Saturday, June 04, 2005 |
The Ideal Runner: Angels 13, Red Sox 6
But the fun part. There was a lot to love here from an Angel fan's perspective, particularly the hitting, but damn if the Angels didn't make the Red Sox pay for some bad fielding. In particular:
- AK's sweet steal of third on a called third strike on Chone Figgins, subsequently driven home by an Erstad RBI squibber.
- Jeff DaVanon stole second after a walk and then alertly ran to third after Veritek's throw bounced off him and momentarily confused Mark Bellhorn. That play sparked another multi-run rally, as the Angels would then get a walk from Jose Molina and O-Cab cashing in DaVanon with an RBI single.
Both of Erstad's hits were just badly fielded up-the-middle singles. Finley's 2-6 afternoon, one of which turned into a triple, gave new hope to Angels fans who need to believe his bat hasn't atrophied from age. And any hitting from Kennedy -- especially two extra-base hits, his first game with multiple extra-base hits all year -- is welcome, but I look up and see AK's .304 average and begin to sense that perhaps Scioscia's trust in his bat is perhaps not, ultimately, misplaced. The day, however, belonged clearly to Anderson, whose masterful offensive performance vaulted him into the club's RBI leader. While I like Anderson, I've never been a big fan of his contract; toward its end, I expect Garret will be mostly useless, and so it becomes a sop for organization, an enormous tip for services already rendered. Days like today make up for some of that, but ask me how I feel about it in two years.
Shields -- in again, and giving up a solo homer? Believe it. Give the kid a day off and let Joel Peralta pitch. Did he mow down the fearsome heart of Boston's order, in order? You bet, and in so doing he passed a huge test. I won't be surprised -- or feel terribly nervous -- giving Peralta the ball in a tight situation when one comes up, and you can believe Scioscia's going to give him that chance in coming weeks.
From the Boston viewpoint, the Sox' bullpen came unglued, and uncharacteristically so. Of the thirteen runs scored, eight came against their relief corps, and with the exception of Mantei, who had a 3.00 ERA coming into the game, the Angels benefited from weak showings by guys the Red Sox should have had more confidence in.
Update: As David Pinto notes, Brendan Donnelly had a baseball in his back pocket, which the umpires made him remove. Why was it there? Considering the possibility for confusion on the field, I'm surprised they didn't eject him or something like that.
: 6/04/2005 04:08:00 PM : 6/05/2005 08:45:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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