Aston’s Angels Report [Game 70@ Seattle- Loss]

                      AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                    June 15, 2011
                      Game 70: Worst Luck…Ever                   Vol. 1, Issue 72
                                                 Loss 3-1 Record: 33-37

Somehow, despite their overall mediocrity, the Angels started play on Wednesday, only 3 ½ games behind the AL West leading Texas Rangers, and a chance to sweep the series with the division rival Seattle Mariners. It was a rare opportunity indeed, and even more impressive since they already ensured a series win, with the first two wins against the 2^nd best pitching staff in the American League. They did luck out again, and avoided their two of their best starters, former Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez and rookie Michael Pineda, but they still had to face a familiar foe Eric Bedard. He may be a candidate for the comeback player of the year, after missing a couple of seasons with arm trouble, and I’m not just saying that because I have him on several fantasy teams. He came in with a less-than-stellar 3-4 record and a good, but not great, ERA (3.47) for the season, but over his previous 8 games he had a pristine 1.93 ERA and a 3-0 record, which isn’t that great because he has some run support troubles of his own, but the team was 7-1 in those games despite his no-decisions. Ervin Santana pitched very well, but turned out to be the tough luck loser after a great pitching duel was decided by a freakishly unfortunate play late in the game, to break up a scoreless tie.
　
The Mariners lineup showed similar names as in the first game, with the exception of Jack Wilson in for Adam Kennedy at 2B, but they were in different positions on the field and in the batting order. Figgins got the promotion from the last spot to the #8 spot, Carlos Peguero was the DH, switching responsibilities with Mike Carp, who was the LF instead- a move that proved to be important on many levels in the game. The Angels had the unfamiliar face of rookie Andrew Romine as their 3^rd baseman, with Maicer Izturis battling a sore foot and Alberto Callaspo likely heading to the DL with leg troubles. Bobby Wilson got the start as the catcher, probably because he seems to hit left-handers fairly well, and Bourjos was moved up to 7^th to make room for those two at the end of the lineup.
　
Eric Bedard pitched superbly for basically the entire game with only one exception, in the 2^nd inning, looking very much like the former ace of the Baltimore staff he was just a few years ago. He reminds me of a harder throwing version of the Dodgers Ted Lilly, mainly in the way he turns his body on his leg kick and spins into his pitch and throws left-handed. When he was in Baltimore I think he threw about 95-96 MPH, but he wasn’t far off in this one, measuring fastball speeds from 90-93 even late in his outing and mixing in the sharp curveball that was his great equalizer back in the day, too. He set the Angels down in order in the 1^st, as he showed off his repertoire early, getting ahead of each hitter 0-2 with an early fastball and curve 1-2 combo, capping it with a strikeout of DH Bobby Abreu, who took a 90 MPH cutter that started inside but zoomed over the inside corner.
　
Santana got himself into some early trouble in the 1^st inning, allowing a leadoff double to RF Ichiro Suzuki, who slapped an outside fastball the other way into left field, for a double. The SS Brendan Ryan didn’t try to bunt, which surprised me considering that they were a manufacturing type offense the first time the teams met and they are generally offensive challenged (winning because of pitching mostly). He ended up popping up to 1B Mark Trumbo in foul ground, then Santana walked 1B Justin Smoak on four pitches. With Peguero up, Suzuki stole 3^rd base before he struck out swinging at a 97 MPH fastball. Catcher Miguel Olivo helped out Ervin and the Angels, swinging at and fouling off about 3 pitches that would have been ball four on 3-2 counts, before striking out on a good slider, to end the threat. Santana had a blazing fastball, and a sharp slider all game long, and if not for some bad luck on both sides of the ball, he would have got the victory he deserved.
　
The first sign that this game might not go the Angels way, came in their 2^nd at bat, the only inning where they had a chance to score against Bedard. LF Vernon Wells led off with a single, pulling a curveball into left. 2B Howie Kendrick hit an inside fastball hard, yanking line drive into left, but right at the LF Carp for the first out. Mark Trumbo hit another inside 93 MPH fastball high and deep into left field, and Carp casually drifted back, jumped up near the wall and caught the ball over the fence, stealing away a 2-run homer from Trumbo. This ended up being one of the biggest plays of the game, saving two runs in a game where runs were nearly impossible to come by until the starters were out, and ending a potentially big inning, allowing Bedard to turn in a shutout performance. Peter Bourjos followed with a line drive single into left center, and Wells aggressively went to 3^rd, and Bourjos scooted into 2^nd when the throw went towards 3^rd. With runners at 2^nd and 3^rd, but two outs, Bobby Wilson grounded out to the SS to end the inning as their one and only shot at scoring, was taken away by a thieving grab.
　
Santana struck out the first two men in the bottom of the 2^nd, giving him four in row, but Figgins and Wilson followed with two-out singles to try to start a rally. The dangerous Ichiro Suzuki was up with runners on, but he grounded out to the 2^nd baseman, as he took one of his patented running swings at a low and away slider for the easy out. From that point on, the offenses were basically shut down until after the 7^th inning stretch, but to say Eric Bedard settled down would be an understatement.
　
Bedard set down 15 of the next 16 batters the Angels sent up there, with a multitude of 1-2-3 innings obviously, in the 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th, and 7^th. The only runner he allowed came in the 5^th, when Bourjos got on base for the second time, with one out. He lined a fastball into right center, and Franklin Gutierrez nonchalantly coasted over to pick it up, and Bourjos saw it immediately and sprinted around 1^st, cutting the base perfectly without even looking, and slid in safely to 2^nd, turning a single into a double. Wilson hit a fly out to right to move Bourjos to 3^rd, but Romine grounded out to end the inning and start another consecutive out streak for Bedard. Except for a diving catch in center by Gutierrez to rob a hit by Aybar in the 6^th, most of the outs were pop ups and easy fly outs, if not strikeouts, as the Angels offense had no answer.
　
Santana matched Bedard, inning for inning, keeping the game scoreless, with dominant stuff of his own. He allowed a one-out double to Smoak in the 3^rd, but retired Peguero and Olivo to end the inning without any harm done. He retired them in order in the 4^th, firing a lot of well-located fastballs and the occasional slider to keep them guessing. In the 5^th, he allowed another one-out double, to Suzuki- his second double in the game, that one hopped the wall deep in right this time. With Brendan Ryan up, Santana was ahead 0-2 and threw a high inside fastball, and because Ryan moves towards the plate first when he starts his swing, he fell backward and landed on the dirt. For some reason, he started yelling and cussing at Santana, while on the ground and continued as he rose to his feet. No one charged the mound or got into an argument or anything, and Santana later threw a sharp slider to induce an easy fly out to get the 2^nd out. Smoak hit a sharp grounder down the 1^st base line that Trumbo dove for and stopped to get the last out, but I couldn’t believe the audacity of Ryan to sit there and yell and moan about that pitch.

When exactly did baseball players become such whimps Not to get off too much of a tangent, but I’m sick of hitters complaining when they get hit by a pitch, or a pitch comes up and in; it’s part of the game. Go complain to a catcher who gets hit by dozens of foul balls all over their body, on a weekly basis, about getting hit by a pitch and maybe you’ll realize how silly you are. Hitters have helmets, leg guards, elbow armor, padded batting gloves, and by the way the pitchers have the right to throw the ball inside. I don’t like hitters trying to intimidate pitchers into not throwing inside, maybe because I consider myself a former (youth league) pitcher, but really because it takes away a huge aspect of the game, and I‘m sick of seeing them complain about something they shouldn’t be.
　
Anyway, Santana maneuvered through the 6^th, despite a two-out single by Carp, and after Bedard’s last inning- another 1-2-3 frame, the scoreless game moved along into the bottom of the 7^th . Figgins led off with his second hit, lining a 3-2 inside fastball into right for a double. Wilson sacrificed him to 3^rd with a good bunt, and the Angels walked Suzuki with the runner at 3^rd and one out. Santana got the best of the hot-head Ryan again, with a dominant three pitch strikeout, capped by a perfect 0-2 slider, but Suzuki stole 2^nd on the play. They decided to pitch to Smoak, but did so very carefully, fell behind 2-0 and then went ahead and intentionally walked him to load the bases for the rookie DH Peguero. Santana got ahead 0-2 with two fastballs, at 95 and 96 MPH, on his 120^th pitch of the game, or so, as I’m sure he knew this was his last batter. He threw a good 1-2 slider in the dirt and Peguero attempted to swing but the 3^rd base umpire said he checked it in time. That was only noteworthy because Vernon Wells was called out on a check swing earlier in the game, by a different umpire, and it looked like Peguero’s bat crossed the plate just as much, but it was called a ball instead. That wasn’t exactly the bad luck I was referring to that cost them the game though, that came on the next pitch. Peguero grounded a 2-2 outside fastball back up the middle, and Aybar was camped out behind 2^nd base to catch it and get the easy out, but it hit the base, and bounded over Aybar’s head, to allow two runs to score. It was a terrible twist of fate, and now Santana was in line for a loss, as the offense had done nothing since the first inning of the last game, heading into the final two innings. Instead of a scoreless tie heading into the 8^th, manager Mike Scioscia had to come and take Santana out and bring Rich Thompson in to keep the game close. He got the last out, retiring Olivo on a flyout to right, but the chances for a comeback looked bleak.
　
Probably the best news the Angels could get was the departure of Bedard, as the Mariners brought in their solid relief man, David Pauley into the game to start the top of the 8^th. He had some control issues, and walked Peter Bourjos- who got on base each time up to bat, to lead off the inning, a recipe for disaster, like I always say, especially late in games. Switch-hitting catcher, Hank Conger pinch hit for Wilson, and popped out to the catcher, wailing at a very hittable changeup down the middle, but he just missed it. Russell Branyan pinch-hit for Romine, and drew a four-pitch walk, in his return to his former home, Seattle, to put two men on with one out. Erick Aybar came through with an RBI single, looped into right field to make the score 2-1 now. Hunter came up with two men on, and a chance to tie the score, and had a hanging changeup to hit on the first pitch, but hit a line drive to the new left fielder Greg Halman for the second out. It looked like they were going to bring in a lefty to face Bobby Abreu, but they left in Pauley, and it paid off as he struck out Abreu swinging at a 1-2 changeup that was outside of the strike zone, to end the inning.
　
In the bottom of the 8^th, Conger stayed in to catch, Russell Branyan stayed in at 3^rd base, a position I forgot he ever played, but he came up as one in his early years I think. The Mariners got the run right back, as Greg Halman got his first at bat after coming in as a defensive sub, and launched his first major league homerun into deep center, on a poor 1-2 slider that didn’t do much. After Thompson walked Figgins, he was taken out, and the new call-up Bobby Cassevah was brought in. He was recalled when Fernando Rodney was placed on the DL with back issues earlier in the week, and this was his first game of the season in the big leagues (recalled to the team three teams last year). He retired Wilson and Suzuki to end the inning, but the 3-1 lead was too much to overcome.


Mariners closer, Brandon League came in and recorded his 19^th save, in relatively easy fashion. Kendrick did single with on out, but Trumbo was robbed of another possible hit on a slow chopper to the SS Ryan who had to run in, grab the ball barehanded and fire to 1^st to barely get Trumbo. Maicer Izturis was called upon to pinch-hit for Bourjos, of all people, for whatever reason, and hit a weak fly out to right to end the game. I don’t quite understand why Izturis, who was apparently too injured to play 3B in the 8^th inning (instead of Branyan who barely plays in the field at all), but somehow he is healthy enough to pinch-hit for the only player to get on base frequently for the Angels in this game, Peter Bourjos. I know Bourjos struggles with the strikeout, but it couldn’t have hurt to leave a player in who was on base all game instead of a hurt player, cold off the bench. I don’t think it would have mattered anyway, but I still question the logic.
　
Santana pitched 6 2/3 innings in a near flawless outing, but was victimized by another random baseball oddity, and a ball’s unlikely bounce. Bedard pitched even better, giving up only 3 hits (2 in the 2^nd), walking no one, striking out five as he shut the Angels down. He was aided by some fortune when the deep fly ball headed out of the park was brought back in, saved him from an early deficit and he took full advantage of the few extra inches that ball didn’t travel, retiring nearly every hitter thereafter. Like most pitcher’s duels, both deserved to win, but there has to be one team that loses no matter what, and on the plus side, the Rangers lost again to the Yankees, so the Angels only lost ground on the Mariners in the division. One last roster note: the Angels waived (released) their former starter Scott Kazmir, after what amounted to a terrible career as an Angel. It was even worse during his rehab starts in triple-A where he allowed something like 30 runs in 15 innings, giving the team little choice but to waive him, as he has looked nothing like the pitcher he was early in his Tampa Bay career for some time now. The Angels head out to New York to start some interleague play with the Mets, and hopefully they can start a series win streak and get back into the division race that they are so lucky to even be involved in.