AAR: Aston’s Angels Report June 25, 2011
Game 78: Three in a Row !! Vol. 1, Issue 80
Win 6-1. Record: 39-39
With their win in yesterday’s crazy game against the Dodgers, the Angels finally reached the .500 mark for their season record, and they are just 3 games back of the Texas Rangers for the lead in their division. They had a little luck on their side, allowing them to take the lead, in spite of their mental errors and terrible plays, before the bullpen retired the last nine Dodgers in a row to end the game. On Saturday, Tyler Chatwood took the ball for the Angels, and pitched very well, especially to start the game, en route to another victory to take his record to 5-4. Hiroki Kuroda has been given little run support this season, as evidence by his 5-8 record, despite a very respectable 3.07 ERA, and he took the tough-luck loss despite giving up only 2 runs in 5 innings. The start of this game was essentially the exact opposite of the way Friday’s game started off, but it ended similarly with the Angels scoring late to take an insurmountable lead.
The Angels changed up their lineup (thankfully), re-installing Peter Bourjos into centerfield, so Vernon Wells moved over to left, and Howie Kendrick was able to go back to 2nd base after his up-and-down day in the outfield on Friday. Maicer Izturis was given the day off, in favor of Alberto Callaspo at 3B, and Torii Hunter is still trying to get better after his rib injury a few games ago, so Bobby Abreu manned RF. The Dodgers needed a new LF after Thames went down with an injury in the last game, so rookie Trent Oeltjen played out there instead. Aaron Miles took over 3B, instead of Juan Uribe, and AJ Ellis was catching, as opposed to Dioner Navarro.
Both pitchers got off to a great start over the first couple of innings in this one. Typically a left hander reserves the term ‘crafty’, but Kuroda is a prime example of a crafty right-hander, with a quirky windup that helps throw off the hitter’s timing, and every pitch he has moves one way or another to make up for his lack of major velocity and he will throw anything at any time. The Angels made him pitch a few extra pitches in the first, but they went down in order to start the game. Kuroda did the same thing in the 2nd, but only needed five pitches, as the impatient Wells and Callaspo went down quickly with fly outs to left, and 1B Mark Trumbo took no time to groundout to end the inning.
Tyler Chatwood was even more impressive, and continued the dominant pitching that the Angels bullpen started in Friday’s 7th inning. They set down nine straight over those last three innings, then Chatwood set down the Dodgers in order in each of the first three innings. He struck out SS Dee Gordon (the son of former ML pitcher Tom “Flash” Gordon) with a 2-seam fastball that moved over the inner edge of the plate for the first of four called strikeouts for Chatwood, all on that very pitch. The next two, 2B Jamey Carroll and RF Andre Ethier hit easy groundouts to end it. After the Angels finished their 2nd, the NL’s best hitter so far, Matt Kemp led off for the Dodgers. He came in to the game ranking 1st in ave. (.331), 2nd in homeruns (21) amd 3rd in RBI (60), but he took a defensive swing on a 2-2 94 MPH fastball from Chatwood and grounded out to 2nd weakly. Loney struck out looking on another one of those good inside fastballs, and Miles hit the first pitch on the ground to Trumbo to end the inning.
Kuroda set down the first two in the 3rd, as the catcher Hank Conger popped up, and Bourjos struck out looking on an outside slider (a pitch he had trouble with all game). Chatwood came up with no one on, and fell behind 1-2, but he held his hands back on an inside slider (despite stepping in the bucket, ala Garret Anderson) and hit a grounder back up the middle, for the first hit of the game by either side. Erick Aybar fell behind 1-2, but he walloped the low sinking 88 MPH fastball deep into right center field, and off of the fence, for an RBI triple. Normally, requiring a pitcher to sprint around the bases can be a risky endeavor, but Chatwood actually rounded the bases smoothly, like a regular, which is rare for an American League pitcher (who are known to injure themselves running the bases because they aren’t used to it). In all honesty, Aybar shouldn’t have been running to 3rd on that play, and was lucky to make it to 3rd because the ball him in the back on the relay throw to 3rd, otherwise it would go down as yet another bone-headed base running play. Kendrick drew a walk on a 3-2 outside slider, after a long 8-pitch at bat, to prolong the inning, but Abreu hit a fly out to center to end the inning, after a long at bat of his own.
Chatwood pitched with the 1-0 lead, and (if you paid attention you’d already know this) retired the side in order again, in the bottom of the 3rd. He struck out the rookie Oeltjen to lead off, with that 2-seamer inside that worked for him all game. Ellis and Kuroda each grounded out, but Kuroda had the longest battle of the game for the Dodgers, seeing nine pitches and fouling off about four fastballs on the 2-2 count before reaching for a slider and tapping it to the SS for the last out.
The Angels saw their first two hitters go down again, to start the 4th, as Wells popped out to the catcher by the netting behind home plate, and Callaspo grounded out. Mark Trumbo came through with another two-out rally all by himself, as he launched a 1-1 sinker deep into left field (he doesn‘t hit wall scrapers that just barely make it out), for a solo homerun, and a 2-0 lead. Conger grounded out to end the inning, and the Dodgers were still looking for their first hit…. Chatwood retired his 10th hitter in a row, making a good play fielding a bunt by the speedy SS, Dee Gordon, to get the first out of the inning. Jamey Carroll, worked a full count and connected with a 3-2 fastball, for a line drive single back up the middle, to finally put a mark on the scoreboard for the Dodgers. The next batter, Ethier was jammed by a 2-2 inside fastball, and hit a spinning grounder towards Aybar at SS, who turned it into an inning-ending double play, so Chatwood faced the minimum through the first four innings.
The Angels went down in order in the top of the 5th, and the 2B Carroll was responsible for all three outs. Bourjos went for the first pitch and popped up that slider to him, then Chatwood and Aybar hit grounders to him for two more easy outs…. The bottom of the 5th, was the most important half-inning of the game, on many levels. Matt Kemp led off the inning, and struck out looking on a fastball over the outer half (same place as his fastball inside to lefties), but it was what happened after that was more important. Kemp was yelling at the home plate umpire from the dugout about something; more than likely it was about the home plate umpire calling a check swing strike without asking for help, on the 1-1 pitch (I feel your pain on that one, Kemp) because the strike three pitch was almost down the middle, so I don’t think he was debating the strike zone. Whatever he said in that dugout, the umpire didn’t appreciate, because he threw him out of the game in no time; a surprisingly quick move (since the stars tend to get more leniency because, once again, fans come to see the players play, not the umpires). After a short delay for the Dodgers manager Don Mattingly to argue with the umpire, some more (by the way that could have all been avoided by taking two seconds to ask the first base umpire for help- I’m just saying), the Dodgers offense started something. Loney lined a hanging curveball the other way, into left for a single, then Miles swung at the first pitch fastball again, and this time hit a grounder through the hole on the right side for another single. Loney was stopping at 2nd, but Abreu rushed the play, and flubbed the ball so it trickled behind him and allowed both runners to move ahead one base on the error. Chatwood came into the game, having finally pushed his strikeout total past his walk total (43 vs. 42) for the first time all year, but he once again found an inopportune time to unleash his random wildness. He walked the 7th place hitter and rookie, Oeltjen on a bad -3-2 fastball, to load the bases, which caused a conference on the mound with the pitching coach and all the infielders. Chatwood then walked the 8th place hitter, rarely used catcher AJ Ellis on a 3-1 low fastball, to walk in a run, and once again the walks caused much more trouble than was necessary. It was now 2-1, and the bases were loaded with one out, so the Dodgers decided to pinch-hit for their pitcher, feeling like this was their opportunity to take the lead. The biggest play of the game came next, as the pinch-hitter Casey Blake took his turn at the plate to try and produce the knockout blow. He hit a linedrive that was heading for left center field, but the 2B, Howie Kendrick, was right under it’s flight and leaped high in the air to snag the liner, then threw to 1st to double up the runner, Oeltjen, who was in no-man’s land in between 1st and 2nd. That double play not only ended the inning, but saves the Angels from going down 3-2 and maybe more.
Now, Kuroda was out of the game, and so was there star player Matt Kemp, so Tony Gwynn Jr took over CF, and Kenley Jansen became the pitcher. He retired the Angels in order in both the 6th and 7th, making it look easy, and keeping the game close…. Chatwood pitched scoreless innings in the 6th and 7th also, but he did get away with a bad pitch in the 6th that could have changed the game significantly. He got Gordon out on a grounder, to lead off the 6th, but walked Carroll on a 3-2 low fastball. That was a mistake in itself, since the only power hitter left in the Dodgers lineup was next hitter Andre Ethier and he should have been challenging Carroll with fastballs since he is just looking to make contact. It nearly cost him the lead, because he threw a terrible high changeup on a 1-0 pitch that Ethier hit deep into right center, that luckily didn’t go over the fence, falling just short of the wall as Bourjos caught it. This also marked the first true fly out of the game (the only other hit in the air was the line drive by Blake that Kendrick jumped up for). It would have been a shame if the one ball hit deep in the air against him turned into a homerun, and it probably should have been, but luck was on his side there. Gwynn grounded out to 2nd to end the inning, so Chatwood could breathe a sigh of relief, after getting away with throwing a terrible pitch to their only offensive threat.
Chatwood came back out to pitch the 7th, and allowed a one-out single to Miles, who collected two of the four hits by the Dodgers against Chatwood. Oeltjen and Ellis both hit fly outs, but Ellis’ took Bourjos to the warning track again as he caught the ball with his back against the wall. Once again he dodged a bullet, and was probably getting tired, since he was allowed three fly outs in those last two innings after not allowing any really in the first five innings. It would be his last inning, as he left the mound, with a 2-1 lead, but he would be guaranteed the win, after the Angels were done in the 8th.
The Dodgers brought in a new pitcher, former Twins reliever Matt Guerrier, but he didn’t pitch as well as the previous Dodgers. He threw another slider to get Bourjos to hit groundout to the SS to lead off the inning, but pinch-hitter Russell Branyan, hit a fastball away, to the opposite field, for a double into left center. Erick Aybar struck out on three pitches for the second out, but Howie Kendrick came through with a clutch two-out hit, lining a single into right center, with his patented opposite field swing, sending Branyan home with their 3rd run. Left-handed fireballer Hong-Chih Kuo was called upon to pitch to Bobby Abreu, but he walked him on five pitches to put two runners on with two out. Vernon Wells got the big hit of the game, clobbering a 1-1 inside fastball, into almost the same spot that Trumbo’s blast went into deep left field, for a 3-run homer. Callaspo grounded out to end the inning, but the score was now 6-1 heading into the bottom of the 8th.
Scott Downs came in for the Angels, and shut down the Dodgers in order to end any hope they might have at coming back in this one…. The Angels got one base runner in the 9th, on a one-out walk by Conger, but were content with a 5-run lead heading into the last at-bat of the game…. Trevor Bell finished off the game without allowing a run, despite a one-out walk to Gwynn, followed by a single that dropped in front of Abreu in right. He struck out Miles and retired Oeltjen on a groundout to 2nd, to end the game.
The Angels can now call themselves an average team, having finally equaled their number of wins with losses, but they have been a contender despite their sub-par record for most of the year. They have guaranteed another series victory no matter what happens on Sunday, making that four in a row, and they have finally put together a legitimate winning streak of three games in a row. They also gained a game on the Rangers after they were blown out by the Mets, leaving them just two games behind them, but they also trail the [surprising pitching of the] Mariners. Perhaps most importantly (I kid), now I can gloat to anyone who will listen about how much better the Angels are than the [stinkin’] Dodgers, which is at least always fun for me.
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