Why, Maicer? Why?!?! I know Jeff Mathis channeled his 2009 ALCS form by ripping a clutch double in the first game, but that doesn’t mean you also had to channel your 2009 form by making another brutal error in Yankee Stadium to cost the Angels the game.
Just when you thought it was safe for the Angels to compete with the Yankees, they go and shoot themselves in the foot again. Instead of one of the usual suspects like Mathis or Wells or Rodney (oh, wait, oops) screwing it up, it was Scioscia’s most loyal soldier Maicer Izturis booting a routine bouncer that should have allowed them to escape the seventh inning unscathed. That error, of course, set up the Yankees to not only take the lead the very next batter, but to take it in dramatic fashion via a grand slam from Robinson Cano. A big blow that would loom large since the Angels improbably tagged Mo Rivera for three runs in the ninth.
What’s the take away from this? I’d hope the Angels try and take it just like any other loss, but to lose in such a fashion to a contending team that they could well face in the playoffs, that could end up being the sort of thing that sticks in the back of their minds for the next two months.
Game Notes
- A lot of people are blaming Scioscia for putting Fernando Rodney into the game since his wildness led to the start of the Yankees four-run rally in the seventh. I can’t stand Fraudney, but who exactly was Scioscia supposed to put into the game? Rich Thompson? Bobby Cassevah? Maybe one of them was a better choice, but only by a very slim margin. Having such a bevvy of unattractive right-handed relief options is exactly why the Angels need to find a way to bring in some bullpen help over the waiver wire.
- Just once I would like to get through a Yankees series without getting killed by Robinson Cano. Every freaking time with that guy.
- Chatwood wasn’t exactly sharp today, but I thought he showed some more promise. He maintained his composure and worked his way out several jams. What he really needs to learn to do is finish off hitters. He has that great curveball, which should be an out-pitch, but he just can’t put batters away with two strikes. That 12-pitch at-bat Swisher had against him in the second was a perfect example of that. Until Tyler figures that out, he is going to be nothing more than a back-end starter.
- Go figure that Russ Branyan has been useless all year and hasn’t even gotten a live at-bat in weeks and he comes in today to launch a three-run jack off of Mariano Rivera. I now feel ever so slightly vindicated for my initial exuberance when the Halos scooped him up off the trash heap.
Halo A-Hole
You’re killing me, Maicer.