An Angel loss to the Rangers in which Mike Scioscia shouldn’t have answered the Bell.
Los Angeles Angels of AWESOMENESS
- You can’t really blame the Angel bats for this loss. They didn’t really get anything going against the Texas relievers, but they also made the most of every baserunner they had, scoring seven runs on nine hits and two walks. You can’t really ask for much better efficiency than that, too bad it wasn’t enough.
- It is no coincidence that the Angels cranked out seven runs on a night where Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick and Bobby Abreu reached base a combined five times, setting the table for the power bats in the order. The Angel offense is going to live and die with those three and tonight they lived strong.
- That’s homers in two games in a row for Torii Hunter and three in his last eight. I think it is pretty safe that his little knee injury really isn’t that big of a problem, at least not at the plate.
- Napoli failed mightily at the plate, but he had a great night in the field. Not only did he nail two potential base stealers, but he also made a great play on sac bunt attempt in the eighth to nail the runner at third. This might’ve been the first game in a long time that Scioscia was proud of Napoli’s defensive work, so let’s hope he can continue to build on it.
Angels of FAIL
- It would figure that after I teased the game as being a great pitchers’ duel that neither guy would make it out of the fifth inning, both allowing seven earned runs. Weaver was especially guilty as he clearly just didn’t have it tonight. This was his first start of the year where he struck out fewer than six batters and he only ended up with just one whiff for the game. I’m sure he’ll bounce back next time out, but he really let the Halos down tonight.
- I said it before the game and I will say it again now: Matsui shouldn’t play against tough lefties. Wilson wasn’t very good tonight, but he was good enough to fan Matsui twice and both came with runners on base for Godzilla. The Halos don’t have any real great platoon options for Hideki, but I think mixing and matching Napoli at DH with Wilson catching or having Willits play right with Abreu DHing or even having Izturis DH when he gets healthy is looking like a decent alternative to Matsui facing difficult southpaws. If it gets much worse though, I hear that Jermaine Dye is still looking for work.
- Dude, Abreu, I know it didn’t end up costing the Angels a run, but try catching the damn ball. That eighth inning flyball you dropped wasn’t an easy play, but it wasn’t that hard either. Two hands, big fella.
Angel A-Hole of the Game
You’ve got us all scratching our heads tonight, Sosh.
What in the world was Mike Scioscia thinking when he brought Trevor Bell into the game in relief? In the biggest moment of the game, Scioscia wisely chose to give Weaver the hook but couldn’t possibly have picked a worse reliever to come in to bail him out. Scioscia then compounded the decision further to leave Bell in for another inning of a tied game. I understand having bullpen roles, but you still need to be flexible. The correct move would have been to bring in Jepsen to get the final out of the fifth and then carry on through the sixth. I know Jepsen has been worked hard this season, but he hasn’t pitched in several days, so such an assignment should have been perfectly fine. Picking the rookie who has been very hittable in every appearance thus far during such a high pressure situation was unfair to Bell and unfair to the team because it cost them what should have been a win against the division leader.
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