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

Toronto inevitably makes life difficult for the Angels, and it seems their rotation has improved over the years to rather quietly become a collective five-man monster; no matter what day of the week you pick, you're getting somebody with a sub-3.00 ERA. Today's head of the Cerberus was Shaun Marcum, a guy whose performance tonight did his team sizeable credit, giving up all manner of singles but only three extra-base hits and a lone walk; that is, he had to become an expert at pitching to contact (normally he's a strikeout pitcher), and while there are good and bad examples of those, he so far this year has been outstanding.

The Halos picked up some instant offense off Marcum in the fourth on Torii Hunter's leadoff homer, and got a couple singles mixed in thereafter to create a men-on-the-corners situation with one out for leadoff man Reggie Willits. Because B-Ref doesn't allow for double splits, I can't tell if Willits' problems in the leadoff spot are due to his principal use there in the second half last year, or if it's because he just sucks at it; but his contributions to today's game was one of the two aforesaid doubles, but he reached legally at no other time.

I stress "legally" because home plate umpire Hunter Wendlestedt adjudged Willits out on a bunt single attempt in the bottom of the ninth; he laid down a near-perfect bunt, and would have been safe, too, except that Jays catcher Rod Barajas plunked Willits in the back, and Wendlestedt ruled him out on interference for running out of the lane. It was the purest sewage, of course, and very nearly turned the course of the game; Scioscia argued the call for a couple minutes before surrendering to the task's futility.

The Jays got their runs off Lackey in one unusual way, and one usual. The unusual way was the fourth inning that started with Marco Scutaro's single. Alex Rios then singled to right behind him, but Vlad decided Rios shouldn't be trying to leg out a double, and threw hard back to second. Caught dead-to-rights, Howie threw the ball away, allowing Scutaro to score the first run of the game. The second run for the Jays was a simple solo shot in the seventh off Barajas' bat.

All this is to say that Lackey had some adventures but contained himself to pitch well through eight innings. If only his offense had enough wallop to give him a win. Or the accurate throwing arm. Whatever, the ninth inning rally, capped by a pinch-hit Juan Rivera RBI single, was plenty heroic. The Angels tallied 16 hits in total, though only three of them were for extra bases, and all in the tenth were singles. The good news there, of course, was that one of those came from Howie Kendrick, who didn't do anything else successfully in the game, but that was such a big deal, considering the time off and the lack of preparation in the minors, that it's worth celebrating in itself.

Finally: praise for Mike Scioscia's lineup tonight. It still has Vlad, but muted in cleanup, and Willits at leadoff. With Quinlan contributing three hits in four at bats (one an infield single, and another a blooper that banked off the second base bag away from Marco Scutaro and into right field), even he was finding ways to make himself useful. This was probably his best lineup so far this series, the necessary exception at catcher duly noted; the sad thing was that none of Izturis' three hits resulted in him scoring. Try, try again.

ESPN Box • Recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps

After seven innings of excellence from Chad Billingsley (and numerous missed opportunities by the Dodgers to really put the game away offensively), Joe Torre put Jonathan Broxton in for his fourth call in five games. Broxton gave up three runs on four hits, surrendering the lead only after pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and not Torre to the mound. He clearly had nothing after the first three batters reached on hits against him; why leave him out there?

Torre eventually pulled Broxton after he gave up the go-ahead run, and Joe Beimel finished the inning uneventfully.

What an embarrassment.

Top 9th: Billy Wagner strikes out all three Dodgers he faces, including Blake DeWitt on a called third strike that quite frankly was low and off the plate. What a humiliating loss, and this one is really on Torre's shoulders.

ESPN Box

Labels: dodgers, mets, recaps, stupid ideas

The most annoying thing about Jered Weaver, bar none, when he is off is watching his opponents foul dozens of balls away. It's usually the biggest single indicator that's something's wrong, and even though his fastball velocity from the stadium gun was at 90 MPH, the bottom end of his effectiveness range, he just wasn't fooling the Jays' batters. Alex Rios in particular got into 11- and 9-pitch extravaganzas in the first and third innings, the former ending in a strikeout, but the latter ending in a single that would eventually score. That is, Weaver just wasn't able to put anybody away economically, the following three-pitch-or-fewer exceptions duly noted:

• Alex Rios first-pitch swinging flied out to right to leadoff the third.
• Shannon Stewart made the last out of the fourth inning on an 0-2 count groundout to third.

In all other cases, Weaver either delivered up a hit or else he got into a protracted battle for the out. Some of me wonders whether this is just psychology; I imagine the Weav still fancies himself a strikeout pitcher from his college days, which is fine, except that shtick isn't going to work in the majors when his fastball isn't quite as fast as it needs to be. It elevates his pitch count. He really ought to have a chat with Hokie Joe about pitching to contact without getting hung up on those strikeouts.

Not that the rest of the bullpen was really any better. In the fifth, Scioscia brought in Darren Oliver, who just seemed rushed to the mound and didn't pitch well in relief of Weaver. Oh, he got the first batter he faced in Matt Stairs on a three-pitch strikeout, but then he got to a 3-1 count to Lyle Overbay — who had already homered — and promptly gave up an RBI single. He followed that with a wild pitch in Rod Barajas' at-bat that moved Overbay and Scott Rolen to second and third. Perhaps out of some sense that he was being given an easy RBI, or perhaps from sheer spite, Barajas rolled one to second, especially since the Angels didn't immediately move the infield in to cut off a run at the plate.

At that point, though, Mike was probably already throwing in the towel. Even if they had held the line, expecting this offense to overcome a two-run deficit when they had already taxed themselves to score three (it was 5-3 before Barajas' groundout) and put up enough runs to win the game while calculating enough margin for a leaky bullpen... well, best to think about tomorrow.

The other pitchers gave up runs; everyone did, Justin Speier on a solo homer, and Chris Bootcheck in a weak showing (as they all have been) in the eighth, and an even drearier ninth that just dragged on endlessly as he walked and singled the bases loaded while getting a pair of strikeouts for his first two outs, and mercifully ending the torture with a 4-3 groundout of utilityman Joe Inglett, substituting for Shannon Stewart. Stewart (1-for-5), Rod Barajas (1-for-4), and returning David Eckstein (0-for-4) were the only Jays starters with less than two hits all night, and even Eckstein got a walk, off Bootcheck.

---

It probably won't come as any surprise to anyone that Vlad Guerrero really doesn't strike out that much when he's going well. For that reason, you may be interested to know that he's struck out three times in one game only 19 times in his career. Most of those were in his 1998 season as a 22-year-old in his first full season in the majors, something you can excuse. But what kind of pops out at me are the three times he pulled the hat trick in July, 2002. It was before his anomalous injury year of 2003, in which he only manufactured two games with three or more whiffs, probably due to a lack of practice, since he played in 112 games instead of his usual 155-160. Joe Sheehan said in a BPro chat

He'll perk up a bit, especially in the BA department, but this is the other side of the mountain for Guerrero. He's physically breaking down, which will limit his performance. It will be interesting to see what the market is for him next year.

His banged-up body got that much worse when he fouled a pitch off either his ankle or his knee (the radio booth didn't say definitively, but they leaned toward the knee at the end) in the bottom of the sixth, but Scioscia kept him in until his final at-bat in the eighth, lifting him for another semi-functional player, Juan Rivera. If Vlad keeps assembling nights like this one, even finding a pinch-hitting role as a free agent might be a stretch.

Not that Vlad was particularly horrible, because there were a lot of 0-fers on this lineup; the 1-4 batters collectively hit 1-for-15 with a walk, which is just not getting it done. Maicer Izturis is an interesting utility player, and at times he can fool you into thinking he's a regular, but as with his half-brother Cesar, they both seem to share a physical fragility that limits their playing time. Unfortunately for Maicer, and unlike the early 2000's Dodgers, the Angels will ultimately have a better player at that position available soon (we hope).

The good news, of course, came from the five and six place hitters, namely Hunter and Kotchman, with Kotchman driving in two of the Angels' four runs. Howie Kendrick, appearing in an Angels uniform for the first time since his injury, was 0-for-3 with a scoring sacrifice fly, so at least he was productive, unlike Brandon Wood or Mike Napoli, both 0-fers. I'm beginning to reconsider my Mickey Tettleton comparison for Napoli; he may not make enough consistent contact for that to work. I expect Jeff Mathis will get another call shortly.

Gary Matthews, Jr., whose offense seems to be limited to one positive outcome per game no matter what else happens, extended his nearly emptiest-possible hitting streak to six games with an infield hit that he ultimately used to manufacture a run on what was admittedly a very exciting play in the third. With Izturis reaching on a walk, Matthews bunted the ball left of the mound. Rolen and the Jays pitcher, Dustin McGowan, both charged the ball. McGowan fielded it but threw it up the first base line, allowing Izturis to easily get to third. With both runners barreling halfway to home and third, that presented a challenge to the Jays' right fielder, Brad Wilkerson, as to who to throw out. Wilkerson went with Matthews, and while he did record the out, the run scored.

Later on in the game, Reggie Willits was called upon for a late-innings pinch-hitting role, and once again he succeeded, reaching base by means of a leadoff walk in the seventh, and subsequently stealing second. There he was stranded, through no fault of his own. Given the inconsistent playing time, it's amazing he keeps his OBP as high as he does. In this game, the kids get no love, and the overpaid salarymen kill the lineup. How long can this go on?

Finally, some miscellany to leaven things:

• Looking at Toronto's lineup, it was odd to see they failed to attack Weaver in the conventional way, i.e. throw a bunch of lefties at him. Only three left-handers started the game, Stairs, Overbay, and Wilkerson, and they were in the bottom half of the lineup. Even weirder: there is not a single switch-hitter anywhere to be found on Toronto's 25-man roster.
• Brandon Wood had probably his best at-bat in recent memory, getting to a full count before striking out on the ninth pitch in his second inning at-bat.
• Mike Napoli's throw-behind to third in the third during Matt Stairs' at-bat appeared to us (and apparently to Scioscia, who ran out immediately to contest the call) to nail Scott Rolen. Had he done so, it would have been two down with a man on second.
• Similarly, it's possible that Brad Wilkerson's 4-3 groundout in the fourth may have been a makeup call for the bad call above, because Kendrick did well to get to it and his throw took Kotchman off the bag; first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ruled him out.
• Howie Kendrick, despite the lack of offense as measured by hits, was hitting everything hard when he did make contact; in particular, his liner to right in the fourth required an excellent running catch by Wilkerson.
• Overbay's second homer was a low liner to right; 20 degrees infield and it's a double. Hate those cheapies.
• Napoli dropped Hunter's return throw of Wilkerson's ninth inning single, losing an easy third out at the plate.

ESPN Box • Recap

Labels: angels, blue jays, recaps

News

• Friday's Angels game was so full of annoyances that it's going to take me a reasonable while just to catalogue them, let alone write a respectable recap...
• CSU Fresno took out the Dirtbags 7-3 in the opening round of the NCAA regionals. Long Beach faces elimination in the best-of-three series tomorrow at Blair Field.
• Howie Kendrick was activated prior to Friday's game, but unfortunately, Chone Figgins went back down. He was 0-for-3 with an RBI in his first game.
• The Angels have been shuffling minor league affiliate catchers, as both starters at Salt Lake have been disabled. Tim Duff was shipped to the Bees to replace Ryan Budde, while Brian Walker got the nod to come up from Rancho to replace Budde on the Travs' roster.
• The Bees' late-but-eventually-complete transactions board also notes the addition of OF Chris Walker from the indy league Camden Riversharks; and the release of C Derrick Thomas. Bad timing for that last one.
• Rangers infielder Hank Blalock will miss an additional four weeks due to the results of wrist surgery. He was already on the DL due to a partially torn hamstring. Blalock was expected to make the transition to first base this year, from third.
• I missed the head end of this transaction, but the Rangers activated Kevin Millwood from the DL and recalled pitcher Travis Metcalf from AAA Oklahoma. To make room, they sent INF German Duran and pitcher Kameron Loe back down.

Scores

Presented with minimal comments; hey, a guy has to get to sleep sometime...

Labels: angels, injuries, minors, rangers

Clayton Kershaw didn't make it out of the fourth without giving up all but one of the Mets' runs. It's true, he didn't let things get ten-earned-runs-and-left-with-the-bases-loaded bad, something his successor on the mound might know a little bit about (yes, Chan Ho has done that twice in his career). I can't tell you how annoyed I was to watch him load the bags on three consecutive walks in the third, and then to watch him re-load the bases in the fourth following two hits and a walk — well, that's just waiting for something really, truly bad to happen.

Wouldn't you just know it but here's Chan Ho to face David Wright, a guy who has pwned Dodger pitching to the tune of .415/.488/.642 for his career. Park actually weaseled his way out of that jam by getting Wright to ground out to short to end the frame, and what's more, he managed to face down old foe Fernando Tatis and hold him to a single. (Yes, that Fernando Tatis, the same one who set a major league record against Park by hitting two grand slams in the same inning on April 23, 1999 as a Cardinal.)

I kid. Actually, Park did a great job in long relief, giving up only one earned run. He walked as many as he struck out, though — three each — so I have no idea how much longer the magic dust that's keeping him operational is going to last. Maybe it's just that he knows all the good places in K-town that carry the really spicy kimchee, but he seems to be useful, something he basically hasn't been since he left the Dodgers.

Moreover, the offense actually gave him a win for his troubles. I listened to this game up until the start of the Angels game, which took me about to Blake DeWitt's leadoff single in the seventh, and his subsequent erasure by Luis Maza's GIDP. Maza ended the night 0-for-4, and he's another character whose flight time in the majors is likely to be measured in double-digit games and maybe, very, very soon, at-bats. Since becoming an effective regular on May 25, Maza has an undistinguished (and admittedly small-sample-sized) .235/.278/.412 line prior to this game. The world is not kind to 28-year-old rookies, and while it's generally been assumed that the one guy who will go down once Andy LaRoche gets his big callup is Mark Sweeney (something MSTI mentioned in a rare game recap), it does occur to me that despite the fact that Sweeney has two hits for each month he's been with the team this year, he is also a vetruhn. As such, he has a chance — not a certainty, as Esteban Loiaza could tell you — of retaining his job, especially since the kid has some plenty of option years left.

Be that as it may, what I missed was the Mets putting up the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh, but the Dodgers engaging the kind of late-inning heroics they had seemingly forgotten, with Juan Pierre actually sparking a rally and scoring from first on Matt Kemp's ensuing double. Thereafter, it was Singles Night as the Dodgers attack pretty much whittled away at reliever Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis, Schoeneweis politely uncorking a scoring wild pitch so as not to make all the Dodgers' scoring dull for the away crowd watching at home.

Takashi Saito pitched a scoreless but not unblemished ninth (a walk and a hit batter, ouch), but what I really wanted to discuss here in closing was whether Clayton Kershaw really belongs in the majors at all. I had my doubts before his promotion, and I still do, amplified by this poor outing. Could it have been worse? Yes. Should they have called him up this early? I'm increasingly inclined to "no". Jon at 277 asked me to "Show us a pattern instead of an isolated example." In due time, I think; that will take some research, and I don't quite have the database built for that yet, and I'm not quite certain how. One fertile source for such hasty promotions, though, would have to be the 1990's and 2000's Kansas City Royals, though that's from memory of some of their harebrained promotions; I recall them promoting guys from single-A ball with almost no justification, finding out shortly thereafter that wasn't such a good idea after all, and then sending the guy down later. I pass along Tom Meagher's post at 305 as being somewhat closer to my own views but not quite there yet. (I'm getting very close to the "your Las Vegas affiliate exists for a reason, use it" stage, myself.)

I think my stance was/is basically this:

1. The idea of Edwin Jackson that is generally invoked seems not to match up with how he had actually performed.

2. Jackson and Kershaw are not particularly similar. That both of them are Dodgers invites a comparison that, while not meaningless, needs to be counterbalanced by hundreds of other comparisons to help out in the big picture.

3. Jackson and Kershaw are not wholly dissimilar, especially if you are just talking about their AA stints.

4. Many parties seem to think Dodger pitchers should be protected from Vegas. There are two primary issues, as I see it. The first is whether putting up poor numbers hurts a pitcher's development. If it does, then I think that bad coaching is responsible; if your development system can't overcome that flaw, then you should flat out fund a AAA affiliate at sea level. The second is whether breaking balls in particular would take such a hit that the pitcher's development would be stinted [stunted? — RLM]. I don't really have the resources to study the latter at the present time, but I have my doubts that any of the involved parties have themselves.

5. AAA seems like it would have been a more appropriate stop for a pitcher like Keshaw in general, but the talent is probably good enough that the aggressive promotion is justifiable. If he were playing in AA, AAA, or MLB today, I don't think any of us could say that the decision was obviously wrong or suboptimal.

6. Kuo is probably, at this point, a more effective major league starting pitcher than Kershaw. Even with a 4-5 inning cap, I think he's a good option. Cutting Sweeney/Tiffee to bring up an extra arm so Kuo can get some 4-5 inning starts makes an awful lot of sense to me. I would probably have a hard cap of 27 batters faced for Kuo, and could see tighter caps as reasonable based on legitimate medical analysis.

Anyway, a good win against an opponent they could stand to beat. Not that the Mets were setting the division on fire; see the curiously hot 32-24 Phillies, who recently took the division lead from the previously streaking Marlins, on their own three-game slump of late. No; the Dodgers and Mets are both hovering at .500, with this game taking the Dodgers one game over it, and the Mets one game under.

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Labels: dodgers, mets, recaps

Filed under "Misheard Lyrics Dep't", and thanks to Stephen Nelson of the old Mariners Wheelhouse for forwarding this to me:

Update 4/12/09: Nyaah.

Labels: funny, offtopic

The latest from Robothal:

Ask the Dodgers' youngsters about Torre, and they at least say all the right things. In some ways, outfielder Matt Kemp says, Torre is not much different than his predecessor, Grady Little. But Kemp quickly adds, "(Torre) expects a lot. Of course he's coming from the Yankees. He's used to winning. He's going to enforce."

...

The biggest knock on the Dodgers' youngsters is that they've been so highly regarded for so long, they carry themselves with a sense of entitlement. Rookie third baseman Blake DeWitt is a favorite of Torre, the coaches and the front office because he takes just the opposite approach, keeping his mouth shut and focusing on every pitch, both offensively and defensively.

Well, that would explain why the Dodgers are trying out Andy LaRoche at first (wait, isn't James Loney plugged in there?) and/or moving DeWitt to second base. I always did think Torre perpetually looked as if he were going to take a hit out on somebody.

Labels: dodgers

The Cubs and Rockies were locked in a slugfest with a 15 MPH wind blowing out to center at Wrigley, the Cubbies ascending from early 8-0 and 9-1 deficits to win it. No doubt that wind had a lot to do with the six home runs hit between the two sides in this game. The Cubs ended up on the right side of the ledger, and surprisingly, Jim Edmonds turned out to be one of the game's two offensive heros, cashing in three on a home run and an RBI double. (The last time Jimmy Hollywood drove in three was Sept. 28, 2007 against the Pirates.) Mark DeRosa nailed three himself, including the game-winning two-run shot.

The bad news for Cubs fans is that this will probably prolong Edmonds' inclusion in the Cubs lineup, and give Hendry more excuses to keep Felix Pie at AAA Iowa.

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Labels: cubs, ex-angels, recaps, rockies

I saw this a couple days ago on one of the DT threads, so I don't remember who posted this, but it's a lot of fun, recalling the old Dr. Demento show.

Labels: offtopic

Labels: minors

• Shea Stadium smells like a toilet.
• Blue Heaven has a great set of vintage pictures of 60's era Southern California baseball venues, including the fifth game ever played in Anaheim Stadium, Saturday, April 23, 1966. It was Walt Disney Day at the park, with hundreds of performers taking the field an hour before a 4-3 Angels win over the Twins.
• Lesbians chased out of Safeco? With the way the Mariners have been playing, you'd think they'd take all the customers they could get. It certainly recalls the Dodgers' 2000 ejection of a pair of lesbians for similar reasons. (Via BTF.)
• The Supreme Court may soon decide to review the "Fantasy Stats" case.

Labels: angels, dodgers, history, mariners

Randy Johnson is having a game that recalls the Big Unit games of old, striking out nine, the last being Dan Ortmeyer to lead off the seventh. He's just tied Roger Clemens' 4,672 strikeouts.

Update Top 7th: Johnson got out of the inning by getting Jose Castillo to ground out to third in an excellent play by Mark Reynolds. He won't surpass Clemens until his next appearance, which should be Tuesday in Milwaukee. Barring a bullpen collapse, Johnson should earn win 289 of his long and illustrious career.

Incidentally, Barry Zito is pitching one of his better games of the year, earning a quality start.

Top 8th: San Francisco rallies when 1B Conor Jackson misplayed a routine grounder, allowing Ray Durham to reach. Reliever Tony Pena then plunked John Bowker to load the bases, and walked pinch-hitter Fred Lewis to make it 3-3, depriving Johnson of his win.

Top 9th: Randy Winn blasts his second homer of the game to give the Giants the lead for the second time in the game, matching a career high of twice in one game; coincidentally, the last two times he did this were also against the Snakes, on September 30, 2005 and September 3 that same year.

Bottom 9th: It's final. The Giants sweep the Diamondbacks in Arizona, who had the best record in the NL prior to this series, and still have the largest lead of any team, four games over the second-place Dodgers. It helps to be in a crummy division, and who thought we'd be saying that about the NL West before this season started?

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Labels: diamondbacks, giants, recaps

David Wright pounded two dingers off Brad Penny, who should by now be just nibbling on guys like that. On the other hand, the first homer was a cookie that any major leaguer should be able to hit. The other homer came on an improbable two-out rally in the fourth, sparked by a reach on catcher's interference by pitcher Claudio Vargas, the first against the Dodgers since an 11-3 blowout in Florida on May 12, 2002.

The Dodgers' bullpen turned out to be leaky, too, as both Scott Proctor and Joe Beimel gave up an earned run apiece. What I didn't understand is why the Dodgers felt obliged to pull Hong-Chih Kuo from the mound after his scoreless two 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and sixth.

The good news: the offense came around a bit, as Jeff Kent and Blake DeWitt both homered.

Yahoo box • Recap

Labels: dodgers, mets, recaps

All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating.

— Ernest Hemingway, The Green Hills of Africa

I was reminded of the quote above after getting halfway through Roger Kahn's much-heralded The Boys of Summer. Some of the contemporaneous reviews had the same opinion, including that of the less poetically-minded Dick Young, who called it "a great book, or anyway, half a great book." It's true: the second half can be rough sledding, and the fact that I started this one in January and didn't finish until just today is some indication.

Kahn spends his first half dealing mainly with his own experiences as a boy following the nearby Brooklyn Dodgers, and then as a young sportswriter working for the doomed New York Herald Tribune (later the International Herald Tribune after its U.S. publication ceased in 1967). Boys here sparkles with wit and a keen insight, honed at a publication whose "pervasive sense ... was not sports, but literacy." As proof of this latter, you will not find a smarter or more fleetingly erotic moment in this genre than his 13-year-old encounter with his family's live-in servent, Elisabeth, and how, eventually, baseball got him out of trouble when his parents found out about it.

Which brings me to the second half, consisting principally of post-retirement player interviews. These reminiscences can be at times dull, but the first half more than makes up for them. Even then, several are still worth the wait, as with Jackie Robinson, whose son, Jack, Jr., was then embroiled in a drug bust (and would die before publication of the book), or Duke Snider's retirement in Fallbrook, CA and Kahn's limning of the denizens thereof. Like most who followed the Dodgers in Brooklyn, Kahn has no kind words for Walter O'Malley (who "stiffed" Buzzie Bavasi). And even the dull bits have their graces, as for example his concluding paragraph about the wheelchair-bound Roy Campanella:

He pushed the lever and the wheelchair started off bearing the broken body and leaving me, and perhaps Roxie Campanella as well, to marvel at the vaulting human spirit, imprisoned yet free, in the noble wreckage of the athlete, in the dazzling palace of the man.

I would be shocked if this didn't make it into Jon's upcoming book.

Labels: books, dodgers, history, reviews

No Wire Hangers! Cubs 2, Dodgers 1 (10 Innings)

When the pitching has to be perfect, there's no hope for the team. We can't all be the 2003 Dodgers, and the basic fact about the offense was that the only run came in on Blake DeWitt's bases-loaded walk. Derek Lowe posted his best game of the season, but Takashi Saito clearly had nothing, and gave up the tying run; it was left to Chan Ho Park to give up the then-inevitable walkoff run in the 10th.

For what it's worth, you might want to read this Gonfalon Cubs post recalling that the Cubs had a hot start last year, too, and came close to collapsing as well.

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No Pitching, No Win: Tigers 6, Angels 2

It's hard to get too upset at Hokie Joe Saunders for one bad outing; he's done so well for the most part that it's just a shock when he loses. Platitudes about hitting into bad luck are something I like to avoid, but it did seem that Maicer Izturis was having that kind of buzzard luck; he ended some of that with a two-run homer.

ESPN Box • Recap

Labels: angels, cubs, dodgers, recaps, tigers

Labels: minors

Been out deathly ill with a fever and flat on my back the last 24 hours. Minimal blogging until normal health returns.

Labels: minors

I complain mightily that the Dodgers insist on playing stiffs like Andruw Jones ahead of visibly better players such as Andre Ethier. The Angels are a little better about this, but only just, and Mike Scioscia's obscene insistence at batting Matthews in the one or two slots is one of those blind spots that is absolutely killing the Angels of late. As you can see from the Baseball-Reference lineups report, Willits has had exactly three chances to bat leadoff, where he has hit a small-sample-sized .154/.267/.231; last year, that was .267/.359/.322 in 273 plate appearances. A .359 OBP is nothing to sneeze at, especially when the Angels are struggling to get men on at the top of the lineup.

All of this is to say that, given the team is struggling to score runs, why is Gary Matthews, Jr. playing ahead of Reggie Willits? While I think everyone knows the answer to that is the silly contract handed out to GMJ, the real danger here is that one or two hits if sufficiently located will continue to get him playing time. If you're going to stick a weak stick in left, doesn't it make sense to put the highest OBP one there? It was no coincidence that Willits provided the rally-sparking infield single in the eighth, pinch-hitting for the hapless Brandon Wood. Matthews should be close to playing himself out of a job (and frankly, off the team), but for the team's veteran fetish. The Angels won on a pair of singles, Garret Anderson's in the eighth and Matthews' in the ninth. I'll complain about the team's lack of power after they start showing they can even hit.

Ervin Santana, therefore, almost had to pitch a complete game shutout. The CG he got, but not the shutout, as he allowed a two-run jack in the second to Miguel Cabrera. Aside from that, he faced the minimum, so only 29 batters came to the plate. That, darlings, is something special, and one of the best outings we've seen from him all year. (A special word to his catcher, Jeff Mathis, part of the offensive cipher at the bottom of the lineup, but who caught Curtis Granderson stealing on an 0-0 count pitchout in the sixth. He was out by a step or two, from memory.) A good show, and especially necessary considering yesterday's extra-innings game.

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Labels: angels, recaps, tigers

I'll be brief, because the Dodgers' time leading this game was only three innings, courtesy of Blake DeWitt's RBI single in the top of the fourth: Hiroki Kuroda gave up a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh. Joe Torre correctly took the ensuing Ryan Theriot pinch-hit fielder's choice and Alfonso Soriano single as a sign of his starters' impending collapse, and so he gave the mound over to Jonathan Broxton. Blake DeWitt's error allowed Mike Fontenot to reach (negating DeWitt's earlier RBI), and setting the scene for Broxton's worst implosion since his six run fiasco against the Astros on May 11. The train came off the rails as Broxton proceeded to give up two RBI hits, earning him a blown save (and Kuroda the loss).

The Dodgers managed a rally in the bottom of the eighth after we got out of the car (we listened to the game via the XM Radio Cubs' home feed), loading the bases on a walk to Russell Martin, a single to Luis Maza, and Andre Ethier's walk; but James Loney struck out, and Matt Kemp bounced out to end the inning. Delwyn Young got aboard in the ninth with one out, reaching second on defensive indifference, but Kerry Wood squelched whatever rallying the Dodgers had in mind quickly thereafter.

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Labels: cubs, dodgers, recaps

Recalling my piece a couple weeks back previewing the Dodgers/Angels series, I remarked upon how bad was the Angels' bullpen. Back then, it was the second worst in the majors. Since that time, they've moved up to fifth worst. The Angels now have a bullpen ERA of 4.39, which is about a half a run (0.52) away from the mediocrity of the Twins or (gulp) Kansas City, but as a consolation prize, the Angels are moving up as much as Boston (4.40), San Diego (4.41), and Cleveland (4.65) are moving down. The Dodgers are also moving up, and now own a 2.91 ERA, good for second place in the majors, behind Philadelphia (2.78).

Labels: angels, dodgers, stats

At some point in this movie, Indiana Jones becomes just Henry Jones, and that's really all you need to know about this latest installment of the Raiders franchise. It's ordinary, standard fare that the original defined but now seems stuck on rails, as the subwoofer thumps coming along every 20 seconds or so accompanying the on-screen explosions are almost metronomic. 65-year-old Harrison Ford should have said "no" more firmly to this film; he looks and sounds tired all the way through it. The reviewers complaining that the film rests too heavily on the good vibes generated from the previous films (really, just the original Raiders) are directly on the mark. You'll see this one, you won't demand your money back, but you won't buy the DVD.

Labels: offtopic, reviews

News

• Nooooo! Desmond Dechone Figgins may be headed back to the DL if he doesn't improve "quickly"; if disabled, it would be retroactive to May 21.
• Shockingly, Kelvim Escobar has completed a long-toss program in Arizona and may return to the team after the All-Star break as a reliever. That would be great if he could return to any semblance of his prior form.
• Jason Schmidt made his third rehab start for high class A Inland Empire tonight.
• The NCAA regionals have been announced. Of interest to this blog: Long Beach will host a regional, Long Beach St. (37-19) vs Fresno St. (37-27), and San Diego (41-15) vs. Cal (33-19-2). Fullerton will host CSUF (37-19) vs. Rider (29-26), and UCLA (31-25) vs. Virginia (38-21). UC Irvine (38-16) will play Oral Roberts (46-12) at the Lincoln Regional.

  Among the local schools, the current ranking has San Diego at #7, CSUF at #8, UC Irvine at #11, Stanford at #15, Cal at #20, and CSULB at #22. Go, Dirtbags!

• The BA Prospect Hot Sheet appears to be late due to the holiday. Tomorrow, I imagine.
• Here's links to the league notebooks.
• No Angel or Dodger prospect made Offensive Player of the Week or Pitcher of the Week.

Scores

Labels: minors

Comments:

• Four pitch walk. GA, how could you be so lazy? Don't you know you're supposed to swing? Have you been ignoring Mickey Hatcher or something?
• How much pressure can Howie Kendrick stand? With the offense struggling like this, is it really fair to pin so much of the team's hopes for improved hitting all but exclusively on his (and Chone Figgins') shoulders?
• Vlad had a three-fer night! All say hallelujah.
• Nice game by all pitchers: Jon Garland, Scot Shields, K-Rod, and Jose Arredondo.

Tomorrow: more hits, please?

Yahoo box • Recap

Labels: angels, recaps, tigers

Questions about this game:

• Why didn't Chad Billingsley attempt a suicide squeeze in the fifth with one out and runners on the corners? The Dodgers have been having trouble scoring runs; it seems like smallball is eminently called for in that circumstance.
• Why was Chin-Lung Hu held at third on Kemp's double? It would have taken a perfect throw to get him.
• Why did Mark Sweeney get the start at first? Loney may be scuffling, but ... c'mon...

Yahoo box • Recap

Labels: cubs, dodgers, recaps

Presented without comment today:

Labels: minors