Monday, August 06, 2007 |
Ztuperman! Angels 4, Red Sox 2
Home plate umpire James Hoye's ball and strike calls sounded inconsistent from the radio call, and after I got home to watch the 8th and 9th innings, I saw it was so for myself. This did not help Jered Weaver, who lasted only six innings, but it wasn't much help for Curt Schilling, either. Coming off a rehab stint last week, the Red Sox starter only threw 83 pitches but would liked to have a couple of those back, particularly one to Maicer Izturis, whose improbable right-field homer turned out to be the game-winner. Jeff Mathis then proceeded to break a little hitting slump and dropped a double down the left-field line, and after advancing to third on Reggie Willits' sac bunt, Chone Figgins cashed him in on a briefly controversial liner caught, briefly bobbled, and recovered by Brandon Moss, playing in his maiden major league game.
Confusion over the time of the catch and Mathis' actual start for home brought out manager Terry Francona, whose arguments fell on deaf ears; given the near-bobble, there was little wonder the umpires ruled as they did.
As I said earlier, ball and strike calls were all over the place all night long, a fact that played a crucial role in the game when Manny Ramirez got himself ejected in the fourth for arguing the zone. That turned out to be critical to the game, as Francisco Rodriguez had more trouble with the ninth. Moss's came up in what would have been Ramirez's spot with two out and men on first and second, the man on first being David Ortiz, whom Frankie had just walked. Frankie got Moss on a fastball to end the game, and whew.
The Angels thus regain their four-game lead over Seattle, idle today, while the Sox lost a game to the resurgent Yankees, who beat Toronto 5-4. The Sox are now six games over the Yanks, their smallest lead since May 11. At U.S.S. Mariner, they're reckoning the division is the easiest and only way to the playoffs:
The Angels might be as good as Detroit/Cleveland, but there’s only one of them. The M’s get seven games against the Angels, and if they go in with a 3.5 game gap in the standings… that’s where the opportunity is.No beatings yet. Stay tuned.This is why you can look at the postseason odds right now and see the M’s playoff chances through the division title are about four times better than the wild card. Many things have to break right for the M’s to see their wild card competition fall away, but the Angels… well, it pains me to say this after this week’s games, but I hope Boston hands them an even more embarrassing beating than we had to endure.
Labels: angels, mariners, recaps, red sox
I kid, I kid the prognosticators.
I've seen that before. Invariably, someone argues balls & strikes & gets tossed. The players try to intimidate them, and in turn the umps try to establish their authority. But usually, it's pretty obvious that they're minor league umps, and it sounds like tonight was no exception.
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