that his arrow move that sparked the above showing, but we all know the truth. We all know all too well that Rodney had some unkind words to say about Mike Scioscia and the Halos after he was cut loose in free agency all because Scioscia had the temerity to bury Rodney on the depth chart because he couldn’t, you know, get people out or throw the ball near the strike zone.
But, sure, his move was all in good fun. Right.
Well I guarantee that Pujols and Trout were not acting in good fun. If anything it was weird to see those two guys, of all people, literally taking shots at Rodney. And I loved it. I love having bad blood in a divisional rivalry. I love even more that the Angels won and that they managed to do it without going to extra innings.
Run Expectancy Rundown
Yeesh, it was almost like David Freese was single-handedly trying to short circuit the offense. A negative three RE24 is pretty special, but not in a good way. Fortunately, the top of the order took care of business and came through in the clutch.
Without Robinson Cano, the Mariners managed to get solid production thanks to Corey Hart, largely. Skaggs probably hurt himself the most by not being able shutdown Kyle Seager, a lefty and the only bat in the lineup with a season OPS over .665.
Starting Pitcher Scores
This was just a weird outing for Tyler Skaggs as he looked like he wasn’t going to get out of the first inning only to then retire 14 of the next 15 batters. He then fell apart again in the seventh. It took a few innings, but the Angels finally solved Chris Young, though it still felt like they should’ve scored more off of him.
Bullpen Battle
Scioscia probably should’ve gone to the bullpen earlier, though you can understand his reluctance after how much they worked in the last two games. Joe Thatcher had another iffy outing, but escaped unscathed. The real pleasure though came from watching Fernando Rodney completely meltdown after he prematurely let that arrow fly from his quiver and go right into the Angels dugout.
Game Flow
That early first inning lead obviously didn’t totally bury the Angels, but they certainly had their work cut out from them. They were actually in a worse position after they fell behind in the seventh inning. The best part to me though is how much Freese’s ninth inning double play nearly torpedoed the Angels’ winning effort.
Halo Hero
I wanted to give this to Pujols for the arrow, but Green had the walk-off hit and a rule is a rule.
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