6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

I'd be happier if we could have kept the Tigers down below three runs. As it is, the loss of Washburn is starting to look pretty serious.

	Washburn			Ortiz
Month	Starts	Quality Starts	ERA	Starts	Quality Starts	ERA
April	5	1	5.34	5	0	9.28
May	5	4	3.86	2	1	1.69
June	5	2	5.40	0	0	1.16
July	4	2	5.06	2	2	2.92
August				3	1	5.27

So now you've got Ramon Ortiz, Headcase™, pitching against the Tigers, in a game he should not lose under any conceivable circumstance, and yet he gave it his best try, coughing up five runs. Certainly, we can't say that Wash would have given us a fair chance to win every game he appeared in, but compared to Ramon Ortiz, well... In some fairness, he had help: the umps gave him back-to-back bad calls in the top of the fourth, when Craig Monroe should have been called out stealing, and then again when a strikeout got called a wild pitch instead. (At least, that's what it looked like to us in the stands; the booing was ferocious.) And then there was a Steve Bartman somewhere below us in the stands on right field; the next pitch turned into a homer. Certainly, he shows the dangers of "what have you done for me lately" lineup tinkering. I'm sure that some time after one of Ramon "Nofu" Ortiz's better starts, myself or Richard or somebody has called for him to return to the rotation. But we eventually sobered up; what's Mike's excuse?

So: in came Donnelly, after two consecutive previous appearances. Thusly did he perform:

Top 8th B:0 S: 0 O: 0
Pitcher Change: Brendan Donnelly replaces Kevin Gregg.

Top 8th B:3 S: 2 O: 0
Brandon Inge singles on a line drive to right fielder Vladimir Guerrero.

Top 8th B:4 S: 1 O: 0
Nook Logan walks. Brandon Inge to 2nd.

Top 8th B:1 S: 1 O: 0
Jason Smith hit by pitch. Brandon Inge to 3rd. Nook Logan to 2nd.

... and then Carlos Guillen struck out after fouling off five straight pitches. I don't know why Mike didn't have Frankie come in after Donnelly walked Logan; there was no excuse for it. But in the end the Angels managed to avoid more runs, and Frankie dominated the Tigers as well as I've ever seen. For which, Gracias, Señor.

Everybody, it seemed, hit homers, Guillen going deep, but unexpected power came from Quinlan, Figgins, and Eckstein, who got his first (and likely, only) homer of the year. Scioscia's experiment of reverting Erstad to the 2-hole seems to have worked; he went 2-5 there. What I found really interesting is how this game both illuminates a big weakness of the Angels -- its lack of power hitting -- even in the midst of its apparent abundance: where were the doubles? Erstad had a leadoff double and that was it. Anderson -- 1-4 with 2 RBI, but again, only on a single. We can't hope every team will trot out a guy with an 85-MPH fastball every night; we need better than that, and Anderson's lack of hitting against this lineup is not good, not at all. But Vlad: .244 on the month? Man, that's a profound slump for him. It illustrates the limitations of star players. Would the team be scuffling like this with Troy Glaus still in the lineup?

Another guy to thank the stars for: Quinlan. Baseball Prospectus recently said of Q

Along with Chone Figgins, Quinlan has helped the Angels patch third base in the absence of Troy Glaus. Neither player is a star in waiting; in fact, both are likely well over their heads this season. However, the ability to produce players who can make a positive contribution to a winning team, even at a low level, is a hallmark of the Angels' player development staff. The bullpen, filled with homegrown right-handed arms, is where this has had the greatest impact, but the lineup and bench have benefitted as well. How many teams will miss the playoffs this season--or spend millions of extra dollars--because their farm system can't produce a Robb Quinlan or a Kevin Gregg?

Tuesday: Tampa Bay, followed by a weekend series against the Yanks. It's gonna get brutal. See, this is why I'm not convinced the Angels are going to the postseason this year: the A's have already played the Yanks as much as they're gonna, while the Angels haven't. That's a big difference.

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