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

Top 1st: Vlad pops out after a one-out walk to Cabrera, but the Angels get men on the corner on a GA single down the right field line. Maicer Izturis strikes out swinging, but the good news is the Angels have seen a lot of pitches off Daisuke Matsuzaka, 31 after only one frame. No score.

Bottom 1st: Dan Iassogna is calling a tight strike zone, and Escobar is accordingly throwing a lot of pitches. Mike Lowell draws a two out walk after Figgins, making an unusual start in center (his first of the year), makes a nice play on a Manny Ramirez lineout. J.D. Drew then comes in to get an RBI single with the bases juiced. 2-0 Red Sox, and if the Angels want to have any part of the next round, Escobar needs to settle down right now.

Jason Varitek lines out to second to end the frame.

Top 2nd: The Angels continue to work Matsuzaka, as Casey Kotchman goes 0-2 and works his way back to a leadoff walk. Kendry Morales smashes a grounder off Dustin Pedroia's arm; Pedroia rolls over hard on his shoulder and grabs it, wailing, but stays in the game, while Kotchman ambles to third. Howie Kendrick goes down swinging on three pitches, probably the worst at-bat the Angels have had so far.

Dice-K is wild outside to Jeff Mathis on a couple of pitches, and on a 2-1 count, Kendry Morales tries to take second base, but Mathis fouls one off to send him back. Mathis then taps one to third with Kendry running to force a run on the groundout. 2-1 Angels.

Figgins goes to a 2-1 count as the manual Fenway scoreboard announces a Yankees loss to the crowd's delight. He slaps the next pitch into left, and Manny misplays it; Figgins gets an easy double, cashing in Kendry. OCab belts the next pitch into the gap against that same Green Monster scoreboard to make it 3-2 Angels with two out; Vlad then taps out to second to end the frame, but Dice-K has now thrown 59 pitches.

Top 3rd: Anderson gets a leadoff pop double down the right field line, but makes a boneheaded baserunning mistake on a ball hit to short, trying to advance to third; he's easily gunned down, and Kotchman faces Dice-K with Izturis on first and one out. Izzy runs on a 1-2 count pitch that missed, easily taking second, and Kotchman taps out to short while Izzy advances to third. Kendry flies out first pitch swinging, caught at the front of the warning track. Still 3-2 Angels.

Top 4th: The Angels get their third straight leadoff man on as Kendrick digs himself out of an 0-2 hole to get a single. But the Angels fail to get him home despite a Figgins groundout that advances him Kendrick to second. Matsuzaka's thrown 79 pitches so far, but this 10-pitch inning helps him breathe a bit. 3-2 Angels.

Bottom 4th: After getting the first two batters out easily, Coco Crisp reaches on a bunt single, and then steals second despite a pitchout; Mathis bobbled the ball, and the throw ended up reaching second late. Escobar gets out of the jam by striking out Crisp to end the frame. Escobar's at 74 pitches after four frames — a little high, but considering the opposition, a fine effort.

Top 5th: Dice-K quickly retires the first two batters, but Izturis reaches when Pedroia can't quite hold on to his liner, and Dice-K fails to cover first. Izturis steals second on a 2-2 pitch that misses, and while the throw gets away from Lugo, it's backed up by Crisp in center. Dice-K not only walks Kotch, but a wild pitch easily gets Izzy to third. That's all for Matsuzaka, and Javier Lopez comes out of the bullpen to force Kendry Morales to turn around. Kendry taps out to short to end the frame, ending the threat. 3-2 Angels.

Bottom 5th: Escobar gives up a leadoff double, an intentional walk to David Ortiz, and walks Manny to load the bases; Mathis narrowly misses catching one of Manny's foul balls in the seats, and for the moment, Boston has a new, young hero.

Lowell then gets a one-out sac fly to dead center to tie the game. It's Escobar's turn to be wild after getting to 1-2 on J.D. Drew, turning it into a full count; Drew fouls off a mess of pitches, but finally succumbs after 10 pitches, bouncing out to Kotchman. Escobar's thrown 101 pitches, and with Scot Shields (career 17.67 ERA at Fenway) warming up, it's unlikely he'll be in for the sixth. 3-3 tie.

Bottom 6th: After striking out Varitek, Scot Shields walks Coco Crisp. Lugo pops to center, but Crisp forgot to retouch second on the way back to first and is easily doubled off to end the frame.

Top 7th: Cabrera flies out on a chip shot to center, but then Vlad gets drilled in the shoulder by an 0-1 count fastball off Manny Delcarmen. That prompts yet another pitching change, with Hideki Okajima ascending the mound. Vlad's sitting at first, looking steamed and stretching his left shoulder.

Bottom 7th: After getting Pedroia and Youkilis out in order, Shields loses his control and starts throwing head-high to both Ortiz and Manny, losing both after going 0-2 in both at-bats. They're two of eight walks surrendered by Angels pitching in the game. Shields gets to 0-2 on Lowell but works the count to 3-2 on three straight pitches way outside, yet Shields ultimately wins by getting Lowell to fly out to center.

Top 8th: Kendry works a nice one-out 3-2 count but ultimately fans on a straight change out of the zone. That's it for Okajima, as Francona calls up Papelbon to finish the game's last four outs.

Howie smashes the first pitch he sees right at third, but Lowell's throw goes wide of the mark, skipping of the end of Youkilis' glove. That leaves Mathis to contend with Papelbon, and Kendrick steals second easily. With the at-bat at 1-1, the Angels call in Juan Rivera to pinch hit. (Can they do that?) Rivera immediately hacks at the 1-1 pitch inside to put him into a 1-2 hole; on ball two, Howie steals third. Papelbon throws one inside and one outside, and Rivera walks.

Scioscia calls in Willits to pinch run; Willits steals second, but Figgins strikes out looking on an arguably outside pitch to end the frame.

Bottom 8th: Mike pulls Mathis and Vlad, replacing them with Napoli and Willits (who plays center). It smells suspiciously like waving the white flag. Speier replaces Shields, and retires the side in order.

Top 9th: Nope... it turns out it's directly related to Vlad's hit-by-pitch earlier in the game. Anderson gets a two-out walk off Papelbon after Vlad's lineup replacement, Napoli, pops up; first-pitch-swinging Izturis also pops up, this time to end the frame.

Bottom 9th: Justin Speier gives up a leadoff single to Lugo, and Pedroia sends Lugo to second on a grounout. K-Rod comes in to strike out Youkilis, living up to his nickname... and K-Rod gives up a bomb to Manny. 6-3 Red Sox.

By the way, Rev... am I still a McMoron? Sheesh.

1. Get some players who can hit the ball hard. The Angels' lack of home run power is appalling, and their number one weakness.
2. The bullpen is unraveling fast. Frankie gave up his patented Inappropriate Big Fly. He'll go for long stretches without blowing up, but this postseason explosion ranks as a perfect example of why he had a 3.00+ ERA much of he season. This is probably the hardest problem to fix.

Labels: angels, postseason, recaps, red sox

// posted by Rob @ 5:57 PM link  //  14 comments