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

Joe Saunders got the callup and Terry Evans went back down after a brief, positive, and eventful trip with the big club. Joe hurt his ERA some by giving up four runs, all earned, thanks to a wobbly first three innings that started badly by allowing leadoff man Rajai Davis to get aboard on a first-inning single. Davis then reached third on two straight stolen bases, and scored on Freddie Sanchez's single.

Saunders seemed to settle down in the second when he retired the 6-7-8 batters in order, but then he again gave up a leadoff single in the third to the nine batter, shortstop Jack Wilson. Wild pitching him to third, Davis knocked him in with an RBI single. While Saunders fought back to get to two outs and Davis on second, Jason Bay rendered the question of scoring position moot by slamming a pitch over the left field fence. On top of everything else, Saunders burned through pitches at a terrific rate, and despite getting the final out of the third, he could easily have left the game in the fourth.

Fortunately, Saunders was made of tougher stuff than that. He gave up another single in the fourth to Ronny Paulino, but made his outs without a run scoring. That hit was the last baserunner the Bucs got until the 10th.

The Angels haven't been much of a comeback team this year because they haven't needed to be, getting leads early and then suffocating the opposition with their bullpen. But this time, the Angels faced Zach Duke, two years ago such a godlike figure on the mound that he elicited fifth place in the Rookie of the Year balloting for a 1.81 ERA and 8-2 record. He has never been as good since, and like Oliver Perez, who had one brilliant season with the Pirates at age 22, he has not been anywhere near as good since. (Well, until this year. The Mets seem to have turned him around some; maybe Rick Peterson will eventually fix Duke, too.)

Duke didn't exactly mow down the Angels; he constantly worked with baserunners, but like some kind of mildly defective cleaning bot that keeps coming unscrewed, he kept sweeping up his mistakes, eliciting three double plays, two of them with men in scoring position and one out. Good God, it was frustrating. In fact, we learned that Duke has led the league in hits allowed for two years running, which must make him one of the most frustrating pitchers to watch if he's wearing your colors.

The Halos finally broke through in the sixth with Cabrera's leadoff homer, and threatened to get more with two on and one out. At that point, Jim Tracy brought in Japanese import Masami Kuwata, and neither Howie Kendrick nor Shea Hillenbrand could get the clutch hit. Once again, the Angels went down in frustration.

The Halos scratched out a couple more in the seventh when Mike Napoli beat out an infield single to third and scored from first on Reggie Willits' double. (Nice to have speed on the basepaths, even from the catcher position, yeah?) Cabrera knocked him in for his second RBI of the game, and at that point, with Vlad coming up, it looked like the Angels might just win this one right there and then. Instead, Vlad lined out to center, though he made Nate McLouth work for it. Tracy brought in McLouth as a defensive replacement in the 7th, and while he doesn't have great speed as centerfielders go (how do you get the job in center if you're not fast?), he was good enough to get the job done, and that really was the end of the Angels' threat, the false happy ending of Matthews, Jr.'s single notwithstanding.

One more in the eighth — scored by pinch runner Nathan Haynes and knocked home by Willits — got the Angels a tie ballgame, but after an uneventful tenth, the Angels finally got traction on Chone Figgins' one-out triple. The Bucs put up a "no cheapies" defense, hauling in their outfielders to prevent no-man's-land bloopers. It didn't matter, since Cabrera knocked one clean over their heads down the left field line to win it. In all, the Angels stranded 12, which makes me think that somehow, they've started channeling the A's: they're getting on plenty, but whatever happened to the clutch single?

---

In a bizarre coda to the game, Joe Saunders was once again optioned to Salt Lake, and Kendry Morales sent up, just in case the Angels somehow find themselves missing a first baseman among the sofa cushions. Thanks for all the good efforts, Joe, blah blah blah.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: angels, pirates, recaps