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.