6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: The Twins? The Twins. Angels 8, Twins 3

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Tuesday, May 08, 2012

The Twins? The Twins. Angels 8, Twins 3

For all the pregame billing that Jered Weaver might do what Johnny Vander Meer did back in June 11, 1938 and June 15, pitching back-to-back shutouts. This one would have been against the same time had it happened, which was made considerably more likely by the absence of Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau (flu-like symptoms and a wrist injury, respectively). As it was, Weaver reported being a "little gassed", something made obvious by diminished velocity.

As it was, Weaver gutted his way through six innings of work, with the bullpen holding down the Twins the rest of the way. Hisanori Takahashi pitched surprisingly well in the seventh, but David Carpenter was obviously overmatched in the eighth, making only one out while facing four batters and giving up two runs. It was not the sort of thing you hope to see, especially with the relief pitching as bad as it has been this year.

Offensively, the Angels did a good job against Francisco Liriano, whose comeback appears to at least have stalled if not reversed. The top of the order, for a change, did well, with leadoff man Maicer Izturis and number two Alberto Callaspo both collecting a pair of hits. Albert Pujols, on the other hand, only went one-for-five, and wasn't all that convincing when he made his outs, either. If hitting a home run was supposed to cure us of talking about Pujols' offensive slump, it doesn't appear to have gotten him on track even afterwards.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, recaps, twins