The Angels lose the game and thus the series vs the Rangers. It was looking well, with good pitching and hitting until the 8th, when it all went wrong. Losing to the Rangers is painful enough as it is, but a blown loss is even worse.
Recap
Jose Quintana got the start on the mound again. This time, things went well. He had a 1-2-3 first, a pickoff in the second, and got out of a jam in the 3rd. Walks did cost him in the 4th, however, and a run scored. Q went 5 innings, 8 K’s, 4 walks, and 2 hits while only allowing that 1 run.
The hit 3 home runs in the first 4 innings. All were solo shots though. With 1-3 with RISP and that one hit being an infield hit that scored no one, it was not exactly pretty. Especially with 6 LOBSTERS.
Chris Rodriguez came in for the 6th in relief. He was absolutely filthy. 2 and 1/3 innings of relief allowing just 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 4. C-Rod is well on his way to being the pitcher we need him to be.
Mike Mayers came in to relive C-Rod in the 8th and blew the game, giving up 2 home runs and allowing his and C-Rod’s guys to score. That 3-1 lead became a 5-3 deficit.
Watson came in, the 3rd pitcher in the 8th, to stop the bleeding. He at least kept the Rangers hitters at bay to be down only 2. Maddon would be questioned for his bullpen use as he should.
After the offense did squat in the 8th, except getting Upton hurt, Junior Guerra pitched the 9th. He did not have his best game as he walked in a run. Then he balked in a run. 7-3 Rangers.
Those earlier runs hurt more as Churches hit another solo shot to make it 7-4. But, that was it and the Angels lose by that score.
Highlights
Angels scored right away thanks to a Trout bomb to RF in the first.
Ohtani-san had his own shot to the same area in the 3rd.
Justin Upton tried, but his bat was not up to snuff. So he had to get a new one.
His new one seemed to do the trick, as he hit a home run next at bat.
Up Next
With the loss, the Angels go to 9-7 on the season. With how competitive the AL West is, every loss is panful. The Astros have sole possession of last place at least. Angels hope to keep them there as that series is up next starting tomorrow at 5 in Houston.
This loss feels like some many of the other losses we’ve been suffering the last few years. I was one of those who always blamed Soth, but he’s gone and things remain similar, if not the same. All I can do is look around for another easy target. It’s Gramps. I think he should be DFA’d and we should call up Brandon Marsh and see if he can give us a spark.
Not sure what to do about the bullpen…
I cringed when we took out C-Rod – as he was dealing filth. Whatever happened to long relief? I get it if they are effective yet not impressive, but his stuff was electric last night, and pulling him forces you to hope the next guys have it too. I would ride him, even if that means I can’t use him for 3-4 days. Of course, I don’t get paid to make those decisions.
The bigger issue should not be Meyers, but the fact that we have starters that we think are good and yet they only go 5 innings. Shohei only went 4 innings. for several seasons now we think that is what real baseball is, go 5 and let the BP finish. The is what is so out of wack. Starters should be expected to go 7 or 8 innings, as there is not enough decent pitching out there to put a Pen together that you have a 6th inning guy, 7th inning guy, etc.
Tommy John Surgery is extremely prevalent in today’s game, so counting pitches is helpful you think. Almost everyday one of our writers post about one or two guys going under the knife to have the Jobe Fix. Counting to one hundred is done in the first grade. Either the arm holds up or it doesn’t. Maybe 100 represents about the 4th time through the line up. Some say “Hey GPB you’re Old School”. OK I accept that just not in a negetive way. I have seen a lot of pitchers last a long time pitching way over 200 innings a season and have long careers. This new way of thinking is absolutely in my opinion is hurting the game. Well at least for the last 7 seasons of Angels playing the game
I think the specialization, and improvement in a lot of areas (metrics, training, diet) has made all of the players better, and required them to pitch harder and better, and at very least in more intense ways, with every outing. It takes more of a toll.
I don’t think there is a way to put that genie back in the bottle, having guys tone it down to preserve their careers longer. There is no economic incentive for teams to ask for it, or for players to do it – and unfortunately, economics drives so much of the game now.
Overwhelmingly agree!! I recognize the game has changed a bit and complete games are not hailed as they were in the past but taking pitchers out based on 100-pitchess or 3rd time through the line-up excuse puts way too much dependency on the pen. The opener was a terrible idea. These Saberticians should examine why season ending injuries to pitchers of the past were minimal and that pitchers were able throw w/o a pitch count limit and still have many appearances. The 5-inning/100-pitch count is watering down the game and now we got this kookie rule where the relief arm must face 3-batters. WINS and CGs are totally washed out now. Winning 20-games as a benchmark for Cy Young is long gone. Seeing Quintana go out yesterday and not at least attempt to get the first two batters out is a failed strategy when you have a bullpen like the Angels. When a pitcher is on his game, he needs to remain in to improve the chances of winning.
Maybe pitchers should not throw during the off-season, shut it down. Go work in a super market or sell insurance. Joking of course but the TJ rates and season ending arm surgeries were extremely low back prior to the 90’s and the arrival of the speed gun. Why? Do the science instead of caving into the culture.
My favorite old time case in point, I was there the night in Anaheim when Boston starter Luis Tiant pitched 14 1/3 innings (a complete game) and took the loss. Nolan Ryan of the Angels lasted 13 innings, struck out 19 batters, walked 10 and estimated he threw 235 pitches. Let Bill James and Friedman choke on that.
I’m not sure where the overworked Mayer’s argument came from. He pitched one inning in Tuesday’s game. He did not throw a lot of pitches. I can’t say I disagree with Maddon!s decision to use him.
I get the small sample size but the stats from Mr Halloween’s 2020 breakout season are quite telling:
Mayers pitched on 0 days rest 9 times. He had a 4.50 ERA , 1.30 WHIP Opponents had a OPS of .717 ( Not horrible by any means but not stellar)
With 1 or more days rest last year he appeared in 20 games , had a 0.90 ERA, 0.70 WHIP and opponents had a anemic OPS of .348 (no that’s not a typo)
This years numbers are shaping up to be more of the same.
So we need to make sure this guy gets his hot cocoa, teddy bear & a solid 9 hours of z’s every night after he pitches.
Interesting stats. Thanks for sharing that Cowboy. If Joe didn’t know those numbers he should have. While not all high-leverage relievers show such a drastic dropoff on the second of back to back nights, it seems clear that Mayers is not just worse, but much worse.
With his home run in this game, the 308th of his career, Trout moved into sole possession of 10th all-time in AL West home runs. He is now just one homer behind Edgar Martinez for the ninth spot.
It’s kinda hilarious that pitching an inning on Tuesday means you need to take Wednesday off.
“Geez boss, I was swinging that hammer pretty hard building that house yesterday. I’m thinking I need to rest today to be ready for tomorrow…..”
When you pitch in a game, especially at Major League level, as a reliever there are a lot of warm up pitches. Some night you warm up and are not called upon. Shoulder, neck upper arm, elbow, wrist, fingers all can and do become somewhat inflamed to such a degree that it is enough to throw a player off even just a little bit. He did not want that outcome and certainly thought he could pitch through it. I think that performance was a learning lesson for than one Angels personnel.
Not all Relief Pitchers are capable of being used two nights in a row.
Yep – thanks. When it comes to how pitching staffs are handled these days, my first question is “what would Bob Gibson do?”
Terrible game, but, at least, good thing we have some OF depth to spare.
Compliments to the web site team for the new improvements, btw!
We need to be on full alert. Bedrosian got cut loose today because he got shelled too often. If Perry brings him back, I will be driving to Anaheim with my Fungo bat and rip liners off the facade of the Big A. Of course, ales will be involved.
I hope we give some of the players on the team a chance before we go chasing Cam. Faria? Detmers? Sandoval? Hopefully Pena is back before long.
Mayers had a bad outing, and maybe should go out there two days in a row, but we are much improved from the days of Cam being our go-to high-leverage arm.
Can we petition the league to switch divisions? This is getting ridiculous.
First of all, we’re on pace for 91 wins now, which is slightly above our true talent IMO.
Second, for years I’ve wanted higher usage of our best relievers. A commenter in the Gamethread pointed out that perhaps Mayers should not have gone so long last night if he was an option today, but I’ve heard that once a pitcher warms up and comes into the game, there’s not a lot of difference between him throwing a few pitches and many pitches, as long as he doesn’t go over what he’s capable of. Basically, Mayers is a top-2 guy in the pen, and I would like to see him pitch more if he keeps up his performance level. Maddon did that.
Don’t bring measured reason into this now……I just rented the dumpster.
To me looks like we have more than bullpen management issues…SP is still suspect, our best pitcher is having trouble with, blisters, walking batters (as they all are) and getting out of the 4th inning. Lot of errors, a lot of almost errors. Not much team speed and in reality we pretty much need to hit it 442 feet, with new record exit velocity each time to score runs.
Still think the dumpster is warranted, I’ll give it a week.
On to Houston.
I just rented a dumpster from “Waste Management”.
Already planning my “2021 White Hot Tesla Battery Burn” as disillusionment and loss of hope set in, with 9 and 1/4 days remaining……in April.
Generally the same shit, different season.
Bummer of an ending. We’ve been used to late inning offense. Got to admit I left as Mayers was coming in (to ‘coach’ 3 y/o soccer). This one really hurt as our bullpen is worn down going into 10 more games against AL west opponents?
I’ll go read that TBW article to take my mind off this one.
This loss had – for me, at least – salt rubbed into with the way OAK won their 11th straight today.
This is what kills me. How can Oakland do this year in and year out with a cheaper than cheap owner? Why can we not figure it out?
I guess it comes down to them having better players despite us having Mike Trout.
Remember when Oakland lost their first six games and the experts said they were done for the year. I do, but I bet those experts would like to forget.
Remember when we lost our first 14 out of 20 games?
I still do but with every passing year its becoming more & more distant.
We seem very skilled at losing early in the season, which we follow up by losing some more as the season progresses.
The Angels have better individual players, but the A’s consistently build a better team.
Two words. Butter. Cup.
Guerra balked in a run. Classic Angels blowpen
Angels Bullpen – a trAdition unlike any other.
TFW you use a guy in a day game after he throws 1.2 the night before and he proceeds to give up a 3-run DINGR…
Blownpen
From having the bases loaded and a chance to ice the win to giving up a walk, walk, bomb, bomb and blowing the lead.
Brutal loss.
I was hoping Maddon would save Mayers for Houston. Now after back to back days and a meltdown I have to imagine he’s out tomorrow. Also no C-Rod for a couple of days.
Yeah I think there’s talent in the bullpen but how Madden is using them makes me question his judgement. Don’t tax em. I do worry about all the walks from SP and RP. This needs to get fixed sooner vs later.