A Good Start by Barria

Jaime Barria pitched well today, much better than in his last start, but he suffered the curse of the Angel bullpen.

Lack of Support Hurts

Ok, so he didn’t get much support either but while he left the game in the 6th inning losing 1–0, he did a pretty good job of making sure the team had a chance. And in the 8th, they got that chance and tied up the game on a Valbuena home run.

Sadly, that situation didn’t last long as the very next inning saw Toronto surge back in to the lead for good with a Steve Pearce 3 run home run. The bullpen was up to it’s old tricks.

Some day we’re gonna have to teach these guys how to hold a lead.

There were already 2 outs when the Blue Jays rallied – what’s up with that? It’s a critical situation, 9th inning, 2 outs, no one on, and you start choking up a hit, a walk, and a home run? I mean…sorry, but these are the 8 and 9 hitters you let get on base – batting .233 and .234 respectively and both get on to set up the home run.

I know the bullpen is overworked but the last day Justin Anderson pitched was Tuesday – he had plenty of time to rest since then.

It’s not all his fault but he’s the most visible cause of the loss.

The offense was…ok…they picked up 9 hits, but they didn’t string any of them together in a way that made a difference. I kept seeing them get 2 singles in a row and then hit into a double play or make the 3rd out. They left 7 runners on base and many of those were in scoring position. 0–6 with runners in scoring position is not what you want to see from a team that hopes to contend.

And speaking of contending…the loss drops the Angels back to 9 1/2 games behind Houston and 3 1/2 behind Seattle. They’ve really gotta start stringing some wins together to start climbing in this division.

My Player of the Game goes to David Fletcher who set the table pretty well filling in for Kinsler. He went 2 for 4 and was in position to score in the 1st and 3rd when the team just left him hanging out there.

Today these teams meet for the final game of the homestand. Felix Pena (0–0, 5.40 ERA) goes for the Angels against right-hander Sam Gaviglio (2–2, 3.75 ERA) and I’m hoping the Angels can pull off a series win. They certainly need it to remain competitive in the AL West and Wildcard.

Daily Ramble 275.1 | Sports – Angels – A Good Start by Barria