An Angel loss to the Blue Jays in which the Halo bats were total no shows.
Los Angeles Angels of AWESOMENESS
- Joe Saunders came back to earth tonight, but he still put together a solid effort. He only allowed one extra-base hit and struck out six. It was ultimately the five walks he issued that cost him, but at least he was being aggressive and competitive.
- Obviously the move didn’t pay dividends tonight, but I like that Scioscia was willing to move Matsui all the way down to seventh in the order. He has been too loyal to veterans in the past and let them hit higher in the order out respect, but Matsui has just been too bad lately to keep getting such respect. I’d probably have put Napoli in the six-hole instead of Rivera, but it was still a smart move by Sosh.
Angels of FAIL
- Remember when lazy, mental-mistake prone Aybar was driving everyone crazy last year? Well, he’s back. That line drive he dropped in the seventh inning that allowed a run to score was vintage lazy Erick. He completely lost focus on the ball and dropped out of sheer lack of caring. His defense has not been up to expectations this and he needs to get his act together, especially if he is going to continue to scuffle at the plate.
- Just when you thought it was safe to use Bulger again, he goes and implodes at exactly the wrong time. Bulger had been looking much better in May, but now he is way off again, but that’s OK because so is every other Angel reliever.
- You know your night is going poorly when Kevin Fransden ducks to avoid a pitch at his head and still has the pitch end up bouncing off of his bat for a foul ball. In Fransden’s defense, had Brandon Wood started the game instead, Wood probably would’ve swung and missed at that same pitch.
Angel A-Hole of the Game
NOTHING
No picture needed tonight, because nobody showed up to play for the Angels.
I’m not going to single anyone out tonight, but that isn’t because I’m feeling nice, but rather because no one person deserves all the blame for the Angel offense not bothering to show up. The Angel bats had been looking spry of late, but tonight was a huge step back with nobody really working counts and very few well hit balls and even fewer guys who seemed to care. It is just one bad night, so I’m not going to worry too much about it, but it can go unpunished, so the entire Angel offense gets the Angel A-Hole prize for this loss.