Thursday, April 26, 2007 |
The Tough Loss: Angels 9, Devil Rays 1
But he got unhinged pretty easily once Kotchman reached on Carlos Pena's error at first. His woes only got compounded when Squareshea Hillenpants, whose bat is made of sponge, finally got a solid hit — off Jackson's leg. But then he settled down, and Izturis and Napoli made relatively easy flyball outs.
Erick Aybar then smacked a ball up the middle, which second baseman B.J. Upton stopped but was unable to make a play at second; instead, he threw the ball away up the line, allowing Kotchman to score from third, and Hillenbrand to get to third. Hillenbrand and Aybar in turn crossed the plate on Matthews, Jr.'s booming double.
Jackson recovered in the sixth, but again came unglued when Maicer Izturis led off the inning with a bunt. It was a terrible bunt; one of the first rules of a good bunt is that you want to deaden the ball. Izturis runs well, and the ball almost beat him to the bag. If it hadn't been for Jackson taking a gamble and looking up before he had the ball, Izturis is out. As it was, Mike Napoli came up and legged out an infield single to the shortstop; Erick Aybar provided a long RBI double to cash in Izturis, and that was it for young Edwin. Before the dust cleared, four more Angels would cross the plate, thanks in part to a throwing error on second baseman Brendan Harris during Matthews, Jr.'s at bat that allowed Mike Napoli to score.
As for John Lackey... he was excellent most of the time. He did get into one real jam, a bases-loaded situation in the top of the sixth with two out in which he frustratingly refused to go to his fastball. Finally he did unleash it, and struck out B.J. Upton to end the inning.
GMJ provided Lack with some nice defense in centerfield, including a full-extension catch; likewise did Robb Quinlan, inserted in left in the ninth, make a fine sliding catch for Chris Bootcheck, who seems to be about as good or maybe better than Brendan Donnelly was last year about this time. He may not be the best guy you ever saw pitch, but he's useful in the pen, and can maybe be trusted in a few close games.
Finally, some who listened to the postgame radio show say that Brandon Wood has been called up. I have to believe that this amounts to a misunderstanding somewhere along the line, since it makes absolutely no sense. The Angels need somebody who can play second in the absence of Howie Kendrick, and Aybar is not only doing it, but showing some ability to hit. Third base is Maicer Izturis's job until Figgins rolls in next week; this, too, sounds ridiculously unlikely for the man who owns the second-most RBIs on the squad. Kendry? Didn't they just call him up last week? Is he going to take over at shortstop? The mind boggles.
Labels: angels, devil rays, recaps
I saw one I like even better. It was one of those forum trolls whose aliases come and go like so many flakes of onionskin. But this one was awesome. Nod to Al Pacino in Scarface:
"Shea hello to my little bat!"
: 4/26/2007 01:41:00 PMHillenbrand is 10 for 23 on this homestand. He just might hit after all.
: 4/26/2007 01:43:00 PMNewer› ‹Older
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