Aston’s Angels Report [Game 75 @ FLA- Loss]

                   AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                            June 21, 2011
                   Game 75: Whole Lot O’ Nothin’                      Vol. 1, Issue 77
                                                       Loss 5-2 Record: 36-39

Another Angels road victory on Monday pushed the Angels closer to the elusive .500 mark, and another possible series victory as they try to keep pace with the Rangers, who luckily haven’t run away with the division already. The loss for the Marlins marked their 11^th in a row, but every streak has to come to an end. During most of those losses, Jack McKeon was watching the games while lounging in his chair, smoking on a cigar, at home, and now the 80-year-old is wearing a baseball uniform, sitting on the bench, responsible for the rise or fall of the team from this point on. It looks like whatever he did was working, since his team led 5-0 going into the 9^th. The Angels offense failed miserably with runners in scoring position when the game was close, and they had a lot of chances to make something happen. Ironically they actually out-hit the Marlins in the game, accumulating 10 hits in the first 5 innings or so, but the Marlins made their hits count much more, en route to the victory,
　
Both starting pitchers came in with a 3-7 record, but Ervin Santana was the hard-luck loser, even though he didn’t pitch that poorly and kept his team close, allowing just 2 runs when he was on the mound. Javier Vazquez started for the Marlins, allowed a bunch of hits, and saw a runner reach at least 2^nd base in each of the first four innings, but still managed to squirm out of each sticky situation. The Marlins saw two of their young stars return to the lineup, as SS Hanley Ramirez (benched last game) and RF Mike Stanton (battling injury) started on Tuesday, to add some power and stability to their lineup. The Angels changed their lineup, which has become customary, especially in the National League ballparks as the manager Mike Scioscia continues to try and give them all playing time. Alberto Callaspo was back in the lineup for the first time in about 10 days, starting at 3B, so Maicer Izturis was given the day off. Vernon Wells was also out of the lineup, and Bobby Abreu started in left field. Hank Conger was penciled in as the catcher, and Russell Branyan played 1^st base, so half of the usual starting position players were out for this one on the Angels side.
　

The Angels hit a lot of balls hard against Vazquez, who came in with a 6.85 ERA, so a lot of teams hit the ball hard against him, but the others put some in the run column and not just the hit column. Erick Aybar led off whacking a 2-2 hanging curveball to the right fielder, then 2B Howie Kendrick went the other way with a hard line drive to RF for the second out. RF Torii Hunter lined a single back up the middle for their first hit, then Bobby Abreu (who has 10 career homeruns vs. Vazquez) hit a 2-2 curveball into left field that fell in for a single, and was probably the softest hit ball of the game. Callaspo came up with runners on 1^st and 2^nd, and worked a full count, then hit a deep fly ball into centerfield, and Bonifacio had to sprint back to run under it for the last out.

Emilio Bonifacio moved into centerfield, with Ramirez back in the lineup, and it paid off in the field early, but he didn’t do much at the plate. He grounded out to lead off, then Morrison struck out swinging on a good slider from Santana. 1B Gaby Sanchez came up with no one on and two outs, worked a full count, and absolutely destroyed a 95 MPH fastball, deep into left field for a solo homerun, and a 1-0 lead. Ramirez grounded out to end the inning, but this was a prime example of how they made their hits count.
　
Branyan was down 0-2, then worked a full count, and lined a high curveball down the line, right to the 1^st baseman for the out. Catcher Hank Conger struck out on a slider down and in, as his overall struggles continued (which is why Mathis has been playing more lately). CF Peter Bourjos used his new shorter swing again to his advantage, reaching for an 0-2 fastball, and chopping a grounder up the middle for a two-out single. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already, but I’ve been thinking it for a while; if Bourjos can figure out how to just make contact, and preferably hit balls on the ground, he can hit around .280 to .300, because of his speed, instead of all the strikeouts and the .250 average he is hovering around now. Even Ervin Santana had a hit, grounding one into the hole between shortstop and 3B, that Ramirez stopped on a dive, but had no play. Erick Aybar pulled an outside off-speed pitch on the ground to 2^nd for the last out. I’m not sure why he was hitting leadoff, given his recent struggles at the plate (the only hits he has had are on bunt hits it seems, aside from that one triple a couple of games ago); one of these days Scioscia will implement my idea of using Abreu as their leadoff man [from the first Angels Report, at Myspace.com/dazed oddity/blog] (sigh.)
　
Greg Dobbs played 3B, with Stanton back in his normal spot in the OF, and led off the 2^nd with a broken bat single, on an 0-2 inside fastball, blooped into center, just out of the reach of Bourjos who ran in and dove for it. Stanton followed with a hard groundball through the hole on the left side, pulling a 2-0 high slider for a clean single. Catcher John Buck faked a bunt on the first pitch, then the count went to 3-0 as Santana got wild all of a sudden, and eventually walked him. It wasn’t looking good, as Omar Infante hit with no one out and a runner on each base, and he saw a first pitch down the middle, and lifted it to right field for an easy sacrifice fly, and a 2-0 lead for the Marlins. With runners at 1^st and 3^rd now, the Marlins elected to have their pitcher try to bunt the runner to 2^nd and maybe get lucky to score a run, and he laid down the bunt to move the runner up to 2^nd. Bonifacio hit a fly out to center to end the inning, so Santana avoided major catastrophy with some damage control after the bases were loaded with no outs (and it shows how an offense operates differently when the pitchers have to hit).
　
Howie Kendrick led off the 3^rd, flying out to right, but Torii Hunter followed with a smash to left center on a hanging curveball, that bounced to the wall and went for a double. Both Abreu and Callaspo grounded out, as the Angels failed for the 3^rd straight inning with a runner in scoring position… Santana kept the Marlins off the scoreboard from that point on (until the bullpen came in, obviously), starting in the bottom of the 3^rd. Morrison went with a 1-2 outside fastball, and hit a grounder through the hole into left, for a leadoff single, but Santana struck out the next two, Sanchez and Ramirez on tight breaking sliders away. Dobbs broke another bat, and another bat died a hero, as his groundball down the 3^rd base line, was slow enough for him to beat the throw at 1^st for an infield hit. However, on the play, Morrison tried to run to 3^rd for some reason, and Branyan made the throw to 3^rd to get him out, and get out of the inning.
　
The Angels put a runner in scoring position for the fourth inning in a row. After Branyan hit a fly out to left, Hank Conger was jammed by an inside fastball and blooped one down the left field line, landing just inside the line, and went for a double. Bourjos couldn’t make contact this time, striking out yet again as he flailed at a 1-2 slider down and away, and Santana did the same thing to end the inning… Santana took off his hitting gear, and came back to the mound, to strike out the side in order in the bottom of the 4^th. Stanton took a 3-2 slider for the called strikeout, then Buck swung at a 2-2 outside slider, and Omar did the same on a 1-2 slider, to finish the inning on Santana’s 6^th strikeout.
　
Aybar led off the 5^th, and dropped down a perfect bunt on the first pitch, that trickled down the 3^rd base line and stopped there on the dirt, for an infield single. Howie Kendrick showed little patience, to just get into the at-bat against a hittable pitcher or give Aybar a chance to steal, which is one of the problems hitting him 2^nd in a lineup. He swung at the first pitch , grounding the inside fastball to the SS Ramirez, who touched 2^nd and threw to 1^st for the double play. Vazquez now had two outs after just two pitches, and Hunter continued his offensive onslaught with his third hit, as he pulled a low fastball for a line drive single into left. Abreu struck out, swinging at a 2-2 shoulder-high fastball, ending the inning after an uncharacteristically bad at-bat.
　
Santana set the Marlins down in order again, in the 5^th, helped out by his defense on a couple plays. Aybar made a leaping catch, snagging a line drive by Vazquez, leading off, then Bonifacio tried to bunt, but Callaspo made a running bare-handed pickup and throw to get him at 1^st. Morrison ended the inning with a grounder up the middle, that Aybar got to and made the throw for the easy out…. The Angels got two more hits in the 6^th off of Vazquez, after Callapo led off hitting a fly ball to right. Russell Branyan pulled another one towards 1^st, and it hit off of Sanchez’s glove, and bounced away from Infante who was right behind him waiting for the ball when it deflected off his glove. Conger got his second hit of the game, pulling a groundball through the right side, past Sanchez who was covering 1^st with the runner on, and Branyan had to stop to let the ball go through as he went to 2^nd. Jack McKeon had seen enough of that, after the Angels 10^th hit off of Vazquez in just over 5 innings of work, and replaced him with a right handed reliever, Edward Mujica. It proved to be a good move, preserving the lead for the Marlins, keeping Vazquez in line for the victory, and led to Santana coming out of the game as well. Peter Bourjos was the first hitter Mujica faced, with two on and one out, and he swung at the first pitch, hitting an easy fly ball to left, for a wasted at bat, essentially. They felt that they had to pinch-hit for Santana with a chance to score runs, so Scioscia sent up Maicer Izturis to bat. A wild pitch on an 0-2 slider in the dirt moved runners up to 2^nd and 3^rd, Izturis popped on up in the infield, on a 2-2 slider, to end the inning.
　
Rich Thompson came in to pitch for the Angels in the bottom of the 6^th, and thanks to another bad call by an umpire, saw the Marlins push another run across. He struck out Sanchez on a good slider for the first out, before Hanley Ramirez hit a grounder to Aybar deep in the hole at SS, and he was called safe as the throw appeared to beat him to the base in real time, and once again the replay showed that his foot touched the base after Branyan caught the throw. If you don’t know already, I HATE that baseball doesn’t use instant replay on plays like this; it would be so easy to correct the call that was obviously wrong (but I must move on before my blood boils on that topic again). Ramirez stole 2^nd base, then Dobbs walked as Thompson got wild. Stanton walloped a high 0-1 curveball into left center, that bounced into the wall, scoring Ramirez for a 3-0 lead. That error by the umpire cost the Angels a run, because the man who shouldn’t have been on base scored a run, after the inning changed to a runner on 2^nd with one out instead of two outs and no one on base. It didn’t help that Thompson walked a hitter and gave up a double, but I doubt either of those would have happened with no one on and two outs (and even if they did it would not have scored a run). 2B Omar Infante grounded out to 3^rd, and Branyan saved a run and an error by Callaspo, as he jumped up to catch a high throw and swept down a tag on Infante to end the inning.
　
Erick Aybar led off another inning, but grounded out to 2^nd to start the 7^th. Howie Kendrick hit a slow high chopper down the 3^rd base line, that Dobbs had no chance to make a play on, but he dropped the ball standing deep behind 3^rd. Another ridiculous, yet predictable, call from a biased home team ‘official scorer’ ruled this infield hit as an error (which will probably be changed if someone actually monitors those nonsensical calls). Kendrick stole 2^nd base with Hunter up, to try and avoid the double play, but somehow it happened anyway. Hunter hit a line drive up the middle, bidding for his 4^th hit of the game, but it was snagged out of the air by the pitcher, Mujica, who then turned and threw to 2^nd to get Kendrick who had moved a couple steps towards 3^rd, as the Angels once again find ways to hit into a double play.
　
Michael Kohn, who pitched early in the season for the Angels before being sent down, came in to pitch the bottom of the 7^th, after being recalled to the majors on Monday. He gave up an infield hit to Bonifacio who was jammed by an inside fastball and hit a slow grounder to SS, that Aybar couldn’t get to in time, but worked around that to get the next two out, with an impressive fastball/slider combo… In the top of the 8^th, McKeon made a couple of pitching changes, but one was quite out of the ordinary. He brought in lefty Randy Choate- the definition of a specialist situational lefty, having pitched in 31 games but only accounting for about 14 innings, and his 0.66 ERA speaks to his effectiveness (primarily against left handed hitters). He walked Abreu (he got him out yesterday in his 1/3 inning outing), and started the at-bat to Alberto Callaspo, turning the switch hitter into a right-hander. The count went to 2-1, and in a very surprising and unconventional move, McKeon came out of the dugout to change pitchers in the middle of an at bat. He brought in a right hander, Burke Badenhop, so Callaspo had to turn around and hit left handed, but the move proved to be the failed product of over-thinking, as Callaspo hit the first pitch hard and through the right side of the infield for a single. The Angels had another golden opportunity to do something, with runners at 1^st and 2^nd and no outs, but the next three hitters did nothing, and left more runners on base (in scoring position). First Branyan struck out swinging at an outside sinker, then Conger lined out to center, and Bourjos took a 3-2 inside slider for a called strikeout to end the inning. Even a different combination of outs would have resulted in a run (like a fly out to right by Branyan, then some kind of productive out to score a run, etc), but no such luck.
　
The Marlins padded their lead, and put the game out of reach, in their last at-bat in the bottom of the 8^th. Ramirez led off with a hard grounder up the middle for a single, then Dobbs got his third hit of the game on a line drive into right, to push Ramirez to 3^rd. Kohn was less effective this inning, and was replaced by Bobby Cassevah, but he surrendered a single up the middle to Stanton, to score their 4^th run. John Buck hit into a double play, on a grounder to SS, with runners at 1^st and 2^nd, leaving just the runner at 3^rd with two outs. Infante drove him in with a single up the middle, which was a little more painful considering how much trouble the Angels offense was having scoring runs. Buck struck out to end the inning, but the score was 5-0 going into the 9^th.
　
Jose Ceda started the 9^th, since it wasn’t a save situation, and struck out Vernon Wells, who came in as a pinch-hitter, for the first out. He walked Aybar on four pitches, then Aybar went to 2^nd on the non-stolen base. Hunter earned his 4^th hit of the game, on another line drive up the middle, to score Aybar with their first run, to at least avoid the shutout. Abreu hit a hard grounder to 3^rd but it went between the legs of Dobbs, for an error, so run scored from 2^nd, and the game continued. The Marlins brought in their closer, Leo Nunez, with two outs and one man on, in what was now a save situation because of the three run lead. He walked Callaspo who patiently took a fastball outside on a 3-2 pitch, to put two men on, and somehow the Angels amazingly had the tying run at the plate, as Branyan stepped up to hit. He was once again overmatched by fastballs- a trend I have noticed in the few at-bats he has had as an Angel- swinging and missing a high one, then a low one for 0-2 count, and finishing it off by missing another high 94 MPH fastball on the 1-2 count to end the game.
　
The Angels had 13 hits, compared the Marlins 12, but they still didn’t get any runs across until their last at bat, but that was only because an error allowed one to score and kept the game going. They were terrible, when runners were in scoring position, going just 1-for-14 in that scenario. They left runners in scoring position in 8 of the 9 innings, blowing numerous chances to push across runs to make the game close before it was out of hand. Santana only allowed 5 hits and a walk, while striking out 6 in 5 innings, but those 2 runs against him earned him his 8^th loss on the season. The Angels haven’t been able to string any more than two wins together in a row, and seem to find ways to lose in some instances when it looks like they are given the opportunity to break through. Winning two in a row is some progress, but when you bookend those with a loss on either side, you’re right back at square one, moving neither forward nor backwards, getting nowhere slowly. They still have a chance to win their third series (all 2-1) on the road trip, which by all accounts would be a successful one, so things could be a lot worse. Of course, a 6-3 road trip will look a lot better than a 5-4 one, so hopefully they can find a way to win, avoid a losing streak, and make that trip back home a little more enjoyable.