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

Prior to tonight's game, Jose Contreras had a 3.96 ERA with a 3-2 record against the Angels lifetime, which is to say, the Angels had a fair but not overwhelming shot at him. On this chilly and slightly breezy evening, the Halos greeted him with a solid thumping that started with Reggie Willits' leadoff walk. Even though Willits ended his implausible ten-game hitting streak on this night by going 0-2, he still collected a pair of walks, stole a base, and scored a run, batting leadoff for the first time this season.

For those paying attention to Willits' minor league numbers, it's all in a day's work; last year for Salt Lake, he ended the season with 77 walks versus 50 strikeouts. In the Angels' swing-happy system, that's the kind of thing that stands out like a pimp at an Exxon shareholder meeting. In fact, he had a .327/.448/.426 line to finish the year. That is, his OBP was higher than his SLG — a situation he presently finds himself in for the Angels, with a .395/.458/.395 line. With his speed, he could conceivably be a real stolen base threat, but he got caught in about a third of his attempts (15 of 46) last year. He's got no power, but if he can keep getting on base, he might just displace Gary Matthews, Jr. and Chone Figgins at leadoff.

Speaking of the Angels' speedster, today was simply not his day. He saw four pitches, and turned all his at-bats into outs, including an inning-ending double play in the fourth, the only Angel to fail to get a hit. We may have to wait a while before he gets going, considering how fresh his broken hand is.

The Halos scored their runs principally in the first and second, with Matthews, Jr. cashing in Willits' walk on a sac fly in the first. In the second, Erick Aybar singled, and Shea Hillenbrand reached on an error when he hit into what should have been a sure double play. Instead, Contreras overthrew second, allowing Aybar to advance to third. Napoli then hit a towering, routine flyball.

Darin Erstad lost it in the twilight sky of the field he had called home for all but this year.

The ball fell about 30 feet behind him. The official scorer called it a double, Mike Napoli got a gift, and the Angels got a run in. Orlando Cabrera cashed in Hillenbrand and Napoli, making it 4-0 Angels. The home crowd cheered Ersty every time he came to the plate, especially when the video board played a sequence of high points from his Angels career before his first at bat. I wonder if any of them guessed just how much he was about to do for his old team on this day, albeit unintentionally.

The Chisox got their lone run in the third. Ryan Sweeney singled and advanced on Darin Erstad's line drive single up the middle. Tad Iguchi very nearly hit into a triple play when he grounded out to third, but Figgins' throw was high, pulling Aybar off the bag. Fortunately, Darin Erstad gave his former team yet another break in that he overslid the base, and Aybar was able to record a second out at second with a tag. Iguchi then scored from first on a double that nearly turned into a home run over the short fence in left. Willits collected it but wasn't able to make a play at the plate. Paul Konerko then recorded the final out by flying out to center.

Casey Kotchman drove in the Angels' final run in the eighth. Matthews, Jr. got aboard on a leadoff single, and then Vlad moved him over with to second with a 5-3 groundout. Matthews, Jr. then stole third against a snoozing Boone Logan, and Kotchman plated him with a solid RBI single.

It was a good thing the Angels took advantage of the Chisox' early mistakes, because starting in the third, Contreras faced the minimum for three straight innings, helped along by a Vlad stolen base attempt that went bad, and Figgins' GIDP. On the other side, Escobar wobbled through a few frames, giving up six hits and a pair of walks, but struck out five and held on for the win.

Helping him do that was Scot Shields, who came in for the eighth and ninth. He appeared to have the old movement back on his fastball, with command, and he easily dispatched with the flailing Sox, now owner of the worst batting average in the league. Let's hope that sticks around for a while yet.

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The team put Garret Anderson on the 15-day DL with a torn right hip flexor tendon. Mike DiGiovanna's report in the Times and the radio broadcast tonight said Anderson would likely miss 4-6 weeks, with no timetable for his return; Tommy Murphy got the callup from Salt Lake to replace him on the roster. Murphy's hitting .345/.412/.552 with Salt Lake this season.

Similarly, Howie Kendrick's return date got fuzzier when doctors told him not to swing a bat or catch a ball for another week, at which time he will be re-evaluated.

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The final incidental note of the game is that the victory propelled Mike Scioscia into the chair of being the winningest Angels manager of all time, with 626 wins beating out Bill Rigney, with 625. I wonder if the Dodgers ever miss him.

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