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

Jerome Williams' CG SHO: Angels 4, Twins 0

Torii Hunter homered again for the third time in four games, and the fifth time in six. Mike Trout reached base twice, doing what he's supposed to do at the top of the order. Howie Kendrick likewise homered, and came within a double of hitting for the cycle. A good offensive night for the Halos.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Laugher Turns Nail-Biter, Dodgers Roll Anyway: Dodgers 7, Rockies 6

Ted Lilly was masterful through five, but gave up a pair on a two-run homer to Carlos Gonzalez in the sixth. It wasn't until Josh Lindblom entered the game in the seventh that the Rockies started to make a game of it, so that by the ninth, the tying run was on base for CarGo to hit a walkoff home run — except he dinnent, swinging wildly over Javy Guerra's slider to end the game. Really a nice end to what was becoming a real contest late.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Labels: angels, dodgers, recaps, rockies, twins

// posted by Rob @ 7:17 AM link  //  0 comments

The [Rockies in Tracy's second year are] going backward, not forward, with him. You can all but hear the “Told ya soes” coming from Pittsburgh. Not only are the Rockies stalling from year to year, but also within years. In 2010, the team was in the pennant race until late, but it then dropped 13 of its last 14 games. Last year, they were better, losing only 11 of their last 14. For that matter, in his final season in Pittsburgh his team was 2-12 at the end. Tracy's teams weren’t normally bad in the past, but that’s a pretty impressive trio of season-ending performance over his last four years on the job.

Labels: ex-dodgers, managers, pirates, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 11:36 PM link  //  0 comments

• 49-year-old Jamie Moyer made the Rockies' rotation
• 38-year-old Todd Helton and 41-year-old Jason Giambi respectively doubled and homered off Yu Darvish. Giambi's home run was the first against him all spring, by any major leaguer.

Labels: funny, rangers, rockies, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 8:28 AM link  //  0 comments

Update: A tweet from the Angels confirms the deal. Mark Saxon sounds an optimistic note by observing Ianetta's OBP is no less than .370 in each of the last three seasons. I can live with that.

Mike DiGiovanna of the Times also reminds us this makes it a certainty that Jeff Mathis won't be tendered a contract — another reason to be optimistic.

Update 2, Reasons To Be Pessimistic: Ianetta's career road splits sux0rz, .172/.321/.266 .208/.338/.369. (Update 12/2/11: Corrected, per jjackflash in the comments below.) Contrast that with Jeff Mathis' career line of .194/.257/.301. Let's hope Ianetta doesn't suck as much as all that. At least his .321 OBP provides grounds for hope. Hat tip to Tim Brown on teh Twitter.

Update 3: Bill Plunkett's full report in the Register.

Labels: angels, rockies, trades, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 4:05 PM link  //  5 comments

• The Rockies shipped Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland for a package of four minor leaguers, right-handed pitchers Alex White and Joe Gardner, and 1B Matt McBride. LHP Drew Pomerantz is also expected to be traded once his signing anniversary of August 16 is past (players can't be traded within the first year of signing).
• As announced Friday, Rafael Furcal's Dodger career came to an end with a trade to St. Louis. Vinny waxed poetic during Saturday's broadcast, something I have never heard him do previously. It was a sweet moment for a player who really had a very mixed bag of success and injury with the Dodgers.
• The M's shipped Eric Bedard to Boston in a three-team deal involving the Dodgers that ended up with Trayvon Robinson going to Seattle. Robinson hit 26 homers in his first pass at AAA this year as a 23-year-old, so this is at best a head-scratcher; MSTI called it a swap for "organizational depth", and it strikes me that this should be a deal that calls directly and unequivocally Ned Colletti's competence.
• A lot has gone on in my late vacation from blogging; Ervin Santana pitched a no-hitter against Cleveland (as my friend Kelly observed, the one thing the Tribe needs is a bat, so they go out and get... a dodgy starter?). Texas hasn't stumbled, the Angels have done well but not overly so, and so two games out will have to tell the difference. That's competitive, anyway, which is better than I thought they'd do.

Labels: dodgers, indians, mariners, red sox, rockies, trades, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 7:19 AM link  //  0 comments

In retrospect, that would have been a terrible move. Lackey's 2010 splits show some amazing numbers; he blew up against Cleveland (10.13 ERA), Colorado (6.75 ERA), Detroit (6.43 ERA), and Toronto (8.61 ERA), among his other bad outings. The point being, his overall 4.40 ERA was not due exclusively to facing the Yankees three times.

Labels: blue jays, ex-angels, indians, red sox, rockies, tigers, yankees

// posted by Rob @ 1:11 PM link  //  0 comments

I refuse, therefore, to read too much into this. It's way too early.

ESPN Box • MLB recap

Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 5:44 PM link  //  0 comments

Erick Aybar tags out Ryan Spilborghs to end the third. Today's game was rained out in uncharacteristic Arizona weather.

Labels: angels, rockies, spring training

// posted by Rob @ 5:28 PM link  //  0 comments

The Rockies' moment is something like "now", though they're in a bit of a fix for the rotation slots behind Jimenez; last year, the only starter with a winning record was the fairly undistinguished (10-9, 4.81 ERA) Jason Hammel. That's one reason we likely saw Esmil Rogers on the mound for the Rocks yesterday, who did a creditable job through the order once, and then proceeded to get lit up in his last three innings, failing to make an out in the sixth.

But as bad as that all was for the Rockies, their bullpen limited the late-innings AAA lineup remaining for the Angels to only a double. Angels pitching looked far worse in the early going, as starter Matt Palmer did nothing to buy himself closer to the rotation with a horrific first inning that saw him give up seven straight hits, one of them a three-run jack. He settled down in the second, retiring the side in order for the only time in the game, but returned to the suck which was his pre-Angels career in the third with a leadoff home run to franchise icon Troy Tulowitzki, Tulo's second of the game.

Once Palmer left the game, things settled down. No Rockies baserunner even got as far as third base, a pleasant change from the earlier merry-go-round. Of those on the mound after, only Hisanori Takahashi, Fernando Rodney, and Jordan Walden were locks to make the team. Walden was something of a surprise to me, because the Angels were so mired in disaster last year that I more or less stopped paying attention to them. One consequence was that I missed Walden's 15-inning late-season callup, which was very successful (2.35 ERA, 0-1, 1 SV). While I expect young Walden to eventually regress, he may yet prove me wrong: he has yet to allow an earned run in six spring training appearances this year. More outings like yesterday's are cause for hope after last year's wretched bullpen.

MLB recap

Labels: angels, recaps, rockies, spring training

// posted by Rob @ 8:07 AM link  //  0 comments

• The Angels signed aging mediocrity LHP Hisanori Takahashi to a two-year deal. Takahashi posted a mediocre 3.61 ERA and a 10-6 record in 53 appearances, and 12 starts, with 8 saves; he will be playing out his age 36 season next year. The Times reports the deal will be worth $5.5M.
• In related news, the Angels allowed Kevin Frandsen to walk without a contract. He is a free agent. All other Angels — yes, including Jeff Mathis — were offered contracts for 2011.
• Perhaps the biggest news this offseason was the Dodgers' non-tender of Russell Martin, and simultaneously, George Sherrill. Both are free agents, but this doesn't mean Ned can't renegotiate with either. Ditto for OF Trent Oeltjen.
• The Dodgers also gave Rod Barajas a one-year deal.
• I made no mention of this earlier in the week when it hit the wires, but I must say that while there's quite a bit of risk for Colorado involved here, Troy Tulowitzki's 10-year/$157.7M deal is not entirely unreasonable; looking at Tulo's comps yields five Hall-of-Famers, one presumptive one (Derek Jeter), and four multi-time All-Stars. If you're gonna break the bank for a free agent, make sure it's a great one. I think it's a good move for the team.

Labels: angels, dodgers, rockies, transactions

// posted by Rob @ 5:39 PM link  //  3 comments

In a wholly forgettable season, I'll take that.

The Dodgers have relegated themselves to playing spoiler, even on their own TV broadcast bumper ads, and they managed that on a night in which the Padres beat the Rockies 7-6 in a perilous game that had the Rockies with the tying run in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the ninth.

So the Pad People are back to a game and a half ahead of the Giants. It's not elimination, but it at least is saying the Dodgers ain't wholly dead, either. Congratulations, Clayton, you've done a man's work, sir.

Update: Via Jon Weisman on Twitter, Aaron Gleeman notes that Kershaw's record is historic, there being only two pitchers in history to strike out more than a batter an inning while recording 75 games or more before age 23, the other being "Sudden" Sam McDowell, the Cleveland ace of the 60's. Impressive company.

ESPN Box

Labels: dodgers, giants, padres, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 8:33 AM link  //  0 comments

The Angels picked up more in the fifth when Howie Kendrick grounded into a double play that scored Brandon Wood from third, but the Angels really blew the game open in the bottom of the eighth, when Juan Rivera hit an RBI single and Brandon Wood blasted his first career grand slam to make it 10-3, the final score. Great game and series by the Angels, who needed one.

ESPN Box • Angels recap • Facebook photo slide show

Labels: angels, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 9:32 PM link  //  0 comments

Hideki Matsui unloaded one into left center, an opposite field blast that carried the Angels to victory. Victory, that is, despite Joe Saunders (lately bad) and the bullpen (bad all year long). Rodney got some measure of redemption by pitching a scoreless ninth, and Fuentes nailed down a save despite giving up a one-out walk — somehow, he got Miguel Olivo to line into an inning-ending double play. He's burning up his luck at a crazy pace, lately.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 12:14 AM link  //  0 comments

• The Angels completed a series win against Seattle, their second of the month, and pretty effectively buried them at seven games back, where they remain today. The Angels surprised the hell out of me by bouncing back from the horrific news about Kendry Morales' multi-month injury by pounding Seattle pitching, a fusillade that included a three-run, walkoff jack by Howie Kendrick, who needed one in the worst possible way. The broadcast team has been nattering on about how well he's done since being demoted to the bottom of the order, and it's true.
• The Dodgers beat the Rockies 4-3 to complete that series win to give Clayton Kershaw a win on a short start (5 innings). Outside of the pitiful Snakes, the NL West is fairly tightly bunched. And speaking of Arizona ...
• ... the Blue beat Arizona at home by scores of 5-4, 1-0 (in 10), and 1-0 (again, this time in 14), on, respectively, a walkoff balk (Casey Blake scored the winning run), a walkoff homer (by Matt Kemp), and a walkoff RBI single from Garret Anderson, who probably deserved the tenth-inning boos he got when he struck out with none out. As MSTI observed, it's probably saved him from a DFA, but his average is still only .157. (And yes, yay, for Travis Schlichting and his four scoreless innings. And, slightly ironic, the Dodgers couldn't beat ex-Dodger Edwin Jackson.)
• The Angels beat typically lowly Kansas City, with Ervin Santana and Scott Kazmir getting the wins (7-1 and 7-2 respectively, with Torii Hunter blowing one way out of their yard), and Joel Pineiro taking the abuse on Wednesday (6-3).
• You may have heard about first base umpire Jim Joyce robbing Tigers starter Armando Gallaraga of a perfect game with a blown call eight and two-thirds innings into the game. So 28 outs is what it takes for a perfecto these days. There are calls all over to expand the use of instant replay (and as Jay Jaffe tweeted, "BRING ON THE F*CKING ROBOT UMPS YESTERDAY".
• Ken Griffey, Jr. finally, finally, finally retired.
• In news around the division, it's time to end the Casey Kotchman experiment in Seattle.

Labels: angels, diamondbacks, dodgers, ex-dodgers, indians, recaps, rockies, royals, tigers

// posted by Rob @ 12:10 AM link  //  1 comments

The Dodgers didn't exactly smash Lopez last night — four runs over seven frames isn't anything to be ashamed of — but it was enough for the win, anyway. The Dodgers also beat three insurance runs out of the former Cub and Giant, Bob Howry, for good measure. Judging by his 8.16 ERA, it looks like the well-traveled 36-year-old is on his way out of baseball.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 8:41 AM link  //  3 comments

Angels Take Two Straight On Matsui's Career 1,500th RBI: Angels 4, Mariners 3

I liked the Angels scoring first, not so much Joe Saunders bleeding runs to make himself ineligible for the win, despite the fact that two of the runs were unearned. As he has all season, he wasn't much in the strike zone (of his 106 pitches, only 54 went in for strikes). The bullpen managed their job; worst offense in the league or no, it's still a positive development.

Hideki Matsui drove the winning run across in the 10th, and yay. Hopefully, this marks the end of his late skid. Kendry's still batting cleanup for a reason.

ESPN Box • Angels recap

Haeger The Horrible, Part 7: Rockies 8, Dodgers 0

I looked up, and it was 6-0 in the first, and Haeger hadn't made a single out. The last time a Dodger starter gave up six runs while failing to record an out was Claude Osteen on August 28, 1971 against the Mets. Shockingly, the 31-year-old Osteen still had some miles left in him, continuing to compete in the majors for another four years, two of them with the Dodgers.

An embarrassing outing for the Dodgers, who failed to score despite getting seven hits off Rockies pitching; but all save for an Andre Ethier double were singles.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Mariners Fire Hitting Coach Jim Cockrell

Labels: angels, coaches, dodgers, firings, mariners, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 11:24 AM link  //  0 comments

As I said, I kept flipping back to this game, and it seemed like when I did, the Dodgers had either tied it or been tied, so it was, by turns, 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3. As a consequence, when Andre Ethier tied the game in the fifth, and Russell Martin eventually gave the Dodgers a 5-3 lead, it had the same feel of safety you got in maybe a Corvair; and sure enough, in the top of the sixth, Kuroda gave up the lead, the rally starting with a one-out Eric Young, Jr. one-out triple, followed up by Seth Smith's RBI single.

Interspersed with this was some good news, even despite the fact that Todd Helton managed a sac fly off George Sherrill, and that fact was Joe Torre coming to get Sherrill after he failed to get the lefty out.

Matt Kemp provided the final blow, knocking home Jamie Carroll on an RBI triple, but the real show-stopper was Jonathan Broxton showing what he's capable of when he's not rusty, giving up a single to Carlos Gonzalez (who erased himself trying to steal second), and then mowing down Ian Stewart and Jason Giambi. It almost reminded you of the 2009 Dodgers.

ESPN Box • Dodgers recap

Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 11:51 AM link  //  0 comments

Via David Pinto.

Labels: deaths, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 11:03 AM link  //  0 comments

ESPN Box

Labels: braves, recaps, rockies

// posted by Rob @ 6:49 PM link  //  0 comments

Hi Corbett Field itself was an anachronism, a sub-9,000-capacity park with some of the most dilapidated stands I've seen in the circuit; no cup holders, aluminum bench seats almost everywhere (though with the plus of actual shade for at least the seats back of home plate — make it so, Arte), and cramped concourses built for a park about a third smaller, the Rockies clearly weren't planning on a lot of snowbirds winging their way south. In fact, the stands were mostly filled with Cub fans, and we sat next to a group of such, including one team-challenged guy wearing a Cards shirt whose wife, apparently, was a Cubs fan also.

The restrooms were clearly built for a smaller capacity, too, and about them, the less said, the better.

The game itself was amusing, mostly for Carlos Zambrano's RBI double in the second inning off Rockies starter Jeff Francis. Under ordinary circumstances, I would say that watching Z run the bases is like seeing what any of the Molina brothers might do if they ever indulged in speed, but Zambrano seems to have lost weight in the offseason, so maybe he's getting a lift that way.

Otherwise, the Rockies pretty much beat up on the junk end of the Cubs' bullpen hopefuls, only one of whom, Justin Berg, gave any indication he was a serious candidate to make the team (and he probably won't).

MLB.com box

Labels: cubs, recaps, rockies, spring training

// posted by Rob @ 8:26 AM link  //  0 comments