What started out as pretty nice game for the Angels went awry pretty quickly when Joel Pineiro got rattled and threw the game away… literally.
There I was minding my own business watching the Angels jump out to a rare early lead, feeling pretty good about the Halos’ chances. Joel Pineiro was cruising early and seemed to be well on his way to that elusive 100th victory. But then he had to go and get greedy.
Maybe this is just my own personal bias, but I always get nervous when a pitcher has to field the ball. Not that most MLB pitchers aren’t skilled athletes, but fielding the ball just isn’t something most pitchers do on a frequent basis. I’m not saying they can’t field. I just think most pitchers aren’t fully prepared to handle anything other than a routine play. This is why I screamed “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” when I saw Pineiro field that third inning dribbler and wheel towards second to try and start a doubleplay.
Actually, Pineiro didn’t wheel towards second base itself, more like where the second baseman usually places positions himself before the pitch. The result was a throwing error that caused Pineiro to unravel completely. Rattled by his mistake, Pineiro proceeded to allow five runs on four hits before finally wiggling out of the inning.
Oh, Joel, if only you had not tried to get fancy and just taken the easy out at first.
Game Notes:
- Speaking of throwing the game away, what was Mike Scioscia thinking with his lineup choice? I am all in favor of getting Bobby Wilson some action, but not Wilson and Mathis at the same time. The Angels have a hard enough time scoring as it is, don’t raise the degree of difficulty on your own team, Sosh.
- I’ll give credit where credit is due. Jeff Mathis is actually playing pretty well right now. He notched his second two-hit game in a row and raised his average to .216, which is like .400 by his standards. I’d feel better about the odds of him having “figured it out” if his double in this game wasn’t his first and only extra-base hit of the entire month of May.
- For the love of God, can the Halos just demote Reggie Willits already? He took the collar in the game while fanning twice. He is 1-for-22 on the season, why is he still getting starts, much less still in the majors? Oh, wait, I figured it out. The Halos are playing Willits so that when Vernon Wells returns in the next week, whatever his performance is, he’ll still look good compared to Willits.
Halo A-Hole
I know someone who is going to be taking extra pitcher’s fielding practice tomorrow.