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

Josh Wilker would approve...?

Labels: dodgers

Wrigley Wrecking Crew: Cubs 19, Brewers 5

The last time the Cubs scored 19 runs or more was against the Dodgers on May 5, 2001, when they pounded Darren Dreifort for a surprisingly manageable four runs through six innings. The thing that put it out of reach in that game was a pair of relievers I now barely remember, the first being Terry Adams, and the second, rookie Jose Antonio Nunez, surrendering seven and nine runs, in Nunez' case, four unearned thanks to an error by shortstop Alex Cora.

Adams came to the Dodgers as a result of the team trying to find a taker for the inconsistent Ismael Valdez, one of Kevin Malone's rudderless decisions; Malone took Valdez back mid-season 2000. In Nunez' case, that game was his last with Los Angeles; he was presently flushed to San Diego, where he ended his major league career the next season. Looking at those 2001 Dodgers, what really pops out at you is just how bad the non-Brown, non-Park parts of the rotation were (including a young Eric Gagne), and how mediocre the bullpen was. Giovanni Carrara sported an ERA+ of only 125, while alleged closer Jeff Shaw clocked in at 110. What a disaster.

Back to today's Cubs ... Jeff Suppan gave up eleven runs, eight earned, while Geovany Soto blasted a pair of homers, one off Suppan and one off reliever Brian Shouse, putting him in the lead for home runs by NL catchers. Perhaps not insignificantly, ex-Angel Derrick Turnbow gave up six runs, all earned, while making only two outs, sending his ERA to a stratospheric 15.63.

The Cubs end the day 17-10, percentage points ahead of the 18-11 Cardinals.

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Dodgers Crush Marlins: Dodgers 13, Marlins 1

The talk in today's DT thread was how with this victory, the Dodgers have a Pythagorean record of 16-11 instead of their actual 14-13. Considering the Dodgers spent more time under .500 than above it, such talk should be relegated to the same place as histories where Hitler won the Second World War and Jefferson Davis chases the overbearing Abraham Lincoln out of Washington.

I do add, though, that BPro's third-order standings puts the Dodgers at no less than a game, maybe two, back of their "actual" record, which is maybe something this one should undoubtedly help. The Dodgers scored against all but one of the six pitchers the Fish sent up to the mound. Rafael Furcal went 5-for-6 and scored three runs, completing the hottest April of his career. Blake DeWitt ripped an RBI single and a bases-loaded triple to pace the team with four RBIs. It's not so much that I think Andy LaRoche won't get his chances, it's that there seems to be the impression that DeWitt is doing so much more with the time he's up here.

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Straight A's For Santana: Angels 6, A's 1

Ervin Santana owned a career 1.38 ERA against Oakland prior to tonight's game, and you can knock that down to 1.25 following a game in which the only run was unearned thanks to Matt Brown's error.

A's starter Dana Eveland felt something pull in the top of the second as he came out to the mound, causing the team to send their trainer and pitching coach to the mound. That same inning, the Angels scored twice against him, and never looked back. Casey Kotchman, now inexplicably batting seventh, showed why he should be higher in the order by going 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs.

A great way to end the month, as the Angels now hold the division lead uncontested at 18-11, the best record in the American League.

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Labels: angels, athletics, cubs, dodgers, marlins, recaps

Just a horrible game for the Mets at home, whose fans must have been booing vociferously. Three errors yielded nine unearned runs, a number that hasn't been tallied since the Angels gave up nine unearned runs against Cleveland on June 3, 2006. (For those who care, here's my recap of that execrable game. At least the Angels clobbered the Tribe the next day.)

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Labels: mets, pirates, recaps, ugly, wow

The Mariners designated OF Brad Wilkerson and pinch hitter Greg Norton for assignment, and have ten days to trade, demote to the minors, or release either. In their stead, the M's are calling up former catching prospect Jeff Clement and outfielder Wladimir Balentien. Clement was previously blocked when Bill Bavasi extended starting catcher Kenji Johjima an additional three years, through 2011. (Also via AP.)

Labels: mariners, transactions

Great tidbit in this SI Jon Heyman piece on Mike Scioscia:

Scioscia also pays extremely close attention to the other team's base runners, too close some will complain. They note that no other manager seems to order as many pickoff throws to first base, throws that appear designed only to tire opposing base runners. He also is known for tracking which late-night lovers among opposing players are prone to the hangover, and he takes advantage of that, too. He is a glutton for information, but great instincts are really his key, according to Angels followers.

Heyman ranks Scioscia the best manager in baseball.

Labels: angels, managers

Thanks to Jon for introducing me to this Wire thread that also contains a fullscreen+ Battlestar Galactica cast done up as the Simpsons. (If you're using Firefox or some other browser that automatically compresses images to fit the window size, make sure you expand it to get it in all its Matt Groening-ish glory.)

Labels: funny, offtopic

Probably the better question because he wasn't available after the first round in the one draft I was actively working this year. The Kamenetzky's are full of late good advice.

Labels: angels, fantasy

At Strat-O-Matic, with his '86 Angels squad the first to clinch a division title. That's great, and congratulations. (Via HH, natch.)

Labels: angels, fantasy

Peter Gammons Shares Some Angels Love

They're flourishing despite early-season adversity:

The Angels have played a month without their two best starting pitchers, John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar. Their closer, Frankie Rodriguez, is just now rounding into form after dealing with two bad ankles. Their best pure hitter, Howie Kendrick, has played only 10 games because of a hamstring pull.

And yet they flew home early Monday, after winning four of six in Boston and Detroit, tied with Oakland for the best record in the American League. "They are," observed Jim Leyland, "really good." "We have a chance at something special," said Mike Scioscia, to which Torii Hunter added, "if our pitching comes together, we can be the best team in our league."

Giants Balk In Winning Run, Bochy Ejected: Rockies 3, Giants 2

A horrible one if you're a Giants fan, as Tim Lincecum balked in the winning run from third despite an apparent attempt by catcher Benjie Molina to call a timeout. Bruce Bochy was ejected for arguing the call.

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Christina Kahrl On The Angels' Late Roster Moves

Her piece is a pretty long one, so I'll cut to the chase:

Taken collectively, these moves are transitional, and reflect who is getting Mike Scioscia's complete confidence, for better or for worse. It isn't Morales, because like the already-banished Reggie Willits, he's blocked by the terrible tandem of elective commitments. First, there's the decision to give Garret Anderson the extended version viking funeral package that probably only puts Angels fans on slow burn, as the all-time great Angel sees his production flag. By itself, that might be affordable, maybe even something of a karmic giveback for all of the hastily severed relationships during the Mike Port years in the '80s; you didn't have to be an Angels fan to wonder why they treated Doug DeCinces or Rod Carew pretty shabbily at the end. The problem is that the roster's also cluttered with a white elephant that isn't one of Connie's pennant-winning Mackmen from days of yore, it's Little Sarge, cashing checks—and no need for him to apologize for that—and consuming equally valuable roster space and playing time.

... [If] it was my choice, I'd keep thinking about Brandon Wood as a shortstop. But as exciting as Aybar is, the Angels really shouldn't invest too much time in wishcasting that he's something more than the new Pat Listach or Eric Yelding—he's not a good enough shortstop to merit an Alfredo Griffin comparison, at least not yet, and perhaps not ever. That's nevertheless a player who has his uses, but it's not somebody who's part of a complete everyday lineup, especially not in a lineup which is punting offensive contributions from key spots like left field and DH. As Sidney J. Mussburger put it, “so, the kid caught a wave.” You want me to believe that Aybar's going to hit .329 for the year? “Yeah yeah, sure sure.”

Labels: angels, giants, recaps, rockies, transactions

A bunch of doings around the divisions:

• I missed this over the weekend, but it's worth mentioning: the Rangers are already thinking about firing Ron Washington. Sure, why not?
• Hank Blalock went on the DL with a torn left hamstring; the Rangers will call up OF Brandon Boggs to replace the infielder on the 25-man.
• The Rangers DFA'd Jason Botts.
• Texas starter Jason Jennings left the game early with an irritated elbow; the Royals eventually won that game 9-5.
• Troy Tulowitzki left a game early today with a strained left quad.
• The Rockies will option struggling starter Franklin Morales to AAA Colorado Springs so he can work out his problems in the minors.

Labels: injuries, rangers, rockies

News

• Dustin Moseley has been demoted to the bullpen, and a minor league pitcher, either Nick Green or Nick Adenhart, will be called up to take his rotation spot from AAA Salt Lake. Adenhart is 4-0 in five starts this year with a 0.87 ERA; Green is 2-0 with a 3.41 ERA, and would be pitching on his regular start day Thursday.
• John Lackey's rehab start got briefly put on hold thanks to a bank of lights that failed. He completed the simulated game with some lights out, throwing 34 pitches in the game, and 26 more in a simulated game.
• The Angels recalled INF Matt Brown and demoted Bobby Wilson to AAA.
• Jonathan Broxton only has a strain and is day-to-day; no callup required.
• Andy LaRoche was promoted to AAA Las Vegas and made his first appearance of the year there. (But see below...)

Scores

Labels: minors

Procrastinators, And A Low Lowe: Dodgers 7, Marlins 6

I suppose I underestimated the Marlins this year, but then, so did everybody. Derek Lowe gave up plenty of line drive base hits, which tells me he wasn't working properly, something that became bluntly obvious in the three-run fifth. Only three of Lowe's runs were earned thanks to errors by James Loney and Matt Kemp in the fifth. The game-winner came against putative closer Kevin Gregg, who took the loss when he allowed a two-out RBI single to Jeff Kent. It's a win, but an ugly one. It's also their fourth straight victory, one that brings the Dodgers to .500 for the first time since April 8.

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How This Script Is Supposed To Go: Angels 2, Oakland 0

Frankie was scary as hell, but Joe Saunders mostly wasn't, pitching a four-hit shutout through eight frames. Outside Santana, he's arguably the Angels' best pitcher at the moment, and though I don't have a lot of confidence I'll be expressing similar sentiments in September, he's still damned good.

The only Halo offense happened in the third, when Brandon Wood — I hope you're sitting down — drew a one-out walk and Chone Figgins doubled him to third. A wild pitch and a Gary Matthews, Jr. groundout cashed both in, and that was that.

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Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, marlins, recaps

One of the most incredible things I've read at Baseball Prospectus — and one of the silliest:

Another problem with evaluating O’Malley’s legacy is that many revisionists, consciously or unconsciously, make a big deal out of the Dodgers’ Brooklyn attendance, then and now. Disparage the Dodgers’ support in the 1950s as a way of rationalizing O’Malley’s gambit, they write phrases like “the Dodgers barely drew a million fans” in Brooklyn in the 1950s, as if that were some kind of crime. The fact is that both major leagues in the 1950s were in deep trouble, with overall attendance declining for a multitude of reasons. It is neither fair nor instructive to compare today’s attendance, when the US population is double what it was in 1950, with five decades ago unless one also puts those numbers in context. Furthermore, the Los Angeles market of the twenty-first century is more than four times the size of Brooklyn’s market in 1950.

The myth of weak attendance in Brooklyn undergirds the popular understanding of O’Malley’s inspiration to go west. Despite the misconceptions that have obscured the facts since the move, the Dodgers had drawn better than the NL average (excluding Brooklyn) in every season from 1938 through 1956. Only in 1957, the Dodgers’ last year in Brooklyn—and a season throughout which rumors swirled that the team was headed west—did O'Malley's team fall a few thousand fans short of the league mean in attendance.

Well, who gives a tinker's damn what the league was doing? If you see an opportunity to make better coin, you take it. O'Malley père made his fortune in the 1930's, as a bankruptcy attorney; undoubtedly, he saw firsthand the results of "everybody was doing it" herd mentality. Gillette's point amounts to Olympic-grade gnat-straining; if all your friends were dead set on squandering their fortunes, would that make it a good idea for you to do it, too?

Labels: dodgers, history

What would you do?

Labels: funny, giants

News

• Here's Monday's Angels and Dodgers system wrap links.
• Shane Loux took a loss for the Bees, ending a 13-game winning streak for Salt Lake. Loux was recently the subject of a Salt Lake Tribune story; briefly out of baseball as a high school coach, the Angels gave him another chance, and so far he's done well despite the loss. (H/t Stephen Smith.)
• No Angel or Dodger was mentioned as an Offensive Player of the Week, nor for Pitcher of the Week.
• Here's the weekly league wrapup post.
• Bobby Wilson and Casey Kotchman were high school teammates in Florida, and now both are reunited in Anaheim. Wilson made his major league debut last night, and got a hit in his first and only at-bat.
• With the shifts to Anaheim of Bobby Wilson and Brandon Wood, the Bees had a chain reaction of transactions that included adding catcher Alberto Rosario from Rancho and demoting Milan Dinga to Cedar Rapids. In turn, the Kernels promoted RHP Sammy Leon to Rancho.

Scores

Labels: minors

Not literally, of course, but in two ways, Jon Garland does resemble the Gumpian box:

1. "You never know what you're gonna get."
2. In that he resembles something, soft, squishy, and brown, though in this case wholly inedible.

It's hard to put my head around just how awful Garland was in this one. Garland gave up a freak triple in the first to Frank Thomas, f'r chrissakes, a man who owns a career eleven, and hadn't hit one in six years. At the end of the day, Thomas was a measely home run away from the cycle. Garland gave up bloops (Thomas' triple), bleeders, and blasts (homers to Daric Barton and Jack Hannahan). Hard-hit balls to guys like Thomas are forgivable; multiple home runs to guys with sub-.500 slugging averages in the hitter-friendly PCL are not.

So it went with Garland. Those of us in the stands were encouraged by the early traction the offense got against Chad Gaudin, a pitcher they've typically teed off on before. The Halos recovered the first run in the second inning on a Torii Hunter single and a two base error during Robb Quinlan's at-bat, when Gaudin threw away a pickoff toss and Q knocked Hunter in with an RBI single. But that was, really, it for Angels-style baseball, because no other Angel batter got past second, save for Mike Napoli and his majestic blast that glided over the centerfield wall.

The rest, of course, was so much forgettable dross, with the A's posting an ungodly eight runs in the seventh, as Garland struggled to make outs, or count his fingers, or whatever it is he was doing out there on the mound. Maybe it involved swatting away the innumerable bugs that plagued us all night long. Even in our vantage from the cheap seats in 524, hundreds of these tiny bugs lit all over us (I was wearing shorts so it was even more noticeable) all night long. I slapped at my exposed skin constantly throughout the night, the bugs not biting but providing a constant nuisance — much like the Angels' pitching in this game. I can only imagine how much worse both must have been at field level.

Regardless of the awfulness of the insects, after Garland faced Thomas to lead off the seventh and surrendered a double in the gap, that called out Chris Bootcheck. Bootcheck, we learned from the radio broadcast, was among those touched by the same flu that knocked out Jeff Mathis, a leftover from the Boston trip. (This ailment prompted some roster moves that sent Jose Arredondo and Rich Thompson down to Salt Lake, and recalled catcher Bobby Wilson and SS/3B Brandon Wood.) If he was infected, it showed up in his pitching right away, as he gave up a two-run jack to Emil Brown, and didn't retire a batter until he got Mark Ellis to strike out looking, six batters later. Bootcheck left the game with a tail-between-legs ERA of 37.80 according to the Yahoo box score, the scoreboard reckoning it as 43.20. In the end, the last out of the inning was recorded by Darren O'Day, who didn't face another batter lest the inflamed ERA disease infect him, too.

All the buggery going on in the background meant that Robb Quinlan got a rare start, and he actually didn't do too badly offensively considering the barnacles growing on his bat, but he might have had a hand in extending the obscene seventh inning by failing to make a good throw on Denorfia's infield bouncer. Erick Aybar also uncorked a bad throw in the third on Ellis's infield hit, pulling Casey Kotchman off the bag; Kotch, at least, recovered to get the ball rather than letting it fly into the stands.

This kind of mayhem is pretty damned unusual. In fact, the A's have not beaten the Angels by 12 or more runs since an 18-2 shellacking at Anaheim Stadium on June 27, 1996 that included a very functional Jason Giambi, pre-Cardinals Mark McGwire, Scott Brosius before the Yankees polluted him, and seven home runs (two by Brosius). The last time the Angels were blown out at home in April by any team by 12 or more runs was on April 27, 1994, in which the Orioles whipped the Angels 13-1; the only Anderson in the game was Brady, and he wore a Baltimore uniform.

All of this is to say, these are pretty inauspicious signs, but it's not like the Angels are without depth. If Garland continues to be this awful (and he's been pretty much Jeff Weaver, 2008, albeit with more good outings than the Angels got from Jeff), Nick Adenhart beckons, incomplete as he might be.

Bobby Wilson made his major league debut and got a hit in his first at bat, in the ninth against reliever Dallas Braden. Go him.

I also note, with some sadness but also recognizing the thing's inevitability, a few scattered boos when Garret Anderson struck out to lead off the ninth. Patience is running thin.

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Labels: angels, athletics, blecch, recaps

Interesting interview with Mike Scioscia (behind the pay wall at BPro); one of the subjects that came up was hitting or not hitting for Garret Anderson in one of the recent games (and don't ask me which one):

DL: A line of thought exists that there is no such thing as a clutch hitter, that “clutch” can’t be quantified. What are your thoughts on that?

MS: It depends on what you call clutch, but there are certain guys--not that they elevate their game, but they understand the situation and don’t get taken out of it. Some guys go into a key situation and will start to expand their zone because they get too overaggressive. Some guys understand what a pitcher is doing no matter what the situation is; they make a pitcher get a pitch into a zone they’re looking for, so they’re able to put it into play hard. So I think that there are guys who perform better in some situations. If you want to call that clutch, fine. But I think there are guys who are able to maintain their level of performance in, quote unquote, pressure situations.

Labels: angels, managers

Talking about reality checks, rain or otherwise, gives Joe Sheehan pause to discuss Casey Kotchman:

Kotchman lost so much development time to injuries and illness that he fell below and then off the radar while advancing ever so slowly through the Angels’ system. He’s 25 now, but with the reps of a 23-year-old. Last year, finally healthy and finally permitted to play, Kotchman showed a glimpse of what he could do, with 37 doubles in 443 AB and more walks (53) than strikeouts (43). This year, he’s turned up the contact rate and power, striking out just five times in 89 at-bats, and posting an isolated power of .247. He’s in the top five in the AL in EqA and RARP, and he pairs that offense with an above-average glove. The power he’s shown so far is a little out of his range, the product of a fluky split in his homers and doubles totals, but the batting average and OBP aren’t. Look for Kotchman to hit .320/.410/.500 this season and continue being the Angels’ best player.

"A little out of his range"? Good lord, his number one comp through age 24 is David Ortiz. Not saying that that's the path he's headed down (God help the A's if it is, though), but plate patience of the sort he's displayed in the minors is just extremely rare.

Also, re the Mariners (all emphasis mine):

The AL version of the Diamondbacks a year ago, the Mariners didn’t come into 2008 with the kind of offensive upside the Snakes have, which is the biggest difference between the two teams. The M's have a .254 EqA and 117 runs scored, about a run a game less than what the D’backs are doing (note: the teams’ home parks make for disparate run environments). The age of the team’s position players makes it hard to project a big bounce—players such as Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima will move towards their career averages, but there’s no upside in the lineup at all. This is a below-average offense.

The bullpen isn’t reprising its 2007 work, which was to be expected. Set aside J.J. Putz’s injury; Mariners relievers' run prevention last year was disproportionate to their underlying performances. They could pitch exactly as well as they did last year — and they haven’t — and still allow more runs. Adding Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva made the rotation better, but all that did was cover the ground the pen would be giving back. This was a .500 team last year, looked like a .500 team over the winter and into the spring, and is a .500 team now. Their 12-14 record is real, and they’re not going to be the division contender so many people expected them to be.

Labels: angels, mariners

News

Today's Angels and Dodgers minor league roundup posts.

Scores

Labels: minors

Jered Weaver, who has been on and off my list of irritating players all year for his inconsistency, had an excellent game against a tough offense that only a few days ago scored 37 runs in three games against the Rangers. Too, he may have been thinking about his brother's stint with the Tigers, years in which he was once, briefly, thought of as the top-of-the-staff pitcher who would help lead Detroit back to glory.

The man he outdueled — starter Justin Verlander — had his full-bore, high-90's velocity, but the Angels figured him out by the fourth, putting up single runs in that frame and the next, but really laying it on with a four-run sixth. Weaver carried a shutout through six but left a pair of baserunners to Justin Speier, and he promptly allowed both to score, but that was all the damage the Tigers would get. It's a great series win from a team predicted by many to be still standing when the postseason rolls around.

Maybe the most momentous thing to come from this series, though, is Casey Kotchman working in the cleanup spot for the second time this year, a spot previously held down by Garret Anderson. There has been speculation that GA doesn't deserve (and won't) hit in this position in the future now that the job's been given to Casey, but I wonder whether Mike will take that approach. Not that I necessarily think that GA is done or any such thing, but the question is clearly being raised in management's eyes, enough to fire a significant warning shot.

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Labels: angels, recaps, tigers

I really don't have anything intelligible to add to this game except that it will be yet another in the "release Pierre" and "fire Ned Colletti" column, as Juan Pierre's contribution to this game was strictly negative offensively, flying out and hitting into an inning-ending double play with the go-ahead run on first base in the bottom of the ninth.

It turned out that James Loney's bases-loaded RBI single in the bottom of the tenth won it. Loney himself was a story of endless wrestling to get his job, unnecessary then as the Ethier-Jones-Kemp starting competition was this spring. Bill Shaikin, whose column today seemed oddly prescient in light of today's win and the manner in which it was achieved, touched on that subject if elliptically:

The Diamondbacks planted their kids in the lineup and let them grow, and the Rockies did likewise.

That is called rebuilding, and the Dodgers do not play that game. They don't think you'd like it.

"We don't sit back and tell our fans to wait for a year or two," owner Frank McCourt said. "We want to win now."

Which is why a demonstrably better hitter sat behind Pierre for how long?

Not that I shouldn't let Esteban Loiaza's good outing go unnoticed, but it's almost certain he can't keep this up.

One last thing: a series sweep, so yay.

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Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

From Jay Jaffe's chat last week:

rawagman (Work, TO): What are the odds that it turns out that Frank Thomas is really cooked, and JP is given a bit of credit for rectifying an error of yesteryear, as opposed to pulling a Colleti and making damn-well sure that last year's mistake remains on this year's books AND in this year's starting lineup? In a related question, what are the odds that I am just a mildly delusional, less mildly paranoic, Canadian Jays hoper?

Labels: dodgers

News

• The Rockies DFA'd Jayson Nix after hitting .111 since the start of the season; to replace him, they purchased the contract of Jose Capellan from AAA Colorado Springs.
• I hadn't noticed this until yesterday, but MILB.com has started doing daily system reports (Angels, Dodgers) with brief two-or-three-sentence recaps of the action in each league on a parent club basis. It doesn't bring quite what I would want in a summary (i.e., I'm also interested in focusing in on what the top prospects are doing), but it's pretty close. I may provide links to these on a daily basis in the future.

Scores

Labels: minors

Trivia: Angels And Dodgers On The Road Simultaneously

It occurred to me that on April 22, both the Dodgers and Angels were on the road simultaneously. That made me wonder when the maximum number of times both teams were so scheduled (usually MLB tries to make it so that one team is home if the other is away); the answer is 13, in 1984. Home-home schedules are slightly rarer, with the record being 11 games in 1997 and 2003.

Vlad Hits 2,000, But O'Day Takes His First Loss: Tigers 6, Angels 4

A nice comeback against Armando Galarraga, a pitcher the Angels had previously moiderized when he was a Ranger (and just last year, even), but history was being persnickety and refused to repeat itself. Vlad got his milestone 2,000th hit, but it was an empty personal achievement as Torii Hunter, two batters back of him in the lineup, bounced into a double play.

Dustin Moseley turned in what was without doubt his best job of the season, especially considering considering the overall scariness of the Tigers' lineup. Darren O'Day, the game's eventual loser, got his first real taste of what postseason-contending teams can do to groundball specialists once they encounter bats that can neutralize those pitches all the way to the wall. Finally, Rich Thompson made his first appearance since returning from Salt Lake, and acquitted himself quite ably, retiring the side in order in the eighth.

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Ten Runs In The First: Dodgers 11, Rockies 3

Back to fighting it out for last place in the division for the Rocks, who looked hapless in this game as they ever have. By the time I tuned in — oh, what, the top of the fourth, maybe, just as home plate umpire Kerwin Danley got flattened by a Brad Penny fastball that Russell Martin was unable to glove — things had gotten well out of hand, the Dodgers had batted around in the bottom of the first, and then some. Matt Kemp delivered the frame's only one-out RBI, and that on a sac fly. Redman gave up a bases loaded walk to Andruw Jones, and eventually a grand slam to Kemp, giving him five RBIs in one frame. It didn't quite set the franchise single-inning RBI mark: Jeff Kent did that on May 6, 2005 against the Reds, and coincidentally with Penny on the mound. Also coincidentally, the Dodgers scored ten runs in the first inning of that game, too.

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Labels: angels, dodgers, history, recaps, rockies, tigers

What an embarrassing grind of a game: three caught stealings for the Dodgers alone, but that didn't begin to show you the awfulness of this one. It was four hours and 38 minutes of ongoing mayhem and sloppy play in every dimension. Hiroki Kuroda picked Todd Helton off second in one of the most egregious baserunning blunders I've ever seen; Helton represented a very significant run, as the Rocks were then two back of the Dodgers, and since Colorado went on to tie the game in the ninth (off Saito's second blown save of the year — Broxton may get calls in the ninth earlier than we had hoped for), that could have been the winning run right there and spared us all four frames of additional agony. Ubaldo Jimenez gave up consecutive wild pitches in the third for a run. There's something deeply fitting that the game only had one error, Clint Barmes' misplay of Matt Kemp's grounder that allowed the latter to reach and eventually for the Dodgers to win the game.

Blech.

Yahoo Box • Recap

Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

News

• I tend to look at John Sickels' site on a weekly rather than daily basis, time being what it is, but I wanted to post a couple Prospect Profile links here. First, James McDonald, and Sean Rodriguez, neither of which I think will surprise you.
• Despite Rotoworld's much-quoted speculation last night, the Dodgers have not disabled Nomar Garciaparra, and instead have opted to make Delwyn Young take grounders at third. The team is also interested in INF Juan Castro, DFA'd by the Reds earlier in the week (not released as the Times article incorrectly states).

  Update: MLB.com has a conflicting story saying the Dodgers will recall DeWitt, and that Nomar will be disabled. How weird is it that Ned likes to build up so much depth in the outfield, but he doesn't even have a single player who can fill out at third if need be.

• Mike Myers asked for and was granted his release Friday.
• Chris Bootcheck is day-to-day with flu-like symptoms, so the Angels recalled Jose Arredondo and Rich Thompson, optioning Kendry Morales and Sean Rodriguez back down to AAA Salt Lake.

Scores

Labels: minors

Nationals reserve catcher and ex-Angel farmhand Wil Nieves blasted a Bob Howry offering over the right-field fence, for not only his first major league career home run, but his first walkoff homer. Nieves is having a nice little season for himself, hitting .333/.429/.333 in 21 plate appearances.

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Labels: cubs, ex-angels, nationals, recaps

One of the curiosities of WPA is that it kind of inverts the save rule in the sense that a reliever can get himself into a jam and then get credit for getting himself out. An example came in today's game when Justin Speier walked Placido Polanco with two out to bring Gary Sheffield to the plate. That event added .060 WPA, but Sheffield's fly out was a -.155. He eventually got out of the jam he got himself into in the seventh, but according to Fangraphs, Speier was the biggest contributor to this game.

But I would say that it was really Ervin Santana getting it done on the road that constituted the real meat of winning this game. He wasn't perfect, and he wobbled a lot, especially late (as in the sixth when he walked the bases loaded), but got out of his self-created messes and pitched well when he needed to.

Vlad's two-run shot on an inside pitch was breathtaking, but a word needs to be put in now for Casey Kotchman and his left-handed swing against lefty Nate Robertson. Before this game, Kotchman was already hitting better against lefties (.284) than righties (.270), and he's doing even better this year (.417/.500/.833 vs. lefties, .303/.370/.561 vs. RHP). On top of all that, Kotchman made two lineouts to save both Justin Speier and Frankie. All that means Robb Quinlan's days on the team are increasingly numbered, and the first time the team needs an extra pitcher, you can imagine he might get traded or dumped.

And I don't want to leave this writeup without first mentioning the terrific 1-2-3 outing by Frankie.

What a great game, and for both clubs.

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