The Angels lost a tough one, they’ve been playing their hearts out all season, blah blah blah. Yeah we’ve heard all that before, but did anyone see the Rays/Red Sox games last night? What an intense way to start off the postseason, or should I say, your offseason fishing trips…Red Sox. The Sox lost the wildcard in what had to be the biggest choke job of all time, which falls perfectly in line with what the Sox have been doing all season, while the Rays won it in one of the most amazing comebacks in recent memory. You might as well hand them the 2011 World Series with that win, I haven’t seen a team show so much heart since…since the 2002 Angels. Alright, now let’s recap what was probably one of the more boring games last night.
Game Recap
- Last night everybody was in “who gives a crap” mode, except for Garrett Richards maybe. In a surprising turn of events Richards only allowed 1 run through 5 innings, though it wasn’t enough to stop the mighty bat of Napoli from giving the Angels a nice little parting gift by hitting 2 home runs, one of the being the go-ahead blast.
- Walden ended up coming in the game in relief last night, probably to get in a redemption start to prove he doesn’t suck, yet he ended up screwing that up as well. It was poor Waldo who gave up the go-ahead blast to Mike Napoli, you have to wonder if this kid is fit to be closing in the majors. He doesn’t seem to be able to handle the pressures of closing in tight games, we’ve seen how many of those he’s blown. Maybe it’s time the Angels looked for closer help this offseason, someone who can actually get the job done cleanly and consistently for once. Walden would be much better suited to fill the 7th inning righty role, I don’t know if I can trust him enough to take on the 8th inning with Scott Downs after what he did in the game-that-shan’t-be-mentioned. I know it’s just one bad game, but a loss as devastating as that can be terrible for a young player’s fragile psyche.
- Nobody did anything really “noteworthy” yesterday, or maybe they were just overshadowed by the intensity of the Rays and the Red Sox games. Mike Trout came up with 2 hits in last nights game, sad to see the season end when Mike Trout was just starting to get back on his feet. Luckily for the rest of the baseball world that’s the only thing that can stop Mike Trout, they’ll just have to wait till next season to understand the true power of Mike Trout.
Halo Hero
Just because the Angels lost it doesn’t mean we don’t have anything to celebrate. Two amazing home runs by this man kept the Rays in the wildcard race, while a big chokejob by Crawford cost the Red Sox a game. But no, that wasn’t enough for Evan, instead he saw fit to hit another home run, this one in walkoff form to secure the Rays the wildcard. He kept the hated Red Sox out of the post season, and can possibly do much more damage against the Rangers at the end of this week. Don’t stop the Pain Train Evan, and please come to Anaheim when you’re done in Tampa, we’d like to show you what a real fanbase is like.