Aston’s Angels Report (July 7-27th)

Aston’s Angels Report                                             July 30, 2011

 
Obviously I have been on somewhat of a hiatus, or maybe it isn’t so obvious to anyone but myself and like two other people. I spent far too much time watching games, taking copious notes, and writing those daily reports, and I’m taking a different route this time. I’m not going into detail about each game, at least not the ones that happened weeks ago, because that would just be stupid (or more so than it was to do so in the first place, anyway).



I left off just before the All-Star break and the games vs. the Mariners, and what turned out to be contribution to the worst losing streak by one team this season. The Angels swept the Mariners, the team who just recently ended a losing streak of 17 or 18 games, and have fallen way back in the division race, after staying close to the point they were ahead of the Angels just a week or so earlier. On July 7^th, the Angels won the first game, 5-1, behind another complete game by Jared Weaver, who held the young Mariners offense to just six hits, two of which came in the 3^rd inning when the M’s scored their lone run.



The Angels called up their top prospect Mike Trout, to fill in for Peter Bourjos in centerfield, because of a pulled hamstring suffered in game 1. They won game 2, 4-3 with a rare display of power, hitting four solo homeruns to account for each of their runs to back up Ervin Santana who allowed 3 runs and saw his team down 2-3 after the 5^th, before Hank Conger hit a homerun (which would have given them the lead if Trumbo hadn’t been thrown out trying the steal during the at-bat). The Angels actually started and finished the game with a homerun, as Erick Aybar led of the Angels’ 1^st inning with a homerun, and Mark Trumbo ended the game in the bottom of the 9^th with a no-doubter walk-off blast to the deepest part of the park, in center field, into the trees and shrubbery out there.


They were riding high after that victory and faced Seattle’s rookie Michael Pineda for the first time this season, and forced him into his worst outing of the year. He was 8-5 with a 2.58 ERA and leading most people’s ballets for Rookie of the Year, and he looked unhittable in the first two innings, striking out 5 of the first 6 hitters. The Angels were apparently playing possum, as they erupted for four runs in the 3^rd, thanks to a big 3-run homer from Torii Hunter. Joel Peneiro had trouble on the mound, and let the Mariners back into the game after his early 4-0 lead, letting the M’s score in the 4^th and 5^th to shrink the lead to 4-3. The Angels then scored three more in the bottom of the 5^th, after another Hunter homer, then added a couple more later in the game, en route to a 9-3 win.



The Angels completed the sweep on July 10^th, but it was yet another tough match-up for the Angels’ Dan Haren, who had to go up against another opponent’s ace, Felix Hernandez (last years Cy Young Award winner), after he had back-to-back 1-0 victories in his previous two starts. He allowed two runs in the top of the 1^st, on a one-arm reach of a swing by Adam Kennedy to knock in two runs with two outs, so he was going to definitely need a little more support than he had been accustomed to. Haren settled back down into his dominant self to stabilize the defensive side, and Mark Trumbo came through with another big hit, launching a 2-run homer off of Hernandez in the bottom of the 4^th , to tie the game. The game remained 2-2 with a series of 1-2-3 innings for both pitchers, until the bottom of the 8^th, when the Mariners changed pitchers, bringing in David Pauley, to the Angels’ delight, I’m sure. Hunter led off with a single and Howie Kendrick walked, before Alberto Callaspo came through with a big two-out hit, doubling them both in to give his team the 4-2 lead, going into the 9^th. Haren remained in the game and allowed a lead off double to Dustin Ackley (another top prospect I got to see for the first time), but struck out Smoak and got Kennedy to pop out for the 2^nd out. Manager Mike Scioscia decided to pull Haren, one out away from the complete game, and even the fans at Angels stadium booed. It seemed like a questionable move, since he only had thrown 113 pitches to that point, and it was the last game before the all-star break so he would get a longer rest than usual anyway, and Jordan Walden has a propensity for blowing saves, but it worked out as Walden struck out the last hitter to seal the victory. This completed am impressive 11-2 home-stand, pushing them to 8 games over .500, and more importantly helped them keep pace with the streaking Texas Rangers, who won 7 in a row leading up to the all-star break.




Next came the all-star game, which had a large number of substitutes to replace pitchers who couldn’t play in the game because they had pitched for their teams on Sunday, or players who were injured, or just didn’t want to go. The National League won, probably because they had most of their original all-star selection pitchers available to shut down the American League sluggers. It just further proved how ridiculous the idea the commissioner Bud Selig had to make the outcome of this silly game name the home team of the World Series, and I hope that stupid rule is taken away soon. Even if the actual players who were originally selected to play did get on the field, I would still say it is a dumb idea, since it is just a popularity contest, every team has to be represented (which is good for the fans but not so good if you want the best of the best players), and it is an EXHIBITION game by nature, so the results shouldn’t affect anything, let alone who gets home field advantage in the biggest series of the season… On the plus side, Jordan Walden made one of the plays of the game, fielding a grounder with his bare hand to throw out a runner at home, so that gave the Angels some notoriety at least.





They started the “2^nd half” of the season, on the road in Oakland, which proved once again to be something of a kryptonite for the Angels, only winning one game of the four game series, despite the A's very poor record and awful offense. On July 15^th, in game one, Haren allowed a big homerun to Josh Willingham which proved to be the winning runs for the A‘s, whose pitching staff continued its stellar performance, holding down the Angels offense for most of the series. On the 16^th, they played a rare scheduled double-header, like in the old days where each team had at least one double header scheduled every year. They won the first game, 4-2, behind another great outing by Jared Weaver, who continues to be the best pitcher in baseball, no matter what others (in Detroit and New York, particularly) say. They lost the night cap, 4-3 in extra innings, despite homeruns from Trumbo for the lead and later by Wells to get back into the game. Angels reliever Rich Thompson walked the lead off batter in the 10^th, and he later came around to score the winning run on a Scott Sizemore single. The last game of the series was a laugher, as Joel Peneiro was shelled early and removed before he completed two innings, and Gio Gonzalez shut down the Angels offense in a 9-0, series clinching victory. It marked the first time the Angels had lost a series in a long time, and it started to look like the Angels were falling too far behind the AL West leading Rangers who still hadn’t lost a game in two weeks.





The Angels came home for their next series, one of the biggest of the year, against their division rival Rangers. The series started off poorly for the Angels, as they were shut out by the Rangers in the first game (July 19^th), as Tyler Chatwood was once again given no runs in support. The Rangers’ lead in the AL West increased again, as they improved their winning streak to 12 straight, so the Angels were in a bad position going into game 2, needing to win to have a chance to salvage the series and keep close in the division race. Dan Haren started game two of the series, but his recent troubles continued as he allowed 7 runs in just over 4 innings, in a very atypical performance, and the Rangers had a 8-3 lead after scoring 5 runs in the 5^th. The bottom of the 6^th inning may well represent the turning point in the Angels’ season, as they came back and scored 6 runs as part of a much needed offensive outburst, to take a 9-8 lead. Equally as impressive was the fact that the Angels bullpen managed to shut down the Rangers’ potent offense for the rest of the game, and held on to win it 9-8. They ended the Rangers’ winning streak, and had a chance to win a huge series, with Jared Weaver on the mound for game 3. The Angels scored one run when the Rangers centerfielder dropped an easy line drive that would have ended the inning, but instead allowed the runner to score from 2^nd, and that was enough to push them to victory. Weaver shut out the Rangers over 7 innings, then Downs and Walden finished off the 1-0 win, and CJ Wilson took the hard luck loss, despite not allowing any earned runs in a complete game. This may be the season-changing series, and gave them a chance to stay in the division race, and proved to both teams that they can play with last years American League champions…





Next, they traveled to Baltimore to face the Orioles, and won the first game of that series, as Ervin Santana allowed just 3 hits in almost 8 innings, and just one run late in the game. He carried a no-hitter into the 6^th inning, but his teammates didn’t give him any run support until the 7^th when they went up 2-0. Takahashi came into the game to relieve Santana with two outs in the 8^th, and then Vernon Wells hit a grand slam off of the Orioles’ closer Kevin Gregg to boost the lead to 6-1, so Takahashi came back out in the 9^th and got credit for the save, since the game was close when he originally came in. They got off to a faster start in game 2 of the series, scoring two runs in the first inning, on a two-run homerun by Wells, who homered in his two consecutive at-bats. The rest of the game was the problem, as the offense did nothing for the rest of the game against the O’s starter Brad Bergeson, and Joel Pineiro allowed a bunch of hits (11) and three runs in his 5 innings of work, and the Angels lost 3-2. Game 3 was another tight one, as the Angels were up 3-2 in the 8^th inning, as Chatwood pitched well in his 7 innings, allowing just the two runs. The other notable stat was no walks allowed by Chatwood, which can perhaps serve as a lesson for Chatwood who tends to walk too many batters unnecessarily, and gives up runs because of them more often than not. Mike Trout was playing in front of about a hundred friends and family members, because he grew up less than 100 miles from the ballpark in Baltimore, and he hit his first big league homerun, clobbering a line drive deep into the seats in left field for a 3-run homer to help break the game open. It was much more impressive than his first big league hit, which was an infield hit when he beat out a bunt when the pitcher took too long making the throw to 1^st and threw the ball away. Hunter followed with a two-run homer to boost the lead to 8-3 and they won the game 9-3, to clinch another series win.



They traveled to Cleveland to play the Indians on July 25^th, and each game of the series was a pitching duel. Dan Haren was back to his usual self, and held the Indians to just one run. Bobby Abreu hit a rare homerun in the 8^th inning and the Angels took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the 9^th, but Jordan Walden couldn’t save the game. The leadoff man singled, stole second, and scored on a double by the giant Travis Hafner to tie the score quickly. Eventually the bases were loaded and Scioscia took out Walden and brought in Takashashi, and brought in Hunter from right field to play as another infielder on the right side. Hunter got a groundball and threw out the runner at home for the 2^nd out, so he went back out to right field for the next hitter. Jason Kipnis picked this time to get his first major league hit, pulling a high fastball through the hole on the right side of the infield but Hunter wasn’t there this time, and it rolled to him in right, for the game-winning hit.



Jared Weaver pitched another brilliant game in the middle of the series, once again lowering his already miniscule ERA, allowing just one run in 7 innings, on a solo homerun in the bottom of the 7^th to Matt LaPorta. Just before that, the Angels scored the first runs of the game, when Mark Trumbo hit a clutch 2-run double after they intentionally walked Kendrick to get to him. Walden came in to close the game out, but it looked like he was on the verge of another blown save, as Hafner led off with a groundball that hit the lip of the grass near home plate and bounced way over Trumbo’s head, turning a groundout into a single, and eventually the bases were loaded with no outs. He had to throw a couple full count pitches to LaPorta and eventually got a weak grounder towards 2^nd, so Kendrick charged it and threw for the out at home, and Mathis threw to 1^st for the unconventional double play, to complete the biggest play of the game. Walden blew away the hero of game 1, Kipnis, striking him out on a high fastball finish off the save he earned the hard way.



Game 3 of the series may be the most memorable game of the season for the Angels, highlighted for the sparkling performance by Ervin Santana, who threw a NO-HITTER, and, ironically, earn the first win of his career against the Indians. It was the first complete game no-hitter by an Angel starter in about 27 years, and the first for the franchise since Langston and Witt combined for one back in the 90’s. Strangely enough, he was actually losing for most of the game, because the very first hitter he faced reached base on an error by Aybar, and eventually scored on a wild pitch that catcher Bobby Wilson couldn’t contain. The Angels didn’t score until the 5^th on a sacrifice fly by Trout, then they took the lead in the 6^th, when Hunter scored on a passed ball, and then they watched as Santana was getting ahead of hitters with his fastball and blowing them away with his slider, as he struck out ten hitters, including 5 of the last 8 batters he faced. When he wasn’t striking them out, he was getting a lot of weak ground outs, and the Indians really only had a chance at getting a hit in the 6^th, on a grounder up the middle by Mr. Kipnis, where Kendrick had to dive to make the stop and got up quickly to throw him out. The Angels scored one more in the 9^th for the 3-1 lead, but the story was Santana, who was overpowering from start to finish. I thought that an Angels pitcher would get one this year, but I figured it would be Haren or Weaver, but Santana proved he belongs in the class of top tier pitchers in baseball, after that performance, cementing his place in the record books.



The Angels took a very enthusiastic plane ride to Detroit where they faced the Tigers, starting on July 28^th, which I’ll get into later. They have managed to keep up with the surging Rangers, despite their 12-game winning streak, and even put an end to the streak when they came back from that 5 run deficit,  eventually taking the series, to remain close in the race. They came into Detroit just 2 games back in the American League West standings, and now have the lowest team ERA in the American League. Pitching and defense have kept them close to the division lead all season, making up for the overall lack of offense (mainly hitting with runners on base) and poor individual seasons for players like Abreu, Hunter and Wells, which have plagued them for most of the season. Time will tell if they can continue their pursuit of 1st place and claim a spot in the playoffs, and it certainly would also be nice if they added another hitter or relief pitcher before the trade deadline, but that seems unlikely, with that time coming up in less than a day now. Injuries and poor offensive production seem to be the major obstacles ahead, and the Rangers are hitting and pitching well so far this season, so it won't be easy to keep up, but it's still pretty impressive that they have so far...

Aston’s Angels Report [Games 86-88 vs Detroit- W,W,L]

AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                                               July 4-6, 2011
Game 86-88: Pitching + Defense= Win  Or: Why Joe West Sucks     Vol. 1, Issue 88


Obviously I’m behind in my writing, as if it really matters to anyone else, and maybe it’s just some version of OCD or other brain malfunction that forces me to want to continue, so here I am again typing away, even though I could easily just say I took a vacation for the Holiday and omit even watching the games, without any repercussions whatsoever. Maybe it’s just turned into a habit, maybe I want to prove (at least to myself) that I could do this for a living, or maybe I am sick of quitting things because I’m not successful at it (I.E. the guitar, baseball, pursuit of math tutor career). Or maybe it’s just that I dread having to back into the social work force, pleasing the social masses with a smile mask and arbitrary pleasantries, while continuing my [fleeting] hopes that I could actually have a job that I enjoy, because it allows me to work autonomously and creatively… And this is me trying to write a shorter document?…Let’s try this again! 　

I’m going to compile the entire series vs. the Detroit Tigers into one submission, and maybe I’ll continue it this way in the future, who knows (or cares?). After winning, 13 of the 18 inter-league game, the Angels started the series with Detroit in a tie for 1^st place in their division, but after losing the 3^rd game of the series, they fell one game back, because the Rangers swept their series. Pitching and defense was the name of the game in this series, as all three Angels starters had good outings, especially Dan Haren and Joel Pineiro, and each was helped out by stellar defense behind them, but some poor defense hurt the 3^rd game’s starter, Tyler Chatwood, and ruined an otherwise solid outing. The all-mighty Joe West’s umpiring crew was involved, and as usual they made sure they were noticed, ejecting coaches and players, before and after making bad calls that altered the outcomes of games, and then dismissing anyone who dared to question their decisions, without even listening, as if it is impossible for them to be wrong.
　
Game 1 of the series was on Sunday, the 4^th of July, and the Angels celebrated with a couple loud displays on offense, to back up one of Joel Pineiro’s best outings in a couple of months. He retired the first six batters he faced, and it looked like his pitches were moving more than they have lately, especially his sinker, as indicated by the four groundball outs. The first hit he allowed came in the 3^rd, when the catcher Alex Avila celebrated his all-star team selection with a double down the 1B line, on a grounder that should have been stopped by 1B Mark Trumbo, but bounced right by him and into right field. Pineiro would strike out 2B Ryan Raburn, and get 3B Brandon Inge on a line out, before walking CF Austin Jackson (on a 3-2 sinker that was called a ball, as the Angels players started to go to the dugout, thinking it was a strikeout). LF Brennan Boesch grounded out to 2^nd to end the 3^rd.
　
Pineiro was given the lead early, when Torii Hunter hit a solo homerun deep to center field on a fastball right down the middle, from the Tigers’ rookie pitcher Charlie Furbush, making his first start in the majors, after 12 relief appearances so far this season. He retired the next five hitters he faced, until Peter Bourjos led off the 3rd inning with a grounder through the left side, on a 96 MPH fastball from the young lefty. Bourjos stole 2^nd base, then catcher Jeff Mathis struck out, but Bourjos stole 3^rd base on the 1^st pitch to SS Erick Aybar, and the 3B Inge had to dive to catch an errant throw from the catcher, to save an error and a run. On the 2-2 pitch to Aybar, Furbush caught his cleat as he stepped to make his pitch, and stumbled off the mound without throwing the pitch, which is a balk, so the runner was automatically awarded home. They really manufactured that run, to make the score 2-0, and after Aybar and Hunter made outs, the game headed to the 4^th.
　
Pineiro got into some trouble in the top of the 4^th, started by a leadoff walk to RF Magglio Ordonez, which is never a good thing, especially when one of the best hitters in baseball, All-Star Miguel Cabrera coming up, and to make matters worse, Ordonez went to 2^nd on a wild pitch to put a man in scoring position. Luckily for the Angels, they have Peter Bourjos in center field, and he was the main reason Cabrera went hitless in this one, except for his groundout in the 2^nd. With the man at 2^nd, he hit a sinking liner into CF, and Bourjos ran in to catch it just before it hit the ground, but stayed on his feet to avoid the problem he had last game (diving when he probably didn’t have to) and keeping the runner at 2^nd base. The DH, Victor Martinez pulled an outside fastball and grounded out to 2^nd, but SS Jhonny (yes that is how you spell it) Peralta pulled a grounder through the left side for an RBI single, to make the score 2-1.
　
In the bottom of the 4^th, the Angels got a two-out double from their all-star 2B Howie Kendrick, to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, but Trumbo ended the inning with a fly out to left. They would, however, score single runs in three of the next four innings to take the 5-1 lead, starting in the 5^th. Callaspo led off with a single back up the middle, went to 2^nd on a bunt by Mathis, and scored on a bloop single to center by Aybar, which made the score 3-1 and ended the night for the Tigers’ starter. Lester Oliveros came in relief and ended the inning with a line drive to center. In the 6^th, Vernon Wells hit a one-out double off the big wall in right center, that would have been a homer if it was just a couple feet to the left, and scored on a two-out single to right by Trumbo, to make it 4-1. They went down 1-2-3 in their next at bat, but added one more in the bottom of the 8^th, when Vernon Wells blasted a homerun on a high fastball off of new reliever Phil Coke, deep into left field, into the stands beyond both bullpens.
　
Pineiro shut the Tigers out in his final three innings, with some help from his defense to preserve the lead. He retired them in order in the 5^th, with about 8 pitches or so, but faced some major problems in the 6^th [when the score was still 3-1]. Boesch led off the inning with a soft liner into left for a single, and Pineiro compounded the problem with another walk to Ordonez, this time on four straight balls, to bring their dangerous 1^st baseman up with runners on again. He whacked a low sinker into deep centerfield, and Bourjos sprinted back to the track, jumped and caught the ball as he crashed into the wall, robbing Cabrera of another hit and saving the Angels from at least one run (probably two runs), from scoring. It was a huge play, and the momentum seemed to continue from that point on, and the next hitter, Martinez, pulled another outside pitch, and grounded into a double play, to end the inning. He got out of another jam in the top of the 7^th, after Peralta continued his hot hitting with a leadoff double down the left field line. Avila grounded out, and Raburn singled to right, but Peralta was held at 3^rd. This time it was Brandon Inge’s turn to hit into an inning-ending double play, hitting a grounder to Callaspo who threw to Kendrick at 2^nd, and he made a good throw to 1^st even though he was being barreled into by Raburn. That kept the score 4-1, and ended the night for Pineiro, who pitched 7 full innings for the first time in months, and finally earned a win (just a 4-3 record with a lot of no-decisions).
　
Scott Downs struck out two en route to an easy 1-2-3 inning in the 8^th, and Michael Kohn came in to finish the game in the 9^th, after Vernon Wells homer in the bottom of the 8^th pushed the lead to 4 runs, so a save wasn’t in the works anymore. He walked Cabrera to lead off the inning, but retired the next three to end the game and seal the victory for the Angels. Five one-run innings, good pitching, and great defense were the winning combination in this one, and they were able to celebrate America’s Holiday with a victory.
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Game 2 of the series was another pitcher’s duel, as expected, with two of the best pitchers in the American League, facing off against each other. Dan Haren won his last game against the Nationals 1-0, in a major pitching duel, and his opponent on Tuesday was the fireballer, Justin Verlander, who is always a threat to throw [another] no-hitter. Both pitched virtually flawlessly in this one, but the umpires made themselves very apparent in this one, unfortunately for Verlander. There were only a few changes in the lineups, with Maicer Izturis playing 3^rd, instead of Callaspo, which moved Aybar down to the 6^th spot. The Tigers switched Cabrera and Martinez, so Cabrera was DH instead, and Don Kelly was the 3B instead of Brandon Inge. There wasn’t a whole lot of offense to report in this one, since there were less than ten total hits, as pitching dominated from the start.
　
The Tigers did got a base runner in the 1^st inning, when Boesch struck out on a split finger in the dirt, but reached 1^st because the ball went through the legs of Mathis and couldn’t get to the ball to make the throw on the dropped 3^rd strike play. Ordonez hit fly outs to end the inning, so Haren actually had to get four outs to get out of the inning. He retired the side in order in the 2^nd, helped out by a good running catch by LF Vernon Wells, running into left center to snag a deep fly ball by Peralta for the 2^nd out, before Avila struck out looking to end the inning.
　
Verlander retired the side in order in his first inning of work, it cost the Angels more than just three outs, because Abreu was ejected by the home plate umpire for saying that the 3-2 pitch was low ( I read his lips). I guess he was tossed for continuing to argue, but the inning was over, and he doesn’t play the field, so I don’t see the big deal of at least discussing it, but Angel Campos instead decided to throw out one of the most mild mannered players in the game, after a 20-second argument. The Angels scored their lone run of the game in the 2^nd inning, when Howie Kendrick hit a slow grounder to the SS, and was called safe on Peralta’s throw to 1^st. It wasn’t a great throw; more of an off-balance flip that floated high, but it still beat Kendrick to the base, so he should have been called, but Joe West made the safe call. That of course prompted the Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland to come out and argue (and ask if the ruling was that Martinez was off the base when he caught the high throw), but Joe West was already waving him away before he got there, insisting that Kendrick beat the throw, and was so overly confident that he had the call right, and he couldn’t believe that Leyland would dare come out to argue. With Aybar up, Kendrick started for 2^nd as part of a hit and run play, and Aybar hit a grounder into right field that Ordonez had to run towards the line to field. Kendrick was hustling around the bases, and continued chugging as the 3^rd base coach sent him home when the throw went to 2^nd, and the throw from Rayburn was too late. Kendrick scored from 1^st on what was basically a single, that Aybar stretched into a double, as their aggressive base running earned them a run. Trumbo grounded out and Bourjos hit a fly out to strand Aybar at 2^nd, but the Angels capitalized on another bad call by an umpire to score what turned out to be the winning run of the game. The ego of some of these umpires is just ridiculous, but if he cares at all, he will look at the tape and realize that he made another bad call, and maybe he will finally figure out that he is, in fact, not infallible.
　
The Tigers got their first hit of the game in the 3^rd, when their leadoff man Austin Jackson got his 2^nd turn at the plate, and tripled to deep right center with two outs. Brennan Boesch grounded out to the pitcher, on an inside slider, to end the inning, after fouling a ball off his leg on a similar pitch, which brought the trainer out to examine him for a few minutes and forced him out of the game in the next inning (replaced by Andy Dirks in the next inning.) Both pitchers only had one inning with any hardship from that point on, and it came in the 5th. After retiring the Tigers in order in the 4^th, Haren allowed a leadoff single to Peralta in the 5^th, and he moved to 2^nd on a groundout (it would have been a double play if they hadn’t sent the runner on a hit-and-run play, so he got a head start to 2^nd). Raburn tried to bunt, for some reason, and Haren pounced off the mound to make the play at 1^st, but they had another runner at 3^rd with two outs. Haren got the 9^th place hitter, Don Kelly, out, throwing a slider in tight to induce a weak pop out to the SS, to end the inning.
　
Verlander set the Angels down in order in the bottom of the 3^rd and 4^th before hitting a roadblock in the 5^th, when Aybar led off the inning with his second hit of the game, a broken bat single into right. Trumbo hit a hard grounder to 3^rd that Kelly made a great diving stop on, but he got up and made a terrible throw, way over Martinez’s head at 1^st and into the stands. It was ruled a hit plus an error, so runners were now on 2^nd and 3^rd with no outs, and Verlander then issued a four-pitch walk to Bourjos, so the Angels looked primed to push another run across, with the bases loaded and no outs. Verlander struck out Mathis, then got Izturis to pop out to the SS, and had a long battle with Hunter (who has hit Verlander well in his career), and after fouling off a few 3-2 fastballs, he hit scolded a line drive into center, but it was right to Jackson for the last out. The Angels blew a huge opportunity to extend the lead, and it looked like it could come back to haunt them later, but Haren made that 1-0 lead stick.

Another instance of umpire interference came up in the 6^th inning, and this time it cost the Tigers their manager. During the inning, the 3^rd base umpire, Angel Hernandez made Verlander get a new ball, accusing him of licking his fingers and not wiping them off, for the second time in the game, which Verlander didn’t appreciate too much and complained to the home plate umpire as he came out to trade balls. After Verlander got out of the inning, their manager called Joe West over to the dugout and yelled at him about that and probably the missed call at 1^st again, to protect his players basically, and West was sick of hearing it, so he ejected Leyland. When Verlander was pulled in the 8^th inning, he turned around and said one word to Hernandez at 3^rd, which was enough to get him ejected by him, but before he even realized it, he said a few things to West over at 1^st, on his way to the dugout. I’m surprised more pitchers don’t yell at the umpires more often as they leave the game, since getting ejected doesn’t really effect anything, when they are already out of the game.
　
After that previously mentioned single by Peralta, leading off the 5^th, Dan Haren proceeded to retire every hitter he faced from then until the final out in the 9^th (15 straight outs). He allowed just two hits in the game, and struck out nine batters, without allowing a walk, as part of a magnificent complete game shutout. He threw first-pitch strikes to 24 of the 30 hitters he faced, and nearly three times as many strikes as balls during the entire game. He was able to throw any pitch at any time, and changed up his pitch sequences as the game progressed to constantly baffle the Tigers’ hitters. If not for a blown call by an umpire, turning an out into a hit, the game may have remained scoreless, because Verlander only allowed 7 hits in almost 8 innings, and was the tough-luck loser, through no fault of his own. It looked like the Angels just said “Here’s your run, now get us a win”, and Haren somehow won 1-0 for the second straight game, to earn his 100^th career win, with only his 4^th ever complete game shutout. For a pitching nerd like me, it was a thing of beauty, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pitcher win 1-0 twice in a row like that, at least not in the last few years.
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In Game 3, on Wednesday, the Angels got off to an early lead, but some poor defense and wild pitching, along with an assist by the dreadful umpiring of Joe West (again), allowed the Tigers back into the game and then eventually give up the win. Angels starter Tyler Chatwood walked more than he struck out (a problem for him this season), with no help from the home plate umpire Joe West, who refused to call strikes on several high-quality pitches, resulting in walks (extra runners) and extra pitches. The two runs he surrendered were unearned, and he was still in line for a win when he left in the 6^th, but the bullpen were wild too and the walked batters spelled their demise in the end.
　
The Tigers’ Brennan Boesch remained out of the lineup after fouling a pitch off his right knee in the last game, so Don Kelly took over LF, while Andy Dirks played RF, instead of Magglio Ordonez, probably because it was a day game after a night game. Ramon Santiago played 2B instead of Raburn, and Brandon Inge was back at 3B. The Angels gave the day off to Erick Aybar, so Izturis took over SS, and Abreu played LF, to allow Vernon Wells to stay off the field as the DH, after tweaking his ankle in the last game.
　
Chatwood came in with a 5-5 record and very respectable 3.83 ERA, and got off to a shaky start, walking Jackson to lead off the game, and then allowing a single to Santiago, who just slapped one into left, to put two runners on for the middle of the lineup. During the at-bat to Jackson, the 2-2 fastball was above the knees and down the middle, but home plate umpire Joe West called it a ball, and Jackson thought it was ball four and went to all the way to 1^st, before realizing it was just ball three. That comical mistake overshadowed the real issue, but it gave the broadcast extra time to show the replay with the strike zone box on the screen, which showed just how bad of a call that was. Joe West’s inconsistency and discriminatory strike calls would be an issue throughout the game; he at least lacked consistency, and I would go a step further and say showed favoritism to other pitchers, because he seems like that kind of person to me and everyone else who deals with him. Chatwood probably had his best three-batter-sequence after those first two reached, striking out Andy Dirks (batting 3^rd for some reason) with a good fastball that moved across the plate to the outside corner. Then he fell behind mighty Miguel Cabrera (2-0), but blew him away with three straight 95+ MPH fastballs for three swinging strikes to get a big strikeout, and finished the inning with a good curveball to Martinez to induce the weak pop out on the infield.
　
The Tigers’ starter was Brad Penny, who had a 5-6 record, and 4.43 ERA, and pitched well after a poor start. The Angels barely scored one run to win the last game 1-0, so their 1^st inning in this game was something of an offensive explosion. Izturis grounded out to lead off, but the Angels followed with four straight hits, beginning with an inside-out line drive by Torii Hunter, who hit an inside fastball into right field, for a single. Abreu worked the count full and, with Torii Hunter running, hit a grounder through the left side, to advance Hunter to 3^rd, with one out. Vernon Wells, pulled a 2-0 fastball, down the left field line, for an RBI double, to push across the first run of the game. Howie Kendrick came up next with runners at 2^nd and 3^rd, and the first pitch from Penny was supposed to be outside, but he threw one that tailed to the other side and almost hit Kendrick in the foot, but [you guessed it] Joe West put up the strike signal. The count went to 0-2, and Penny tried another fastball, but it went right down the middle and Howie smacked a line drive back up the middle, to drive in two more, and make the score 3-0. Kendrick would steal 2^nd, but Callaspo and Trumbo hit fly ball outs to end the inning….
Back to my umpire tangent, the pitch to Kendrick missed location by almost 2 feet (no exaggeration), traveled halfway into Howie’s batter’s box, and yet it was still called a strike!! That, my friends, is called favoritism, not just inconsistency, especially in context of this game, when so many strikes from the other pitcher were called balls. If I was Howie, I would have probably gotten thrown out after that one, because that was probably the worst call I’ve ever seen on a strike call. The first rule of umpiring is supposed to be: make the same call for both teams (i.e. all players), with no favoritism; their job is simply to be consistent, and now they won’t even allow another player or manager to question them when they’re so far from consistency it changes the outcome of games, because their ego has grown bigger than the game they are supposed to be monitoring.
　
In the 2^nd, Peralta hit a grounder to Callaspo at 3^rd, who nonchalantly went after it, and misplayed the ball off his arm, but luckily it bounced off his body in front of him, and Peralta is slow, so he had time to make the out at 1^st despite the poor fielding. Avila walked, but Inge grounded into a double play to end the inning relatively quickly… In the 3^rd inning, Don Kelly hit a fastball into center for a solid leadoff single, to start what would be a taxing inning for Chatwood. Jackson hit a high chopper to 3^rd, and Callaspo decided to wait back for it, then unleashed a high throw to 1^st, for a very costly error (and 2^nd defensive mistake of the game really). With two men on, Santiago laid down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher to move the runners to 2^nd and 3^rd. Chatwood had to throw five strikes to get three against Andy Dirks, thanks again to Joe West, who called the first pitch a ball even though it was a strike upon the replay, and then again on the 2-2 fastball, another ball on what was a strike, to force a full count. Chatwood struck him out swinging at a fastball for the 2^nd out, which should have been the last out, if not for that error by Callaspo. Now he had to face Cabrera, who hits .390 with runners in scoring position this year, and once again got no help from the umpire. Chatwood did get ahead 0-2, but eventually went to a full count after his one curveball in the at-bat went in the dirt and was blocked nicely by Conger. His 3-2 pitch was a fastball again over the outside corner (inside to left-hand batters) and it was once again falsely called ball four, to extend the inning and load the bases for the DH Victor Martinez. He of course lined a single into right field, scoring two runs, to make it 3-2, thanks in large part to prejudicial judgments by the umpire who is supposed to be impartial. If a pitch crosses the plate in the strike zone, it is a strike, even if the pitcher is a rookie, and the hitter is a veteran; it’s as simple as that, unless you are a major league umpire, apparently….
　
　
The Angels offense did basically nothing from the 2^nd inning on, until the last batter Penny faced in the 7^th inning. He set them down in order in the 2^nd, using his curveball to get two strikeouts and a groundout. Hunter singled to right to lead off the 3rd, in a carbon copy of his first hit, but he was erased on a double play by Vernon Wells, after Abreu made the first out. They went down in order again in the 4^th, and Izturis walked in the 5^th but that was there only base runner. In the bottom of the 6^th, Abreu walked to lead off, but Vernon Wells hit into another double play to the 3^rd baseman again for two quick outs. Kendrick checked his swing on a 1-2 curveball in the dirt, but Joe West called him out without appealing to the 1^st base umpire (another pet peeve of mine). He turned around a stormed away, ignoring Kendrick’s inquiry/argument, only turning his head slightly to say something (probably something dismissive like “yes you did“, with his back toward him, because he was headed off the field, to the bathroom or water fountain. So, because he had to pee or was thirsty, he refused to even ask for help on a play he is supposed to, and disregarded any comment from Kendrick, who rarely complains about anything (he didn’t even flinch on that phantom strike call in his first at-bat).
　
In the top of the 4^th, Joe West tried to give the Tigers the lead, calling ball four on a 3-1 fastball, to Don Kelly for an unearned walk, that shouldn’t have been. Then he did the same thing on a 3-2 fastball, in the same place, to Jackson, to turn a strikeout into a walk, and two runners on with two out. Santiago got the benefit of another call, when West called the 1-0 inside fastball, a ball, instead of strike two. He then singled into left field, but Abreu threw a good one-hop throw to Conger, who caught and tagged out Kelly, sliding into home, for the final out, keeping the lead in tact. Some forget how good of a throwing arm Abreu has, since he doesn’t play in the field much and is viewed as something of a liability because he isn’t very fast, but he leads active players in outfield assists for his career… Chatwood got his first 1-2-3 inning, in the top of the 5^th, but Chatwood was already near 100 pitches (no thanks to the invisible strike zone) so his night was close to over. He came out to pitch the 6^th and retired Peralta on a fly out, but that was his last batter, and Hisanori Takahashi was brought in to replace him. He walked the first batter he faced, Avila, but struck out Inge and got a fly out from Kelly to end the inning, and keep Chatwood in line for a possible victory with the 3-2 lead.
　
Unfortunately, it unraveled in the top of the 7^th, as Takahashi came back out to pitch, and walked their fastest runner, and leadoff man, Jackson to start the inning, which is always a bad sign. Santiago put down another sacrifice bunt, moving Jackson into scoring position at 2^nd base. Left-hand hitter Andy Dirks made contact with an 0-2 outside slider, and broke his bat, but it died a hero, as the ball blooped into right field, and enabled Jackson to score the tying run. Takahashi was then removed from the game, a little late in my opinion; I think allowing the leadoff walk would have been a good reason to pull him right there. Michael Kohn was brought in to face the slugger, Cabrera, but he surrendered the game-winning hit, as Cabrera pulled an inside 93 MPH fastball, muscling it over the left field fence for a two-run homerun and the 5-3 lead. Kohn retired Martinez and Peralta but the damage was done, and it can all be traced back to a leadoff walk in the inning.
　
The Angels were now down by two, going into the 7^th, and Penny was in the midst of mowing through the Angels, so it wasn’t looking too good. He retired Callaspo to lead off the 7^th, but the Mark Trumbo snapped the Angels funk, when he smashed a curveball into deep left center for a solo homer to bring them within one run. That was the first hit Penny allowed since the 3^rd inning, and turned out to be the last batter he would face. David Purvey came in, and retired the two batters he faced to end the inning.
　
Rich Thompson came into the game for the Angels in the 8^th, and pitched like he did earlier in the year, using his firm fastball and great curveball to dominate hitters and get easy outs. He got ahead of each hitter with fastballs, struck out the first two he faced with his big curveball, and then get Kelly to groundout to end the inning quickly. Benoit came in to pitch for the Tigers in the bottom half, and got Izturis to fly out leading off the inning. Hunter took a 0-1 fastball that was in the exact same place as the ones called a ball by West all game, when Chatwood threw it, but it was called a strike to make the count 0-2 (a big difference from 1-1), to the dismay of Hunter and everyone in the Angels dugout. Hunter grounded out on the next pitch, for the 2^nd out, and Abreu drew a two-out walk, but the inning ended when Wells struck out on a high fastball. When an umpire bases his decision on whether a pitch is a strike on who is throwing it, and how long the game has been going on [in the hot weather, because he wants to go home] there is a problem.
　
Thompson pitched well again in the 9^th, even though he walked Jackson (I have no idea why they couldn’t throw a strike to a guy who hits about .250 and is their fastest runner) . He retired Santiago, who popped up a bunt, then Dirks hit a fly out to right. Cabrera was called out by West, on a check swing, which made Cabrera angry and forced Leyland out to complain (he was due for that eventually). Once again he refused to ask for help, and it looked like he needed to catch a plane or something… Jose Valverde came in to close the game out for the Tigers and set the Angels down in order, to continue his perfect record in save opportunities, with his 21^st save this season. Of course it had to end on another fraudulent call from Joe West, who called Trumbo out on an outside fastball, which was NEVER called a strike when Chatwood threw it, but became a strike since the game was almost over and it was a veteran pitcher on the mound.
　
Too many walks (8), and one major defensive miscue cost the Angels a chance at a sweep, but they still came away with the series win, to extend their streak to seven straight series victories as they continue their run to take over the lead in their division. Of course, the final two games could have ended differently, and were shrouded with controversy because of egomaniacal umpires who forgot what their job is. Umpires are getting worse, making bad calls, throwing out people because they dare complain (with just cause in most cases), while acting like fans come to the ballpark to see them, and hopefully these facts will bring on the advent of instant replay, so the game isn’t stained by these conceited, inconsistent, and seemingly biased men who think they are beyond criticism. I can’t wait!!
                    
                                Wins (5-1 + 1-0), Loss 5-4 Record: 46-42

Aston’s Angels Report [Game 85 vs LA Dodgers- Win]

            AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                     July 3, 2011
            Game 85: Just Enough Again                      Vol. 1, Issue 87
                                             Win 3-1 Record: 44-41

Sunday’s game between the two LA teams marked the end of the Inter-league series for the remainder of the year, and the Angels were looking to continue their dominance over the National League, and continue its overall streak of series wins. The pitchers duel of the series was supposed to be in the last game, with the matchup of Weaver and Kershaw, but it ended up being in Sunday’s game, between Ervin Santana and Chad Billingsley. One threw a complete game and was nearly perfect through the first 6 innings, and the other allowed just one run, which scored on a hit that went in and out of his fielder’s glove.
　
The Dodgers changed up their lineup, starting with their SS Rafael Furcal coming off the DL, but he was replaced on the list by Casey Blake, with a back strain (and his third time on the DL this season). Matt Kemp was the DH, so Tony Gwynn Jr played CF, and Trent Oeltjen played in LF. Ervin Santana came in with a dismal 3-8 record, but a relatively low ERA of 4.08, and once he found his shard slider, he kept the Dodgers almost silent in this one, but was still in line for the loss, going into the 7^th inning stretch.
Santana allowed a two-out double by RF Andre Ethier, who lined a 1-2 slider down the right field line, that bounced into the crowd near the corner, but he induced a groundout by Kemp to end the top of the 1^st inning.
　
The Angels put Bobby Abreu in RF [in place of Torii Hunter], Howie Kendrick continued his position merry-go-round and played 1B, while Russell Branyan took over the DH spot. The Dodgers starter, Chad Billingsley, had a 7-6 record, with a 4.22 ERA, and he didn’t allow a runner to even reach 2^nd base until the bottom of the 7^th. The Angels literally had one good inning of offense, but that was still enough to squeak out another victory, thanks, once again, to their fine pitching staff. They went down 1-2-3 in their first at-bat, with three weak groundouts, to send the game into the 2^nd.
　
Ervin Santana faced some major adversity in the top of the 2^nd, but he came out unscathed and this proved to be one of the biggest innings of the game. 1B James Loney hit the first pitch of the inning for a line drive single into right, and then 3B Aaron Miles hit a 0-1 hanging slider through the hole on the right side for another single into right, and Loney went into 3^rd, barely beating the throw from Abreu with a head-first slide. With runners at 1^st and 3^rd and on outs, Santana fell behind Trent Oeltjen 3-0, then threw three straight strikes for the strikeout, but the Miles stole 2^nd base as Oeltjen swung and missed on strike three. With runners now at 2^nd and 3^rd, with one out, Santana all of a sudden found the release point on his devastating slider, striking out catcher, AJ Ellis, with two good sliders and two weak swings to end that at bat. He finished off the inning with another strikeout, getting 2B Jamey Carroll, looking on a perfect ‘backdoor’ slider over the outside corner, to get out a major jam and keep the scoreless tie.
　
From that point on, both pitchers only had one inning with any trouble at all. The Angels managed their first base runner in the 2^nd, when Kendrick hit a grounder up the middle for a one-out single, but 3B Alberto Callaspo and Branyan made consecutive outs to end the inning. Catcher Hank Conger walked to lead off the 3^rd, but he was erased later in the inning on a double play grounder by 2B Maicer Izturis, to end that inning. They went down in order in the 4^th, with two strikeouts, and had one base runner on in the 5^th, when Branyan walked with two outs, but the inning ended soon thereafter.
　
The Dodgers only managed one base runner over the next three innings, as Santana settled down and mowed through their lineup with almost no problem. That lone base runner came when Tony Gwynn struck out to lead off the 3^rd, on another good slider in the dirt, and reached 1^st base on a silly error by the Angels catcher. Hank Conger tagged Gwynn out when he was near the batter’s box, but the umpire ruled that he didn’t, and for some reason Conger didn’t throw the ball to 1^st even though he had plenty of time to do so, which was ruled an error for good reason [someone needs to tell him to just throw the damn ball next time.] Gwynn stole 2^nd during Furcal’s at-bat, taking advantage of Conger’s poor percentage of caught stealing, even though he made good throws on most of the attempts in this one (Santana gives up a lot of stolen bases no matter who catches really).Furcal struck out on another good slider, for Santana’s fifth straight strikeout, and Ethier grounded out to 2^nd to move the runner over to 3^rd with two outs. Kemp hit a low 96 MPH fastball deep into right center, but Bourjos chased it down near the warning track…. Santana retired them in order in the 4^th and 5^th, using his firm fastball and stealth slider to earn three more strikeouts on the way.
　
The Dodgers scored the game’s first run in the top of the 6^th, started by Furcal, who hit the first pitch fastball, on the ground through the right side for a leadoff single. Ethier slapped a sinking liner into left, and Vernon Wells made a good sliding catch after running in to steal a hit away. Furcal stole 2^nd during Kemp’s at bat, before he popped up a 2-2 slider for the 2^nd out. Loney lined a slider into right center field, that Bourjos ran over to get, but he went for the dive and the ball went in and out of his glove before he hit the ground, and rolled away for an RBI double. He may have been better off trying to stay on his feet, but he is one of few people who could even get to the ball, so it’s hard to say he did anything wrong; he has saved so many hits and runs already with his good defense, and I bet he would catch that 8 out of 10 times. Unfortunately that one allowed a run, and the offense was doing nothing so far, so a 1-0 score wasn’t too far out of the question. Santana nearly let it unravel, first walking Miles to put two runners on, then making an error on the next play, when he caught a grounder by Oeltjen, but tried a long toss, under hand throw (a common brain fart by pitchers) and Kendrick couldn’t handle the low bouncer, so it loaded the bases. He induced the inning-ending grounder from Ellis with another good slider, so the damage was limited to just one run, thankfully.
　
The Angels went down in order in the bottom of the 6^th, forcing Billingsley to only throw 7 pitches, to send Santana back out there way too quickly after the long previous inning. Santana was back in form in the top of the 7^th, and retired the Dodgers 1-2-3 again, to keep the game close… The Angels finally did something on offense in the bottom of the 7^th, and it ended up deciding the game. Abreu led off with a double down the right field line, much like Ethier’s double in the Dodgers’ first inning, to put a runner in scoring position for the first time all game, for the Angels. Abreu went to 3^rd on a slider in the dirt to Wells, then he hit a 3-1 outside fastball on the ground to 2B Carroll, but they were playing back, so the run scored, to tie the score 1-1. Billingsley got ahead of Kendrick, 1-2, but threw a fastball too far inside and hit him across the chest as Howie turned away. Callaspo popped up into short left for the 2^nd out, but Russell Branyan followed with the biggest at bat of the game. He worked the count full, and fouled off a couple of pitches, before scolding a low and away 84 MPH changeup (or really bad slider), deep into right center, over the tall wall, for a two-run homerun. Branyan’s first homer as an Angel was a big one, giving them a 3-1 lead late in the game, and it was the game winning hit, as it turned out. Conger struck out to end the inning, but the Angels found a way to put up a 3-spot on the scoreboard, heading into the last two innings.
　
Torii Hunter came in as defensive replacement in RF, and Santana stayed in to pitch the 8^th, with a pitch count of about 101 pitches to start the inning. Ethier hit a fly out to center on another good Santana slider, and then Kemp was called out on a very rare interference call. He chopped a ball that bounced high near the batter’s area, and looked up at the ball as he crossed over home plate, instead of running to 1^st base, and Conger crashed into him as he got up to get to the ball while it was out in front of the plate, and the umpire immediately called him out for interference. It was definitely a rare call, and disputable since Kemp was near the batter’s box, but it looked like he was in between the boxes, standing on home plate, and it could have easily been avoided if he ran to the base like a baseball player is supposed to, instead of standing there gawking at the ball like an idiot, so it’s his own fault either way. After a delay for the customary argument and explanation, Loney hit a double off the wall in right center, and that was the last hitter Santana faced. Scott Downs was brought in, and Aaron Miles made it easy on him, hitting the first pitch for an inning-ending groundout.
　
The Angels went down in order in the bottom of the 8^th, as Billingsley finished off what turned out to be an 8-inning complete game (because the Angels didn’t have to bat in the 9^th). Jordan Walden came in to close the game out in the 9^th, and used his blazing 97+ MPH fastball and occasional slider to end the game quickly. He faced two pinch-hitters, Juan Uribe and Dioner Navarro, but they were no match for his fastball, and barely made contact as Uribe popped out to shallow center and Navarro grounded out to 2^nd. Carroll swung at the first pitch 98 MPH pitch and hit an easy fly out right to Wells, to seal the Angels victory.
The Angels ended their interleague schedule with another win, and they certainly hope for another chance to face one more NL team this season, because that would be in the World Series. They took a step closer to that possibility, moving up into a tie for first place in the AL West division, because the Rangers would lose their game on Sunday. Their pitching has carried them most of the way so far, but they have the opportunity to trade for more offense if they want, since they can’t always rely on winning games with such minimal run support. The Angels have now won six straight series, and have been playing well lately, to make up ground, but they still have nearly half a season to go. They still have a bunch of games left against the division rival Rangers, which will go a long way to deciding the division winner, but they have a great chance to contend for the postseason, as it stands right now.

Aston’s Angels Report [Game 84 vs LA Dodgers- Win]

          AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                   July 2, 2011
           Game 84: Battle of LA’s Aces              Vol. 1, Issue 86
                                    Win 7-1 Record: 43-41

The first game of the series between the LA teams, was a one-sided affair, as Angels offense remained dormant on Friday, perhaps as a product of their off-day on Thursday, or maybe another example of their offensive struggles at home. It marked the 10^th time they have been shut out this season, and ended their 3 game winning streak. Both teams figured to have a tough time at the plate, as each sent out their ace starters for a re-match of their low-scoring pitching duel last weekend in Dodger Stadium, which should have ended with an Angels victory, except for a terrible call by the umpire that turned the last out of the game into the tying run for the Dodgers and cost the Angels a victory. Jared Weaver was 9-4, with a spectacularly low 1.97 ERA (and other crazy-good numbers along his stat line) through 17 starts. He battled the Dodgers’ left-handed dynamo, Clayton Kershaw, who came in 8-3, with a 2.94 ERA, and leads the National League in strikeouts. I’m going with a little less detail because I’m behind a few games, and maybe it’s better off if I do anyway, if I expect people to read more than one of these.
　
Weaver pitched masterfully throughout the game, and was emotionally involved from the very start. In the 1^st inning, he threw a 0-2 fastball to RF Andre Ethier that was called a ball and Weaver was obviously upset, and then when he struck him out with fastball over the outside corner, he was yelling and looking at the umpire as he walked back to the dugout. He retired the side in order in the 1^st, with two strikeouts, then again in the 2^nd, striking out CF Matt Kemp to lead off, before two fly outs ended the inning. In the 3^rd, he struck out DH Trent Oeltjen, then allowed his first hit of the game, to the catcher, Dioner Navarro, who hit a 1-2 curveball on the ground through the right side. After SS Dee Gordon reached on a fielder’s choice (an out at 2^nd), he was picked off of 1^st by Weaver, to end that inning.
　
The Angels’ first couple of innings didn’t go much differently, against the Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw. SS Erick Aybar hit a grounder towards 2^nd, but 1B James Loney went way over to get the ball, but Kershaw didn’t go to cover 1^st, so it was a one-out infield hit. DH Bobby Abreu and Vernon Wells struck out to end that inning. In the 2^nd, 3B Alberto Callaspo hit a two-out single, but Bourjos struck out, for Kershaw’s 4^th strikeout victim. and end the inning. Things were different in the bottom of the 3^rd inning, and Jeff Mathis got the ball rolling, with a leadoff double, hitting the 1^st pitch fastball into the left field corner (much like he did against Kershaw in the previous game). 2B Maicer Izturis hit a groundout to 2^nd, moving Mathis to 3^rd, and drawing in the infield. Aybar hit a grounder to the SS, and Gordon took a few steps to his right to get to it, and then decided to throw home still. Mathis slid in safely as the throw sailed over the catcher’s head, for an error, so the score was 1-0 and Aybar was now at 2^nd base. Abreu struck out looking this time, on a full count pitch that was borderline, for the 2^nd out (it was a surprise to even see him in the lineup against such a tough lefty, and he showed why). Vernon Wells took the first two balls, and was waiting on a 2-0 fastball, and knew what to do with it when he got it, slamming it deep into left center field, for a two-run homerun. He homered against Kershaw (on a slider) to give the Angels the lead in the last game he pitched (before the umpire handed the Dodgers the game in the 9^th) and this blast gave them a 3-0 lead. LF Howie Kendrick hit a groundball that hit off of Kershaw and bounded away for an infield single, to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Trumbo ended the inning with a groundout, but Weaver had a 3-0 lead heading into the 4^th.
　
After retiring Tony Gwynn, Jr on a groundout, Weaver issued his first walk of the game, to 3B Casey Blake, after a 2-2 slider that looked like a strike was called a ball, which infuriated Weaver, before firing a fastball way too high for ball four. Etheir pulled an outside curveball, on the first pitch he saw, for a line drive single into right. Weaver got out of this jam, inducing a double play grounder from the National League’s best hitter, Matt Kemp, to end the top of the 4^th… In the bottom half, the Angels looked like they were going to blow a scoring opportunity, and were lucky to get a bad call by an umpire in their favor. Callaspo led off with a walk, then Bourjos bunted back to Kershaw, and he soft-tossed the ball, leading the 2B Aaron Miles to 1^st base, but he couldn’t get his foot to the base as he caught the ball, so Bourjos was safe. Mathis tried to sacrifice bunt but popped it into the air, to the pitcher, and for some reason Callaspo went about half-way to 3^rd (duh!) before going back to 2^nd. Luckily for him, Kershaw didn’t set his feet and threw off-balance to 2^nd, but it was high and took Dee Gordon off the base as he went for the catch, and went back to tag the runner, but he was called safe. The umpire was in the exact wrong position to see the tag, with the runner directly in between him and the fielder so he couldn’t that Gordon tagged him on the back of the shirt, but still called him safe. Izturis struck out on a changeup in the dirt, so it looked like the Angels were still going to blow an opportunity. Because they got that extra out on the blown call by the umpire, Aybar got a chance to hit with the same two runners on and two outs, and came through with an RBI single into left, scoring Callaspo and moving Bourjos to 3rd, making the score 4-0. Abreu came up again, and Aybar stole 2^nd base easily before Abreu blooped in a single on a 1-2 changeup, to score both runners, for the 6-0 lead., in a surprise outcome, considering the pitchers duel that transpired last time these two pitched.
　
The Dodgers were able to get on the scoreboard in the 5^th, when Loney doubled to left center, leading off the inning, and Miles moved him over to 3^rd with a grounder to 2^nd. Oeltjen earned the RBI, with a sacrifice fly into center, to make the score 6-1, but that would be the extent of it, as Navarro ended the inning with a strikeout, and the Dodgers failed to do much else on offense…. Kershaw came out in the bottom of the 5^th, and retired the side in order, and more impressively with three strikeouts, but it was too little too late from the Dodgers’ point of view…. Weaver pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 6^th, highlighted by a great play from Jeff Mathis, on a bunt attempt by Gordon that appeared to bounce foul first, but he hopped up from behind the plate and grabbed it as spun into fair territory and Gordon didn’t even run so it was an easy out…. The Angels tacked on their last run of the game in the bottom of the 6^th, starting with a leadoff single from Bourjos, on a liner into left. With Mathis up to bunt again, Bourjos stole 2^nd, and Mathis fouled off the first two, but stuck with it (probably still angry about the last at bat and the poor bunt attempt) and laid down a bunt to move Bourjos to 3^rd with one out. Izturis lined out for the 2^nd out, and Aybar hit a chopper to the SS, but Gordon made his 2^nd error of the game, with another bad throw, allowing Aybar to reach safely and the 7^th run to score.
　
Waver allowed two runners to reach in the 7^th. When Kemp walked with one out, and after Loney hit a fly out for the 2^nd out, Miles golfed a curveball over the 1B Mark Trumbo’s head, into left field, to put runners at 2^nd and 3^rd. Weaver struck out Oeltjen on a sharp 2-2 curveball, for his 7^th strikeout of the game, and send the game into the 7^th inning stretch. The Angels went down in order in their at bat in the 7^th, against new Dodger pitcher Kenley Jansen, with three fly ball outs in a row….In the 8^th. the Dodgers went down in order, as Weaver came back out, and continued his dominance, making it look easy, with two weak groundouts and a strikeout to quickly end his last inning of work… The Angels did a little damage against Dodger left-hander Hong Chih Kuo in the bottom of the 8^th, when Bourjos walked and Mathis followed with a single, but Izturis struck out again, and Aybar hit a fly out to left to end the inning…. Weaver was up over 120 pitches thrown, so Hisanori Takahashi finished off the game for the Angels, allowing a double to Ethier, but stranding him there, after striking out Kemp and getting Loney to groundout for the final out.
　
With the Texas Rangers loss on Saturday, the Angels gained a game in the standings, and are back within one game of the American League west lead. They actually have a chance to win the division, mainly thanks to the sub-par division they are a part of, but a chance to get into the playoffs shouldn’t be taken lightly. I’m sure not many expected the Giants to win last year, but they were able to score just enough runs with a limited offense to give their supreme pitching staff enough to squeak out victories in games (and series) they were expected to lose. Now that we are in July- the month that ends with the trade deadline, and they are still in major contention, it might be about time to look at the trade market for a player who could improve the team (offensive and bullpen seem to have room for improvement) and boost them into the playoffs, with a good chance to win.





　

Aston’s Angels Report [Game 83 vs LA Dodgers- Loss]

              AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                   July 1, 2011
              Game 83: Offensive No-Show                Vol. 1, Issue 85
                                     Loss 5-0 Record: 42-41

Seeking to extend their three-game winning streak and continue their dominance over the hometown rival LA Dodgers, the Angels looked like they were still on their day off. Their offense did only score one run on Wednesday in the series finale, but rode the coattails of Dan Haren to a 1-0 victory, but they fell behind early and didn’t even come close to notching a tally on the scoreboard in this one. The Angels’ Tyler Chatwood gave up a bunch of hits, even though most of them weren’t hit very hard, while the Angels failed to get more than one runner on base [at the same time] in an inning against the Dodgers’ starter Hiroki Kuroda.
　
The Dodgers scored a run in each of the first four innings, en route to their most lopsided victory over the Angels in a couple of years. Chatwood pitched well in his last start, against the same Dodgers, making his record 5-4, with a 3.64 ERA coming in to Friday’s game. Probably the most well-hit ball of the game against Chatwood, was when LF Tony Gwynn, Jr. led off game with a line drive into right center, that rolled to the wall for a double. 3B Casey Blake laid down a surprise sacrifice bunt, testing Maicer Izturis in his first game in a while at 3B, and he made a good running bare-handed-pick-up-and-throw for the out. RF Andre Ethier hit a high changeup, into left center and Vernon Wells made a good running catch, but Gwynn scored easy on the sacrifice fly. Chatwood jammed CF Matt Kemp with a good fastball, but he blooped one into center for a single, before 1B James Loney hit a fly out to left.
　
Hiroki Huroda pitched well in his last start against the Angels too, but he was hit with the loss, despite only allowing two runs in his outing, which has been a common occurrence, as indicated by his low 3.10 ERA and contradictory 5-9. His offense gave him some early support today and he made it hold up, with a sneaky fast 91-94 MPH fastball and a variety of off-speed pitches. After Izturis led off with a fly out to center, Kuroda hit RF Torii Hunter in the left hand with a fastball. After some time with the trainer, he convinced his manager, Mike Scioscia, to leave him in the game, so he went to 1^st base. They tried a hit-and-run play, with Bobby Abreu at the plate on a 2-1 pitch, but Kuroda threw a cut fastball that darted in under Abreu’s hands so he couldn’t make contact, and Torii Hunter was thrown out at 2^nd by so much that he stopped half way and tried to get into a run down, but it was an easy out. Abreu worked the count full, as usual, and whacked a fastball back up the middle for a single. Wells popped out to the SS to end the inning, so the Angels did have two men on, but not at the same time, and that would be as close as they would come against Kuroda.
　
Dodgers 2^nd baseman, Aaron Miles, led off the 2^nd with a soft liner up the middle, punching the hanging first pitch curveball for another leadoff hit. The DH, Trent Oeltjen swung at his first pitch and hit the fastball for an easy fly out, then the catcher AJ Ellis struck out, swinging on a curveball low and away. SS Dee Gordon, the 9^th place hitter now, reached out and slapped a high 2-2 fastball down the 3^rd base line, for an RBI single, as Wells was guarding the line so Gordon couldn’t stretch it into a double even with his speed, but the important thing was the 2-0 score. Gwynn was jammed by another good inside fastball from Chatwood, but it floated over the jumping attempt by Izturis, into left field for single. Blake hit a fly ball to left, to end the inning, but allowing leadoff men to reach base would be the trend for Chatwood, and the Angels paid for it, in this one.
　
The Angels got their leadoff man on in the bottom of the 2^nd, when 2B Howie Kendrick tapped a fastball off the end of his bat towards 3^rd, that rolled in for an infield single. Aybar swung at the first pitch, trying to pull it, but instead hit another cue shot off the end of the bat, and Kuroda made the throw to 1^st for the out. Kendrick was now at 2^nd and moved to 3^rd on a fly out by 1B Mark Trumbo to center, but the catcher Hank Conger popped out to end the inning. Earlier in the week, the Angels were able to capitalize on a bunch of bloopers and broken-bat base hits in their win over the Nationals, and today they saw the Dodgers do the same to them, while they failed to do anything at all.
　
Torii Hunter didn’t come out to play in the top of the 3^rd, as that fastball off of his hand, must have been too painful (but hopefully doesn’t prove to be debilitating) to stay in the game. Alberto Callaspo came into the game, to hit in his spot, shifting over a bunch of fielder into new positions; Izturis to 2^nd, Kendrick out to LF, and Vernon Wells over to RF. Ethier continued the streak of lead off hitters on base, with a line drive single into right field, then Kemp tried to hit the first pitch curveball and tapped one off the end of his bat back to Chatwood who could only get the out at 1^st. Loney hit a fly out to center on a good low changeup, but Aaron Miles came through with a bloop single to left on a high fastball, for another two-out RBI by the Dodgers and a 3-0 lead. Aybar dropped a strong throw from Conger to attempt to catch Miles trying to steal at 2^nd, which would have been an out if he caught the throw cleanly, so the Angels decided to intentionally walk Oeltjen to put two men on, and face the light-hitting catcher AJ Ellis. After a wild pitch allowed both runners to move up a base, he made the last out of the inning, flying out to right, but once again the leadoff man got on and scored a run....Kuroda threw three straight sliders to CF Peter Bourjos, and he struck out leading off the 3^rd, before Izturis got on base with a one-out walk. Callaspo had his first at-bat since coming in last inning, and popped up a fastball in the infield for the second out. Abreu worked another full count, which is almost a given nowadays, but grounded out to 1^st to end the inning.
　
In the top of the 4^th, the Dodgers didn’t get their leadoff man on for the first time all game, but they still continued their scoring streak anyway. Gordon led off with a groundout to 1^st, the Tony Gwynn laid down a perfect drag bunt down towards 1^st, that rolled past the pitcher and wasn’t even touched until he had already run past the base with an infield single. It was his third hit of the game already, and he ended up with a perfect day from the leadoff position in this one. Blake hit a groundball to 3^rd, and Callaspo went to his left, then spun to make the throw, but threw it low, so it bounced about thirty feet from first base and got away from Trumbo, allowing Gwynn to run to 3^rd on his 10^th error of the year. With runners at 1^st and 3^rd, Chatwood got ahead of Ethier 0-2 but his inside fastball didn’t tail over the inner edge like it was supposed to and instead made a left turn into Ethier’s leg, for a very poorly timed hit-by-pitch, to load the bases. Kemp hit a fly out to right, but Wells did a terrible job of gathering any momentum before he made the throw home, and Gwynn scored on the sacrifice fly, for a 4-0 lead. It looked like he was going to back up and try to run in and make the throw with momentum (like a good outfielder would do) but he took a step forward then caught it and made a flat-footed throw home, instead, so he had no chance at all to make the play. He did make a good play on the very next hitter to save a couple of runs, when James Loney bid for another bloop hit, but Wells ran in and made a sliding catch near the line in shallow left.
　
The Angels offense showed little signs of life, managing only one base runner over the next four innings. In the 4^th, they went down in order, as Wells waived at an 0-2 slider to strikeout, Kendrick flied out to left on another slider, and Aybar hit a lineout to 3^rd … In their 5^th inning Trumbo struck out on a 94 MPH sinker down and in, Conger grounded out to 1^st on a high fastball, but Kuroda made a mistake with a hanging high slider to Bourjos who finally got one to hit and lined one to left, that bounced over the wall for a ground rule double. Izturis popped out to the SS to end the inning, and strand the runner in scoring position, and they didn’t see many of those chances today…. In the 6^th, they went down in order again, as Callaspo grounded out to 3^rd on the first pitch he saw, then Abreu flew out to left, and Wells hit another can of corn to center, to end another quick inning.
　
Meanwhile, the Dodgers weren’t putting together anything on offense either, but they had their chances. In the top of the 5^th, Miles got his third hit of the game hitting an 0-2 fastball past the diving attempt of Izturis into left, and then Oeltjen blooped in a single to left to join the hit parade. Ellis bunted the runners up to the next base, but Gordon hit a shallow fly ball to center on the first pitch curveball so they couldn’t score. Gwynn continued his stellar night, with a walk, taking a 3-2 curveball down low, to load the bases, but Blake grounded out to end the inning and leave them loaded… In the 6^th, Ethier doubled down the RF line on a hanging 1-2 curveball, and that was Chatwood’s last hitter faced. He was replaced by Bobby Cassevah, and he induced a groundout to 3^rd from Matt Kemp, then Loney hit one to 1^st for the second out. Miles had a good day at the plate, too, and this time he drew a four-pitch walk, to put two men on, but Cassevah struck out Oeltjen on a curveball in the dirt, to end the inning.
　
In the top of the 7^th, the Dodgers pushed across their last run of the night, on another rally ignited by a lead off man reaching base. Cassevah made it a painful trot to 1^st base, hitting AJ Ellis with a fastball on the elbow, which the Dodgers would apparently took offense to, according to their actions later in the game (stay tuned). Gordon hit a grounder back to Cassevah and he threw to 2^nd for the out, but Gordon was too fast for the double play, which he would prove later on in the inning. First, he stole 2^nd base during Gwynn’s at bat, before Gwynn drew another walk. With Blake up to hit, Hank Conger tried a pick off throw to 1^st [one of the pet plays for all Angels catchers] but Gordon ran to 3^rd as soon as he saw Conger make the move to throw and slid into 3^rd easily. Then Gwynn ran to 2^nd on a stolen base attempt and stopped to get held up in a rundown, and Gordon ran home and slid in safely ahead of the throw, essentially stealing a run with his speed, to earn the 5-0 lead. It looked like Gwynn was tagged out as he dove [out of the baseline, too] to avoid the tag Aybar tried to apply before he threw home, but he was ruled safe, so it was a broken play all the way around. Blake was still up, and he eventually walked, prompting Scioscia to come out and pull Cassevah, replacing him with Rich Thompson. He struck out both Ethier and Kemp, to get out of the inning, but it was too little too late.
　
Kendrick led off the bottom of the 7^th lining out to right, and then Aybar grounded out to 2^nd for the quick second out. Kuroda’s first pitch to Trumbo nearly hit him on the knee as he backed away from the fastball nearly two feet inside. The next two pitches were sliders away, and then Kuroda threw another fastball, aimed at Trumbo’s legs and nailed him with it this time. Conger struck out to end the inning, but let’s get back to that HBP on Trumbo. [Editorial commentary upcoming; beware]. It certainly looked like a purpose, retaliation-type pitch, which prompted the umpire to warn both sides, and really pissed of Scioscia who was yelling out from the dugout with disgust throughout the rest of the inning. Kuroda didn’t miss that badly throughout the game and it looked like he was aiming both of those balls right at Trumbo’s kneecaps, so it was definitely on purpose. Since they were winning 5-0, I can only conclude that the Dodgers were retaliating for the pitch that hit Ellis on the elbow to lead off the top of the 6^th, because if the HBP by Ethier came on an 0-2 count with two runners on, so to think he wanted to hit Ethier in that situation would be asinine…..

[Complaint time] Players already take offense way too much when a pitcher throws the ball inside, yelling out at the pitcher and threatening to charge the mound like a mad child if someone happens to throw a few fastballs inside, which I find ridiculous and uncalled for, like I complained about the last time the Dodgers played the Angels, when Blake took offense to a fastball that was inside and high [how dare he!!]. Some of these players either didn’t watch baseball growing up, forgot how baseball is supposed to be played, or think they’re somehow above it all and should be treated differently because they want to be able to dive across the plate without the threat of a pitch buzzing by their shoulder. Retaliation has been part of the game since its inception, as it has been a part of human nature, but I think baseball teams like the Dodgers need to learn how and when to institute their retaliation tactics a little better. First off [assuming they aren’t dumb enough to retaliate for the HBP to Ethier], it was, in all likelihood, an accidental hit-by-pitch to Ellis because Cassevah isn’t a pinpoint pitcher (like Kuroda, for example), and his elbow dropped as he threw it which made the ball tail into the hitter. In some case, there is bad blood between teams, and some of those hit-batsmen are on purpose to retaliate for previous issues, but I don’t understand this desire to hit another player just because one of your players was, especially when there is nothing to suggest that is was on purpose. Retaliation is supposed to be a counteraction when the other team is purposefully trying to hurt your teammate (like on a slide into a base, if not a pitch), or if a when a hitter flips his bat like an ass or does a little dance when he hits a homer or something like that to show up the other team, which reeks of unprofessionalism and isn‘t tolerated by most. Secondly, the Angels’ Torii Hunter was hit by a pitch in the 1^st and removed from the game with a possible serious injury, so if anyone felt the need to retaliate, it should have been the Angels. In other words, even if the Dodgers want to think that HBP to Ellis was intentional, that one just evened up the theoretical score (one hit-batter each). I don’t think Ellis’ HBP was on purpose, even though it came after Hunter was removed with his injury, because the Angels coaches don’t typically teach that kind of mentality. I think the Dodgers acted like punks for no reason, and quite frankly, their childish and unprofessional actions deserve some retaliation from the Angels in the next game, to teach them a lesson, but I bet they won’t stoop down to that level even though it would be warranted in some players’ minds…..
　
Anyway, on to the rest of the game. Trevor Bell came in to pitch the 8^th, and stayed in for the rest of the game for the Angels. He allowed a one-out single to Miles- his 4^th hit of the game, but retired Oeltjen and Ellis on grounders to end the end the inning… Mike MacDougal replaced Kuroda on the mound for the Dodgers, which was a welcomed sight for the Angels. Bourjos led off and hit a line drive back up the middle, but it hit MacDougal’s legs and didn’t bounce far away so he picked it up and threw him out at 1^st. Izturis hit a soft liner into left for a single, and \Callaspo hit a grounder through the left side to finally get two men on base at the same time, with just one out. Abreu worked the count full, after being down 0-2, but he grounded out to 1st, and then Wells grounded out to SS to end the inning….After Gordon grounded out for the first out, Gwynn walked in the top of the 9^th, for his 6^th time on base (3 hits, 3 walks in 6 at bats), but Blake and Ethier both flied out to end that inning… Javy Guerra came in to pitch the bottom of the 9^th, and allowed a lead off single by Kendrick on a line drive to right. Aybar popped out, Trumbo grounded out, and Conger struck out, to complete the shutout loss.
　
The Angels had little to no chance in this one, because their offense just didn’t do much, but that is sometimes the way it goes. Sometimes those hits fall in, like they did for the Dodgers today, and like they did for the Angels against the Nationals in the first game of their recent series, and sometimes they just don’t. In the last two games, their offense has reverted back to their poor-hitting, low-scoring ways at home, that led to a below-.500 mark and terrible hitting stats at home for most of this season, but luckily they did win one of those games so it doesn’t look so bad. They need to snap out of it to get back into the winning ways, winning 8 of the last 10 games coming into this series. Saturday’s game rekindles the great pitching match-up between two of the best starters in baseball, Jared Weaver and Clayton Kershaw, so the both teams will have to pass a tough test to win.

Aston’s Angels Report [Game 82 vs Washington- Win]

                  AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                   June 29, 2011
                  Game 82: Haren Seals the Sweep            Vol. 1. Issue 84                                                          
                                                    Win 1-0 Record: 42-40　

After winning what turned out to be a blowout victory because of an 8^th inning barrage, the Angels offense sputtered against the Nationals, and had to jump on the back of their starter, Dan Haren and let him carry them to another victory. Despite his team’s offensive outburst in the first two games, with about 30 hits in the first two games, I’m sure Haren expected nothing less than a run or two of run support, since that is about the norm for him this season. He came in with a 7-5 record and very respectable ERA of 3.07, and stepped up with had one of his best games of the season, utilizing much better control than he has had in his past couple of outings to baffle the Nationals. His offense was unable to provide much to work with because they had to deal with the Nats’ youngster Jordan Zimmerman, who has had similar run support problems to Haren, as indicated by his poor 5-6 record, despite having a only 2.85 runs per 9 innings (ERA.) Both pitchers’ ERA went down even more after two fine outings, so both received little run support once again, and only one would win the duel lead and his team to a victory.


The new Nationals manager, Davey Johnson took over a team seemingly on the rise, but he still hasn’t seen his team win a game yet, and a few of those defensive miscues by his young team have left him hanging his head in dismay in the dugout on a few occasions. He changed his lineup around, but took away some of the offensive pieces, most notably removing two outfielders, Jayson Werth and Laynce Nix (who had four hits in the last game). Brian Bixler and Jerry Hairston replaced them in RF and LF respectively, Alex Cora took over at SS, and the future Hall-of-Famer Ivan Rodriguez caught for Zimmerman. The Angels didn’t change much, except switching their catcher to Jeff Mathis, who probably will get the nod whenever Haren or Weaver pitch, because he is one of the best defensive, game-calling catchers in baseball.
　
It was a classic pitcher’s duel and both pitchers were on a roll right from the start as you would expect in a 1-0 game, so hits were scarce, if not extinct in this one. If you need a stat to show how dominant both pitchers were, the lone run in the game scored on a double play, after a walk and an error let the runner reach 3^rd to begin with. Some fans don’t like watching these kinds of games, but I love watching two pitchers battle with their best stuff on the mound, confusing hitters with pinpoint control and strategy. I think it adds to the drama when the game is so close, when any play could alter the game and ultimately decide the outcome. Then again, my favorite player used to be Greg Maddux, so I’m more of a pitching nerdy kind of guy anyway.
　
Dan Haren retired the side in order, for the first three innings, and was on his game from the first hitter on through the 120 or so pitches he ended up with by the time he was relieved. He struck out the first two hitters of the game, showing rare control within the strike zone on his split finger pitch, which spelled trouble for the Nationals hitters. CF Roger Bernadina and Bixler went down on 1-2 splitters, then 3B Ryan Zimmerman popped out to end the 1^st…. Both teams went down in order in their first at bat, as Zimmerman struck out SS Erick Aybar leading off, on a curveball in the dirt, then RF Torii Hunter and DH Bobby Abreu both grounded out to end the inning.


Haren not only had good control, but his velocity was a little higher too, hitting 92 MPH on the radar gun with his fastball, compared to the 89-90 range he tends to be in, and it looked like he trusted that pitch more than he has recently. He struck out DH Matt Stairs, who was moved up into the cleanup spot, looking at a perfect fastball over the outside corner to lead off the 2^nd. Then 1B Mike Morse popped up to shallow right on a high fastball, and Espinosa hit a slider into left for the last out…. The Angels got the games first hit, in the bottom of the 2^nd, after LF Vernon Wells struck out on a curveball and 2B Howie Kendrick grounded out to start the inning, when 3B Alberto Callaspo blooped in a single to shallow right field. 1B Mark Trumbo reached for a 2-2 curveball and grounded out to 2^nd baseman Danny Espinosa to end the inning.
　
Haren used his well placed 92 MPH fastball to induce groundballs from Hairston and Rodriguez to start the 3^rd, then Alex Cora popped up to 2^nd to end another quick inning… CF Peter Bourjos led off the bottom of the 3^rd, hitting the first pitch fastball back up the middle for the Angels’ second hit of the game. Mathis hit a fly out to right, and then Aybar hit a fly out to left, that nearly turned into a double play, and probably should have. Bourjos was going on a hit-and-run, and had to run back to 1^st when Hairston was making the catch near the left field line, and he made a good throw to 1^st, but Mike Morse didn’t have his foot on the base when he caught the ball and instead tried to make a tag after he had slid in safely. Morse’s lack of experience gave his manager more of a headache, but it didn’t cost his team, as Hunter ended the inning with a lazy fly out to left.
　
Starting in the 4^th , the shadows crept across the field, and made it even more difficult for the hitters to pick up the ball from the pitchers’ hand. Haren retired Bernadina on a fly out to right, to lead off the 4^th, and then the Nationals finally got their first hit, as Bixler bunted down the 3^rd base line, but Callaspo couldn’t make an accurate throw as he ran in to field and throw in one motion. The ball went past Trumbo at 1^st and into the stands, so that was a throwing error on top of the infield hit, to put a runner at 2^nd. Haren had to work through the RBI men, with the runner in scoring position but they proved no match, as Zimmerman grounded one to Trumbo at 1^st who made a good play leaning over on the ground to make sure he stopped it and get the out as the runner moved to 3^rd. Stairs hit a weak fly ball to left on a 0-1 split finger pitch to end the inning and they blew their rare scoring opportunity.
　
The big inning in the game, produced the game’s only run, even though there wasn’t a hit in the inning. Bobby Abreu led off the 4^th, with another walk, showing more of his trademark patience at the plate to start a rally. Vernon Wells hit a slow chopper to 3^rd, and Ryan Zimmerman made another error, trying an off-balance, side arm throw to 2^nd to get the lead runner, but the throw was way off target and went into right field, allowing Abreu to go to 3^rd. Instead of having probably one out and a runner on 1^st (assuming Wells would beat out the double play), but instead the Angels now had runners at 1^st and 3^rd with no outs, after the biggest play in the game. Howie Kendrick hit a grounder to the SS, who turned it into a double play, but Abreu scored from 3^rd. It was 1-0, after a walk, error and non-RBI groundball, and that run somehow held up for the rest of the game. Callaspo grounded out to end the inning, so now it was Haren’s turn to hold on to that one-run lead.
　
Haren got into a little bit of trouble in the top of the 5^th, when he walked Espinosa with one out, on a 3-2 fastball that barely missed the strike zone. Haren went to a full count on Jerry Hairston too, and threw an inside fastball that hit Hairston on the arm, and it looked like he swung at the pitch, as he spun his body with the bat going all the way around. I’ve seen that type of play, called a swing on a few occasions, and I have no idea why the umpire didn’t appeal to the 1^st base umpire, but I don’t understand a lot of the things umpires do, so I’ll just move on. Hairston suffered a bone bruise and had to leave the game, so Ian Desmond came in to pinch run for him at 1^st. Haren worked out of the two-runner, one-out jam, throwing a 0-2 inside fastball to Rodriguez to induce a weak pop out to shallow left, and then Cora grounded out on a 1-2 split finger away. Haren started to use his slider that darts in to left-handed hitters more often, once he had established his fastball and split-finger, making it even more difficult for the opposition.
　
In the bottom of the 5^th, the Nationals had to make a few defensive changes to make room for the pinch-runner Desmond at SS, shifting Cora over to 1^st and moving Morse over to his more natural outfield position, to fill the void left by the injured Hairston. The Angels went down in order once again, as Trumbo flew out, then Bourjos and Mathis popped out in the infield to force Haren back out to the mound quickly, after he had barely stepped into the dugout after his long top of the 5^th…. Haren was ready for the challenge in the top of the 6^th and matched the 1-2-3 inning, getting Bernadina on a deep fly ball to center that Bourjos drifted under and caught as he banged mildly into the fence for the first out. Bixler struck out swinging on a good 3-2 slider, and Zimmerman ended the inning with an easy grounder to Aybar.
　
The bottom of the 6^th had some strange happenings, as the Angels ran themselves into two outs, eliminating themselves from the base paths before they even got there. With one out, Hunter struck out on a curveball in the dirt, but it got past the catcher, so Hunter ran to 1^st on the dropped 3^rd strike play. Rodriguez ran back to get the ball and tried to still make the throw to 1^st and the ball tailed away into the outfield, so Hunter made the left turn at 1^st and tried for 2^nd. The right fielder, Bixler, got to it quickly and threw to 2^nd to get Hunter, trying to get to 2^nd on a strikeout, which was weird. Bobby Abreu followed with a line drive into left center, and he tried to stretch that into a double, but the CF Bernadina spun and made a good throw to 2^nd to get him out easily, and end the inning.
　
Haren continued his dominance in the top of the 7^th, retiring the side in order again, using his off-speed pitches to induce easy outs from Stairs, Morse and Espinosa. The Nationals had only one hit still against him, and just two innings with runners on base through the first 7 innings, but Zimmerman was pitching just as well for the Nationals… The Angels managed to get a hit from Howie Kendrick, who lined a single back up the middle with one out in the bottom of the 7^th, but Jordan Zimmerman retired the next two, when Callaspo tapped one back to him for the second out and Trumbo hit a loud fly ball to center, caught on the warning track by Bernadina to end the inning.
　
Haren went out to pitch the top of the 8^th, even though he already had thrown 107 pitches, and promptly struck out Ian Desmond looking (in his first at bat since coming in as a pinch-runner) with a 2-2 slider over the outer edge. He tried a similar pitch to Ivan Rodriguez but he hit one off the end of the bat into center for a bloop single, for only the second hit off of Haren all game. That was his last batter, as Mike Scioscia came out to replace him with Scott Downs, as Haren walked back to the dugout to a well-deserved standing ovation form the Angels fans. Downs had to face Jayson Werth who pinch-hit for Cora and struck him out with a perfect curveball on a 1-2 pitch for a called third strike. He fell behind Bernadina 3-1, then threw a fastball inside, and Bernadina broke his bat swinging at it and popped it up in foul ground to Callaspo, to preserve the slim lead, and cap off a hitless series for the Nationals’ leadoff hitter.
　
Jayson Werth went into right field, shifting Bixler over to left, and Morse back over to 1^st base, and Zimmerman stayed in to finish off his complete game touch luck loss in the bottom of the 8^th. Bourjos tried to bunt his way on but was thrown out by Ryan Zimmerman, then Mathis struck out and Ayabr tapped one back to the pitcher for the last out, to send the game into the 9^th with that narrow lead…. Jordan Walden came in to close the game out for the Angels, and as usual, found a way to make it interesting. He forced Bixler to ground out on a 99 MPH fastball away, then got ahead of Ryan Zimmerman 0-2, before he punched a high and away fastball with an emergency swing, down the 1^st base line into right field, for a one-out double. Now it was definitely nail-biting time as the tying run was in scoring position and the outcome was still in the balance. Stairs pulled a high 2-1 97 MPH fastball to 1^st and Trumbo took it to the base for the second out, but now the runner was on 3^rd so the pressure was on. Walden got ahead of the slugger, Mike Morse 0-2 then threw two waste pitches for balls, before striking him out swinging at a high fastball to complete the shutout.

Even with the great pitching performance(s), the Angels still barely pulled out a win, because the pitcher on the other side, Jordan Zimmerman, didn’t allow an unearned run and went the distance, so the result could have gone either way, but the important thing is the notch in the win column. It’s a great sign that the Angels can win games in different ways, whether it be in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel or a 16-run slugfest, especially at home where they have struggled offensively this season. It was their first series sweep at home since the last week of last season, and they have now won 6 of the last 7, and 8 of 10, to go along with five straight series victories. They remain 1 ½ games behing Texas for first place, but they are playing well and pose a serious threat in the division if they continue playing as well as they have been over the past couple of weeks.