AAR: Aston’s Angels Report April 12, 2012
Game 4-6: More Pitching Woes Vol. 2, Issue 4
\ Series #2 (W, L, L @ Minnesota Twins), Season Record 2-4
After a disappointing series against the Royals, the Angels faced off against another American League Central team, the Twins, and unfortunately had very similar results. The start to the 2012 season has been eerily similar to the poor start to last season, primarily defined by poor pitching performances and difficult losses, but the fact remains that there are still over 150 games remaining, so panic time hasn‘t quite arrived yet.
The first game of the series on April 9 staged a matchup of starting pitchers CJ Wilson- making his first start as a member of the Angels, versus the Twins’ Nick Blackburn. While Wilson is probably one of the best (if not the very best) 4th starters in all of baseball, coming off of a stellar 2011 campaign (posting a 16-7 record, 206 striekouts, and a 2.94 ERA), Blackburn has been a below-average starter for most of his career with the Twins (posting a 7-10 record with 4.49 ERA in 2011), but he has pitched better at home over his career, which evened the matchup a little more. The Angels lineup was altered a little from the previous series, with DH Kendrys Morales moved up to the 4th position in the lineup, Bobby Abreu taking over in left field for Vernon Wells. Alberto Callaspo took the reigns at 3rd base again, instead of defensively challenged 3rd base student Mark Trumbo, with the expectation of many groundballs served up by his sinker ball throwing starter, Wilson. The Twins have a couple new faces this season, with former Athletic (and Angels nemesis from last season) Josh Willingham in left field, former Dodger Jamey Carroll as the starting shortstop, and catcher (and sometimes outfielder) Ryan Doumit, who played for the Pirates previously. They of course have the familiar M & M boys, former MVPs Joe Mauer (playing 1st base) and Justin Morneau (shifted to DH this season, due to his injury concerns), to go along with a few young players who have been there for a couple years as well, like 2B Alexi Casilla, 3B Danny Valencia, and RF Trevor Plouffe. Expectations aren’t very high for the Twins this season, but they performed well in this series.
The Angels put some runs on the scoreboard in their first at-bat, with some timely hits and tough base running. Shortstop Erick Aybar led off with a walk, showing some rare patience, and after a fly-out by Howie Kendrick, Albert Pujols hit a groundball to the 3rd baseman, Valencia, that should have been an inning ending double play. Aybar showed some great base running skills, as he slid in to 2nd base aggressively, making it impossible for Casilla to throw on to 1st to complete the double play, to keep the inning going. Morales followed with a sharp single to center, and Pujols continued the good base running trend, running to 3rd. Torii Hunter put the Angels on the board with a groundball single into left field, to score Pujols, and Abreu continued his hot hitting against Blackburn for his career (8-for-16 coming in), slicing a ground rule double the opposite way down the left field line, scoring Morales for an early 2-0 lead.
CJ Wilson was given the lead before he even took the mound, and he didn’t relinquish it, although he did have a little bit of a control issue, which seemed to be attributed to the heavy movement on his pitches, as even the catcher, Chris Iannetta, was having difficulty catching some of them. He walked the #2 hitter Carroll with one out in the 1st, but struck out Mauer and induced a groundout from Morneau. He walked the second batter he faced in the 2nd inning, Doumit, but that was sandwiched between two strikeouts and then a weak groundout to end that inning. He got the first two batters out in the 3rd, before walking Carroll- the least threatening (in terms of power) hitter in the lineup- again. He allowed his first hit of the game to the next batter, Mauer, which pushed Carroll over to 3rd. Wilson nearly pushed in a run with a wild pitch, but Iannetta made a great block on the ball in the dirt to keep the runner at 3rd (as Mauer took 2nd base). Justin Morneau couldn’t drive in the runner(s) as he ended the 3rd inning with a weak tapper back to the pitcher. Wilson made a costly mistake to the first batter in the 4th inning, throwing a below average speed (85 MPH) fastball to Willingham to start the at-bat, which was spanked deep into left field for a leadoff homerun, making the score 2-1 now. He came back to get the next three in order on easy groundouts to end the 4th.
After the rough 1st inning by Blackburn, he went on to retire 15 straight Angel batters, through the 6th inning. He wasn’t overpowering, but he kept the opposing hitters off balance, inducing mostly groundouts along with three strikeouts. The streak ended with two outs in the 6th, when Morales hit a grounder to 1st, that went off of Mauer’s glove, ricocheting to Casilla, who then threw the ball away. The rare two-base, double error enabled Morales to go to 2nd base, but Hunter couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as he hit a (rare) fly out to center to end the inning.
Wilson had his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 6th, striking out Mauer again, and getting another groundout from Morneau, before facing the dangerous Willingham again. He nearly hit another homerun, but it drifted into foul territory at the end of its flight, and then he hit a grounder up the middle that Kendrick made a great play on, running it down as he went deep behind 2nd base to snag it, and then made a great off- balance throw to 1st to record the final out. The Angels capitalized on the momentum from the quick inning and stellar defense, as the offense finally added some insurance runs in the next half inning, to back up the strong pitching performance of Wilson.
Abreu led off the 7th with another trademark solid at-bat, working the count full before drawing the dreaded lead off walk. Callaspo followed by hitting the first pitch he saw back up the middle, just past the diving shortstop, so what looked like a potential base clearing double play ball turned into a single and two runners on with no outs. The Twins looked like they thought the next batter, Iannetta, was up to bunt with runners at 1st and 2nd, but he hit the first pitch he saw into left center field, for a 2-RBI double, to give the Angels a 4-1 lead. The Twins changed pitchers and Bourjos hit a seemingly harmless grounder to 3rd but Iannetta continued the good base running theme, advancing to 3rd as Valencia charged the ball to make the play at 1st. With one out and a runner at 3rd, the Twins changed pitchers again, bringing in the left- hander Glen Perkins the Angels resorted to their familiar small ball tactics with Erick Aybar up to bat. After taking the first two for balls, the Angels put the squeeze play on, so Iannetta started for home as Perkins pitched, and Aybar laid down the bunt to allow him to score easily and give the Halos a commanding 5-1 lead. The move to bring in the lefty made it a little easier to make the squeeze play work, since his back was to the runner at 3rd and with a right-handed batter at the plate, he wouldn’t be able to pitch out towards the runner even if he did realize the runner was going at the last second, like a pitcher would be able to do with the batter in the other batter’s box. All the variables worked in the Angels favor and resulted in the final run of the game, on a well-timed common Mike Scioscia tactic.
Wilson took the mound again in the bottom of the 7th, with a new four run lead, and faced the minimum thanks to a double play grounder by Valencia, following a lead off single from Doumit. Scott Downs came in to pitch the 8th and allowed just one base runner on a broken bat “seeing eye” dribbler down the 3rd base line that turned into an infield hit, but he retired Carroll and Mauer to end the inning. The Angels offense was held in check for their last couple at-bats, so when Kevin Jepsen came in to pitch the 9th, they still had a 5-1 lead, and proceeded to add a little drama to the finishing touches. He hit the first batter he faced, Morneau, in the back foot, and then allowed a line drive single up the middle by Willingham. Doumit followed with another line drive up the middle, but Aybar made a great diving catch going to his left, and then flipped the ball over to Kendrick covering 2nd base, for a well- timed double play. Valencia ended the game with a groundout to Aybar, and the Angels were victorious again. Strong pitching and defense along with good base running and a little timely hitting (when they weren’t making 15 consecutive outs that is) produced the win, but unfortunately the pitching aspect of that combination would be missing in the next two contests.
FANTASY IMPACT
The Angels’ CJ Wilson (7 innings, 3 hits, one run, 5 strikeouts, quality start) and catcher Chris Iannetta (1-for-4, with double and 2 RBI) were the fantasy stat standouts for the Angels. Josh Willingham was the lone offensive contributor for the Twins, posting a 2-for-4 game with a HR and only RBI for the team, and he should be in your lineup whenever he plays against the Angels, it seems.
CATCHER’S CORNER
Catchers seem to get very little recognition for the difficult work they do, and it is my goal to highlight some of the game-saving plays they make. The Angels Chris Iannetta did produce the big hit of the game, with his two-run double in the 7th to give the Angels a cushion in the scoring column, but he made one of the more important defensive plays as well. With runners on 1st and 3rd in the 3rd, he made a great block on a ball in the dirt on a pitch to Justin Morneau, preventing the runner from being able to score. Although the runner at 1st did advance, he allowed Wilson to keep the 2-0 lead, as he went on to throw a sidearm fastball and induce a weak groundout to end the inning. If that run had scored, it would have been 2-1 with another run in scoring position, and there is no telling what may have happened next, not to mention that the homerun from Willingham later in the game would have tied the score, and could have changed the game completely.
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This series was an odd one, with a very rare scheduled day off in between the first and second games, so game two took place on Wednesday April 11, and the scheduling seemed to favor the Angels, as they skipped over what would have been the 5th starter, so their ace Jared Weaver was the starting pitcher. He was facing off against the Twins veteran right-hander Carl Pavano, an average pitcher who tends to pitch deep into games and usually keeps the games close. The Angels altered the lineup a little, putting Vernon Wells back in left field, instead of Abreu. The Twins made a few changes, moving Doumit to right field and Mauer over to his familiar spot behind the plate, while inserting another youngster Chris Parmalee at the 1st base position.
The first three innings were rather uneventful, as Pavano was perfect in the first three innings, retiring the Angels in order, and Jared Weaver was almost his equal.. Weaver walked the first batter he faced, Denard Span, but he was erased by a double play grounder off the bat of Joe Mauer. The first hit of the game came in the 3rd inning when Parmalee singled off the end of his bat into center field, but Weaver retired the next two hitters to finish the inning. The Angels got their first base runner on in the top of the 4th, and capitalized with the first run of the game soon thereafter. Aybar singled up the middle to lead off, for their first hit of the game, but Kendrick hit an easy grounder to force Aybar out at 2nd. Kendrick stole 2nd base, which was the Angels first stolen base of the season (in five games), and then Albert Pujols came through with a line drive single to left, to score Kendrick and give the Angels a 1-0 lead. Pujols was thrown out trying to go to 2nd on the throw home from the outfield, and Morales ended the inning with an easy fly ball to left.
The Angels’ momentum didn’t last long at all, as the Twins came right back with some runs of their own in the bottom half of the 4th. Carroll led off the inning with a double down the left field line, and Mauer followed with an RBI single to left center, tying the game at 1-1, in a matter of seconds. Morneau struck out for out #2, but Willingham continued his torment of the Angels, clobbering another homerun deep into left field on the first pitch fastball from Weaver (a mistake), for 2 RBI to give the Twins a 3-1 lead. Weaver settled down to retire Doumit and Valencia but the damage had been done, so the Angels had some work to do if they were going to get back in it.
The offense came right back in the top of the 5th, starting with a one-out single by Wells, who lined the first pitch he saw into left field. Callaspo hit a fly ball to right for the second out, and it looked like another lost inning. Iannetta managed to get a single into right field on a broken bat looper over the infield, putting runners at 1st and 3rd with two outs for CF Peter Bourjos. Bourjos whacked a deep fly ball into left, that ended up going over Willingham’s head, and then he crashed into the wall and fell down. Bourjos started off running at about half speed going to 1st and then he kicked it into hyper drive as he flew around the bases and went all the way around the bases in no time flat for the always exciting inside-the-park homerun. Usually these take place on a ball that bounces around the wall bounds around a corner away from an outfielder, but this one went to straight away left field, and the play was backed up by the center fielder who fielded the ball and threw it in to the cut off man. By that time, Bourjos was flying around 3rd and he slid in about a second ahead of the throw, for a relatively easy inside-the-parker, proving once again that he is probably the fastest base runner in baseball. More importantly it gave the Angels back the lead, who were now up 4-3 after that awe-inspiring play, after the inning looked to be almost over just two batters earlier.
Weaver capitalized on the newfound momentum from his offense, and retired the Twins in order in the bottom of the 5th, and allowed just one hit-to Morneau- in the 6th, holding the lead for his team. The Angels offense went down in order in the 6th , and then they tacked on another run in the top half of the 7th. Hunter led off by hitting a line drive into center that Span nearly caught as he charged forward, but he could only stop it on a short hop. The ball got away from Span, so Hunter hustled his way on to 2nd to try and stretch it into a double, and his aggression was rewarded as the throw from Span luckily scooted past the 2nd baseman. It would have been an out if the throw had been caught, but the hustle from Hunter resulted in a runner in scoring position with no one out. Wells failed to move him over to 3rd, hitting a fly ball to left (when you want to hit it to right to move the runner over), and Callaspo failed to do anything once again with an easy ground out, setting the stage for Iannetta with two outs. He came through with a clutch hit on the first pitch he saw, slicing a double into right center that fell in and rolled to the wall, scoring Hunter to give the Angels a 5-3 lead.
The next half inning turned out to be the most important one in the game, as Weaver came back out to pitch the bottom of the 7th. That may have been the first mistake, as he gave up back-to-back singles to Doumit and Valencia to start the inning, and then he was pulled from the game (at least one batter too late in my opinion). Hisanori Takahashi was called upon to pitch to the left-hand hitting Chris Parmalee and he got ahead in the count no balls, two strikes, but he made an absolutely horrible pitch, leaving a slow spinner down and in ( the worst spot to throw to a left hand hitter) and Parmalee capitalized by driving one down the right field line. Hunter made matters worse as he crashed into the right field wall trying to cut the ball off, allowing the ball to roll past him, so both runners scored to tie the game and Parmalee made it all the way to 3rd with a triple. It looked like Takahashi was trying to throw a slider down and away, but he left it hanging in the happy hitting zone for Parmalee that probably cost the Angels the game (with an assist from the poor defense by Hunter), as it turns out. The Angels replaced him with LaTroy Hawkins, who inherited an unenviable position with the go-ahead run at 3rd with no outs. He forced Casilla to hit a shallow fly out to left, that wasn’t deep enough to score the run, and then struck out Span for the second out, but he couldn’t get that elusive final out of the inning. Carroll came through again for the Twins, going with the outside pitch, lining the ball into right field to score Parmalee and give the Twins the unexpected 6-5 lead.
The Twins brought in left handed fireballer Glen Perkins to pitch the 8th and he retired the Angels in order easily, getting a groundball back to him from Aybar and then striking out Kendrick and Pujols. The Twins went down in order in their half of the 8th, setting the table for their closer Matt Capps, in the 9th , with the one-run lead. Morales led off with a sharp grounder right to the 2nd baseman for out #1, and Hunter turned another hit to shallow center into another double with another hustle play, breaking his bat on a soft grounder up the middle, and hustling from the get-go to slide in safely ahead of the accurate throw from Span. The Angels had the tying run at 3rd, but once again Wells couldn’t do anything, as he weakly pulled another grounder to the SS. I thought that Scioscia would pinch hit Abreu, given his good performance in game one of the series, along with Wells’ overall struggles vs. right handed pitching and in general, but it was not to be. Callaspo came up as the Angels last hope, but he failed again as well, weakly popping it up to the 3rd baseman, Valencia, in foul territory to end the game. I thought there would certainly be a pinch-hitter there as well, with Abreu and Trumbo still available on the bench, but manager Mike Scioscia chose to stick with his starters, and it didn’t pay off. Most losses are never good, but this was a terrible loss, considering the situation they were in after the 7th inning stretch, and the way their offense came through initially to retake the lead in the 5th inning. As bad as this loss seemed at the time, game 3 would be even worse, and the panic button was starting to flash.
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Game 3 of the series was probably one of the most disheartening games of the past few seasons, so much so that I didn’t want to watch my recording because I knew what the outcome was going to be, as I saw the updates and final score on the game on other channels without watching any of it. I know it’s still early, but this season is starting to look like a replay of last season, with the pitching issues and poor play costing them vital games. A lot of fans look at games in April as being somewhat meaningless, but some of the losses you get early in the year really come back to hurt you late in the year, when you’re fighting up hill to make up for some of those games you should have won that turned into losses many months prior.
The Angels sent out another one of their pitching stars, Dan Haren to try and salvage the series in the rubber game of the series, as he faced off against the Twins left handed slinger, Francisco Liriano. Both pitchers were coming off of poor initial starts in their 2012 season, each allowing 5 earned runs in a handful of innings. Haren was making his 50th start as a member of the Angels, and he has been impressive for most of them, while Liriano has been a ‘pitcher on the rise’ for a few years now, but he hasn’t been able to break through and become a winning pitcher yet, despite the fact he did throw a no-hitter last season (he finished with an unimpressive 9-10 record and 5.09 ERA).
The Angels changed up their lineup, replacing Aybar with Maicer Izturis as both the leadoff man and shortstop (Aybar tends to struggle against left-handed pitchers so this may become something of a trend in the near future). Mark Trumbo got the start as the team’s DH after taking a couple games off (mainly because of his defense, I’m sure) and Bobby Wilson took over the catching duties, as Mike Scioscia loves to keep his catchers fresh with a platoon situation. The Twins only made one change to their successful game 2 lineup, changing their right fielder for the third game in a row, with the speedy Ben Revere, instead of Ryan Doumit (and Trevor Plouffe in game 1)
Both teams had leadoff hits in their first inning at bat, but both were stranded as the next three batters were retired for each team. The Angels’ offense exploded with an unexpected outburst in the top of the 2nd inning, ignited by a mammoth leadoff homerun by Mark Trumbo, who launched one into the upper deck in left field. Vernon Wells tried to hit one back up the middle, but Casilla made a good defensive play to throw him out at 1st, but the Angels followed that up with four straight hits. Callaspo singled up the middle, Wilson followed with another hit to center, and then the offensive star in the last game, Peter Bourjos hit a deep fly into left for an RBI double. Bourjos gave his team a 2-0 lead, and helped put runners at 1st and 2nd for Maicer Izturis, who added another hit (to his leadoff single to start the game), smacking another one back up the middle, to score two more, for a 4-0 lead. Izturis stole 2nd and Kendrick followed that by drawing a walk, putting two base runners on for Pujols, but he continued his early season slump and just missed a pitch down the middle, popping it up to the first baseman for an easy out. With Torii Hunter up to bat, the Angels tried a double steal, and the Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer made a poor throw to 2nd, that bounced into center field, allowing Izturis to score easily after his attempt to steal 3rd. In Mauer’s defense, the fielder at 2nd should have at least stopped the ball to keep the runner at 3rd from scoring, and because the ball went into center allowing the runners to advance, the error was charged, and the Angels were up 5-0. Hunter hit a deep fly out to right to end the inning, but it looked like the game would be in the Angels’ bad after that scoring outburst,… but things aren’t always as they seem, especially in sports, and with this team.
Dan Haren pitched much better than in his first outing, with improved control for the most part, and he held the Twins scoreless for the first four innings, despite allowing a few base runners in the process. He set them down in order in the 2nd following the Angels offensive outburst in the top half of the inning, but got into some trouble in the 3rd. Revere led off the inning with a base hit up the middle, and Casilla followed with a single into right, on a mistake slider that hung up in the middle of the plate, on a 1 ball-2 strike count. Span made the first out on an easy fly out to left, that didn’t advance the runners, but Haren dug the hole a little deeper, walking Jamey Carroll to load the bases, with the Twins’ big hitters coming up. He threw three quality pitches to Mauer, finishing with a good slider on the inner half to get a pop up on the infield, and then forced Morneau to hit a shallow fly out to right to end the inning and keep the score 5-0. The Twins only managed one hit in the 4th to remain scoreless, and the Angels offense only produced one base runner, on a walk, in their two innings following their big 2nd inning, but they did attain their 4th stolen base of the game, which is a welcomed sight for Angels fans. They added one more run in the top of the 5th, started by Trumbo who drew a two-out walk, and then stole 2nd (the Angels 5th of the game), catching the Twins defense by surprise. Wells drove him in with a 2-out double down the left field line, lunging for a 1-2 outside slider and getting enough of it this time to place it away from the left fielder, and score the 6th run for the Angels.
It looked like a commanding 6-0 lead for the Angels, more than half way through, but the tides turned, starting in the bottom of the 5th. Span and Carroll each hit soft line drive singles to the opposite field, with one out, to give Mauer another chance with runners on base. This time he came through, and it looked like he was waiting for the inside slider this time, as he turned on it and deposited it into the right field seats for a 3-run homer, cutting the Angels lead in half just that quickly. Haren retired Morneau on a groundout, but faced more danger in the inning when Willingham got an infield single on a weakly hit dribbler along the 3rd base line, and Parmalee followed with a bloop hit into right. He avoided more damage, striking out Valencia swinging at a full count slider that cut away off the plate at the last second, to finally retire the side.
The Angels failed to score in the 6h, despite a lead off infield single from Wilson, and a sacrifice bunt from Bourjos to move him into scoring position, as Izturis and Kendrick both struck out looking, against the new Twins pitcher Alex Burnett. The Angels removed Haren from the game, in what looked like a premature pitching change, and brought in Takahashi to pitch the bottom of the 6th. He retired the first two hitters he faced but then things got a little dicey, as he wasn’t able to put hitters away with two strikes against them. He had Denard Span down 1 ball- 2 strikes, but allowed a single to left on a hanging, hittable slider, and then got ahead of Jamey Carroll, but tried to nibble too much with his pitches and ended up walking him to put two runners on for Mauer again, with two outs. Mauer hit what looked like a routine grounder to the shortstop Izturis, but for some reason he double clutched and threw the ball late to 1st, allowing Mauer to beat the throw and loading the bases for the Twins’ Justin Morneau once again. Manager Mike Scioscia went with the right-handed hard throwing Kevin Jepsen (instead of the soft-tossing lefty) against the left handed slugger, and the move paid off as Morneau hit a weak fly out to left to end the threat.
The Angels went down in order in the 7th against Burnett, setting the stage for the Twins to complete the comeback after the 7th inning stretch, with another three- run inning. Willingham led off with a homerun to left on a full count 96 MPH fastball, to continue his battering of the Angels pitching, cutting the lead to 6-4. Parmalee followed that with a line drive double to left center, going with another 96 MPH pitch, then Valencia grounded one into right field for their third straight hit. The Angels defense then let them down, first because it looked like Kendrick was in position to field the grounder that was just a couple feet to his left, but for some reason he didn’t see the ball well and made his first move to his right, so the ball went to the right fielder. To make matters worse RF Torii Hunter made a terrible mistake, throwing the ball over all the infielders all the way to the catcher, even though the runner at 3rd wasn’t coming home, which allowed Valencia to go to 2nd base, and eliminate the double play possibility, not to mention allow a second runner into scoring position. Ben Revere batted with the tying runs at 2nd and 3rd and no outs, but he couldn’t manage to drive them in, hitting a medium depth fly ball to left, and Parmalee didn’t even attempt to tag up and test Wells’ arm. Scioscia replaced Jepsen with lefty Scott Downs, and the Twins countered by pinch-hitting Luke Hughes for Alexi Casilla. He hit the first pitch from Downs into deep left center field, that nearly resulted in a collision by the two Angels outfielders, but still allowed the runner to come in on the sacrifice fly (moving up both runners), to make the score 6-5. Span batted with two outs and the runner at 3rd, and hit a grounder towards Pujols at 1st, who underhanded it to Downs covering the base, but Span is a fast runner, so they tried to hurry the play, and in their haste Downs wasn’t able to catch the ball cleanly. To make matters worse, he got stepped on as he tried to reach back with his foot to touch the base as he covered 1st, and it looked like he twisted his ankle, so he had to be pulled from the game. It was a brand new game as the Twins tied the score with that infield hit, that was a tough play but a play that should have been made, and now the Angels had to go back to their bullpen, bringing in Rich Thompson. He allowed a stolen base to Span, but struck out Carroll to end the inning, so the game headed into the 8th as a 6-6 tie.
The Twins brought in Jared Burton to start the top of the 8th, and he allowed a lead off single back up the middle by Vernon Wells, and any time he doesn’t try to pull the ball it’s a good thing, so that was a positive sight. Callaspo hit a fly out to right on the first pitch he saw, and as the Angels called up Kendrys Morales to pinch-hit for Wilson, the Twins countered by bringing in a left-hander, Brian Duensing, into the game, to turn the switch-hitter around to hit from his weaker right side. Morales hit an easy fly out to left for the second out, bringing up the offensive hero from the last game, Peter Bourjos. Duensing made a big mistake, throwing a wild pitch which allowed Wells to advance to 2nd, and Bourjos made them pay as he grounded one through the hole on the left side, into left field, to score Wells, giving the Angels the lead again, 7-6. They failed to tack on any more despite a walk to Izturis to put two on, as Kendrick grounded out to end the inning.
The Angels continued their trend of bad pitching and poor defense at the end of this game, as they surrendered the lead, and a whole lot more, in the bottom of the 8th. Mauer led off the inning and took advantage of a very bad pitch from Thompson, who left a hanging curveball down the middle of the plate on a 1 ball-2 strike count, and it was lined into right for a single. He tried to continue the trend of offering the next batter, Morneau, outside fastballs, but Morneau was ready this time, and launched the 90 MPH pitch deep into the right field seats, to give the Twins a 8-7 lead. I guess Scioscia didn’t want to use any of his other relievers because he left Thompson in the game, and he proceeded to allow more runs to the Twins. Willingham followed the homer with a line drive, that went off of the 3B Callaspo’s glove as he leapt up to catch it. He did strike out Parmalee, but fell behind Valencia 3 balls-0 strikes so he threw a fastball right down the middle, and Valencia whacked a double down the left field line, to score another run and make it 9-7 Twins. After Revere grounded out for the 2nd out, Luke Hughes took advantage of another bad pitch from Thompson, knocking another hanging curve (on a 0-2 count) into left field, to score the Twins 10th run, and they eventually took 10-7 lead into the top of the 9th inning.
Now the Angels were down for the first time in the game after another multiple run inning by the Twins, just as their last at bat of the game approached. The Twins brought in their closer Matt Capps to finish the game, but the Angels were still fighting. Pujols led off the inning with his first hit of the game, a sharp single into left, and then the Angels got a lucky bounce to help make things interesting. Hunter hit a a slow groundball up the middle that looked like an easy double play ball, but the ball bounced right off of 2nd base as the fielders closed in on it, and ricocheted away, allowing Pujols to take 3rd, and start the Angels last attempt at a rally. With runners at 1st and 3rd and no outs, Mark Trumbo lined an RBI single into left, to make it 10-8. Vernon Wells was also helped out by a little luck, as he hit another potential double play grounder to the shortstop, who tossed it to the 2nd baseman, but they were unable to get complete the double play as Wells was called safe at 1st. First. Wells was lucky that the 2nd baseman double clutched slightly before throwing and then even luckier that the umpire called him safe, as replays appeared to show that he was safe. Callaspo batted with runners at 1st and 3rd, and grounded out to 1st, scoring Hunter from 3rd to make the score 10-9, while moving Wells with the potential tying run over to 2nd base. Iannetta was next, with his first at-bat of the game after coming in as defensive replacement (when Wilson was pinch-hit for), but he couldn’t take advantage of the lucky bounces in the inning to complete the rally, hitting a weak grounder to 3rd base, as Valencia made a great running throw to 1st for the final out of the game.
Minnesota came into the series with one of the lowest scoring offenses in the game, but they beat down the Angels pitching in the final two games, compiling an astounding total of 20 hits in this game. Haren allowed 9 hits and just 3 runs (along with 7 strikeouts) in his 5 innings, but the bullpen allowed 11 more hits, and more importantly, 7 more runs, in their 4 innings of work. It looked just like the start to the 2011 season, as the bullpen failed to hold the lead early in that season too, so hopefully they can pull it together soon, before they fall too far back in the standings. The bright side is that their offense is scoring fairly often, despite a lack of production from their main offensive cogs (namely Pujols) and they have started to play their small tactics (squeeze bunts, stolen bases), which is their typical modus operandi but their record is what counts, and that isn’t too positive. Things don’t get any easier for the Halos, as they have to travel to New York to take on one of the eastern division power houses, the Yankees. As I write this, they have already lost the first game of that series, getting shut out, so things aren’t looking very positive so far…. but it‘s still just a week into the season.
FANTASY WATCH
The Twins’ Joe Mauer had 3 hits, including a 3-run homer, despite getting off to a slow start in the game, but many Twins batters contributed to their fantasy stat line, given the fact the team had 20 hits and 10 runs scored.
One of the most notable Angels fantasy lines belongs to Albert Pujols, but it’s for his lack of production, as he is hitting about .200, with no homers and very limited production. He got off to a slow start last season with St Louis as well, but he still hit 37 homers and drove in 99 runs, so it’s not time to worry yet.
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