6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: The Unhinging Bunt Single: Indians 6, Angels 2

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Sunday, September 09, 2007

The Unhinging Bunt Single: Indians 6, Angels 2

One lousy bunt single. That's all it took to get Jered Weaver off track and deliver the game to Cleveland, gift-wrapped and tidy. Weaver then gave up an infield single to Asdrubal Cabrera that scored a run, struck out Travis Hafner — and then went three more batters before making another out, giving up a huge three-run jack to Ryan Garko that decided the game then and there. Weaver cruised through the lineup the first time but just got unhinged after that bunt single, and the whole thing came tumbling down.

The lineup Mike Scioscia wasn't one you had high hopes for; for one thing, he was pulling another of his "let's see what we've got here" moves with Juan Rivera and Mike Napoli. Napoli made his second appearance since July 27, and Rivera made his fourth appearance of the season. I honestly don't think we can expect much of either of them, but again, this is the sort of luxury you have when you've got a ~~nine~~ eight-game division lead. Napoli is more of a necessity than Rivera, since Mathis has been catching seemingly endlessly, having been spelled by Ryan Budde exactly five times from August 1 through the present, not including late-inning replacement stints. I'm not trying to bag on Napoli here; he was, after all, the only Angel with an RBI in tonight's game. Nevertheless, it's looking increasingly like Napoli will be second fiddle to Mathis, barring a sudden hot streak.

Similarly, Reggie Willits continued to exasperate at the plate, failing to get the ball out of the infield and striking out looking to lead off the fifth. That's just not good, seeing how the Angels were facing a lefty of dubious quality and his logical platoonmate, Gary Matthews, Jr., can't hit lefties at all.

The limited good news at the plate was Casey Kotchman's 3-for-4 night, two of those against Tribe lefty starter Aaron Laffey, and the author of the Angels' only extra-base hit. Also, Robb Quinlan had a hit and a walk against Laffey before being pulled for pinch-hitter Chone Figgins in the sixth. Figgins singled, but like so many other Angels, found himself stranded. Maicer Izturis had a similarly futile 2-for-4 evening.

The Angels struck out seven times, and only one of those was swinging, Napoli's first out of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Erick Aybar was one of those victims in the 8th, doing exactly nothing to elevate him in my esteem. Scioscia has his pets, and he went through a long stretch of Aybar-love earlier in the season, which worries me some to see him in the lineup once more. At least he wasn't starting.

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