Tuesday, August 21, 2007 |
Night Of The Living Catchers: Angels 7, Yankees 6
Working backwards, Angels catchers had an unlikely influence on this game, seeing as how they drove in four of the team's seven runs, what with Jeff Mathis' bases-clearing double in the second. Phil Hughes uncharacteristically struggled some (he gave up five walks on the night after giving up only nine in five prior starts), so it might not have been a big surprise to see him get knocked around a bit. More, Mathis shone defensively, getting a not-even-close strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play in the fifth. I'm learning to like him more behind the plate, but I'll have to see him throw out some more runners before I really trust him fully.
The game overall was a tussle with no lead staying safe for long. The Yanks scratched out one off starter Dustin Moseley in the first, taking the early advantage. The Angels came right back in the third, loading the bases on Gary Matthews, Jr.'s one-out double followed by a pair of walks to Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick. Mathis doubled to left to send everyone home, but it had the feel of a temporary lead.
Sure enough, the Yanks piled one more on with an RBI groundout in the fourth, the last they got off Moseley, who didn't walk anybody the whole night — a huge accomplishment considering the legendary patience of this group of hitters.
Chris Bootcheck entered the game in the sixth and promptly gave up a two-run homer to A-Rod, but settled down to eventually retire the side in that inning and again in the seventh. While he's not exactly a guy you call in for critical eighth-inning situations, it's worth recalling that the homer broke a 15.1-inning scoreless streak. He's been quietly a lot better than Shields this month without having to face the same parts of the lineup Shields normally does, or is expected to. It may surprise you to learn that Bootcheck has inherited more runners (4) than Shields (1) in August — and allowed none of them to score, which is more than Shields can say.
The Angels then pulled their usual merry-go-round style offense on the Yanks in the seventh, getting three consecutive baserunners home on a pair of singles and a Vlad groundout. With Justin Speier, you'd think that lead would be safe, but, well, these are the Yankees, and before you could say "terrace level shot" the ball was in the right field bleachers.
Then the Angels hit into some bad luck in the eighth. With men on second and third following Howie Kendrick's sacrifice bunt, pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis hit a bouncer to first that resulted in Gary Matthews, Jr.'s dead duckdom at the plate, and eventually, extra innings.
Before leaving this game, it's worth noting that Howie Kendrick got on board three times and scored each time, including the game-winning run. Mike Scioscia got ejected for allegedly arguing balls and strikes in Reggie Willits' at-bat — remember him? — though it was more about a lame yeah-he-swung call from 3B umpire Dan Iassogna, whose head, as I recall, is full of bologna. And finally, woot for winning the season series against the Yanks. With a 9-5 M's victory against the Twins earlier in the day, the Angels needed that.
Update: As Bob Timmermann reports, Darren Oliver earned his first decision of the year with the Angels in this game by pitching a scoreless 10th. Oliver had an awful start of the season, but he's putting together an otherworldly second half, with a 1.04 ERA over a modest 17.1 IP, bringing his season ERA below 4.00 for the first time.
Labels: angels, recaps, yankees
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