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Thursday, April 03, 2008 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's edition is brought to you courtesy of UTF-8 encoding conversion being over(ish)... whew!
Closer And Closer: Angels 5, Twins 4
You certainly have to wonder how many games Lyle Spencer watches when he un-self-consciously writesHoward Kendrick jump-started the offense when he slashed an opposite-field double to open the third against Kevin Slowey, scoring on Maicer Izturis' single through the middle.Howard? Anyway, it wasn't the best-pitched game the Angels ever did see, but the good-to-great news is a victory for Ervin Santana on the road against a team not named Oakland. The offense pasted three dingers and put up five runs, most of the damage coming against Twins starter Kevin Slowey, who had a 7.20 ERA in one game previously against the Angels.
The thing that I really noticed, of course, was Frankie's rocky ninth, one he survived thanks to having a Michael Cuddyer to pitch to after Justin Morneau, whom he neutralized with an intentional walk. I've been thinking about closers ever since I read Seattle had to disable J.J. Putz with a ribcage strain, and before that when Eric Gagne and Kerry Wood both gave up three-run ninth innings at Wrigley. A great closer is a wonderful thing to have around, but they tend to be transient, too. Much as I advocate for long-terming Frankie, I do this recognizing that there are risks associated with such a move, too.
And yet, he was the biggest contributor to today's win. Replace that.
Motown Swept: Royals 4, Tigers 1
I picked up Brian Bannister last year as a late-season flyer, and boy did he ever deliver. Yesterday, he pitched a 4-0 shutout of a very mighty Tigers lineup that he apparently pwns. The big shocker was finding them starting the season 3-0 after sweeping the Tigers on the road on eight hits, six of them off starter Zach Greinke. They're 3-0 for the first time since 2003 when they started the season winning nine straight.Roster Notes
- The M's purchased the contract of RHP Roy Corcoran from AAA Tacoma to fill J.J. Putz's spot on the 25-man while the latter is out, a stay that is expected to be indefinite.
- Twins starter Kevin Slowey left in the fourth inning of today's Angels game with a strained biceps.
- Miguel Cabrera was pulled from the Tigers' lineup with a quadriceps pull.
- In addition, the Tigers lineup took another hit when Gary Sheffield tore a finger tendon on the basepaths. Detroit is also missing Curtis Granderson (broken hand), and relievers Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney (shoulder injuries). The AL Central is looking more and more like Cleveland's to lose, depending on how quickly Detroit gets healthy.
Labels: angels, injuries, mariners, recaps, tigers, twins
Comments:
For what it's worth, I've heard Scioscia refer to Kendrick as "Howard" (maybe he was just thinking about big screen televisions), and I have a feeling that he (Kendrick) actually goes by Howard. This is not the first time that Spencer (and maybe others) have identified him as Howard in articles found on angelsbaseball.
Here's a link to a season preview that includes a Scioscia quote.
http://www.thewestcoastbias.net/2008/03/2008-angels-preview-second-base.html
Here's a link to a season preview that includes a Scioscia quote.
http://www.thewestcoastbias.net/2008/03/2008-angels-preview-second-base.html
Anyway, it wasn't the best-pitched game the Angels ever did see...
Of course there's bit of death by overstatement in that conditional, Rob. I don't know if you are radio-endowed yet (this Linux user is suffering too, though I brought along an IBM thinkpad beater to work to compensate), but Ervin's performance today was actually good-to-great. He one-hit the Twins through five, and only stumbled when Figgins got overly-aggressive on a bunt attempt in the sixth.
Let's also recall that Ervin killed two ravens today: Not only did he have a 7.11 road ERA entering today's game, he had a 5.81 ERA in day games. (Plus, an 8.27 ERA on turf, but only six games in the sample.) So, one-hitting the Twins through five in the day in the Dome is really something to trumpet, not undersell.
Of course there's bit of death by overstatement in that conditional, Rob. I don't know if you are radio-endowed yet (this Linux user is suffering too, though I brought along an IBM thinkpad beater to work to compensate), but Ervin's performance today was actually good-to-great. He one-hit the Twins through five, and only stumbled when Figgins got overly-aggressive on a bunt attempt in the sixth.
Let's also recall that Ervin killed two ravens today: Not only did he have a 7.11 road ERA entering today's game, he had a 5.81 ERA in day games. (Plus, an 8.27 ERA on turf, but only six games in the sample.) So, one-hitting the Twins through five in the day in the Dome is really something to trumpet, not undersell.
For the record, it was Joe Mauer who was intentionally walked. Frankie would have faced Morneau after Cuddyer.
Maybe we should start calling him "the Duck" ...
Andrew -- there are reports that Wine gets the job done ... what an awful choice ... also, I missed most of Ervin's game this morning, being as I was asleep through at least part of it (I pulled an all-nighter at the office due to the conversion of our databases to UTF-8-encoding, hip hip hooray), and the rest of it I was too lazy to move upstairs so I could watch the game. (Picture-in-picture seems to be basically broken on this Scientific Atlanta 8300 unit if one of the channels is HD. Thppt. Ergo, I have to go to the bedroom to watch a different game, and I was still pretty beat as you can imagine.)
Anyway, good to know Ervin pulled himself together. He only had 10 career road wins prior to this game, three of them were in Oakland, and only one all of last year.
Andrew -- there are reports that Wine gets the job done ... what an awful choice ... also, I missed most of Ervin's game this morning, being as I was asleep through at least part of it (I pulled an all-nighter at the office due to the conversion of our databases to UTF-8-encoding, hip hip hooray), and the rest of it I was too lazy to move upstairs so I could watch the game. (Picture-in-picture seems to be basically broken on this Scientific Atlanta 8300 unit if one of the channels is HD. Thppt. Ergo, I have to go to the bedroom to watch a different game, and I was still pretty beat as you can imagine.)
Anyway, good to know Ervin pulled himself together. He only had 10 career road wins prior to this game, three of them were in Oakland, and only one all of last year.
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