Reid Detmers gets the final start of the season. The future is now nd he is the guy standing in the way of the Mariners happiness. He can crush them, he has the talent. He could also have a dud today, as he hasn’t pitched in quite a while.
Recap
Angels strike first
Ohtani lead off the game with a solo shot for home run 46 and RBI 100!
Gosselin hit a single to make it 2 straight hits to start the game. Walsh popped up. Then the Mariners messed up a pickoff and Gosselin got to third! A Suzuki pop up made it 2 outs, and Mayfield hit an infield single to get the second run across!
Mayfield stole second to put a runner in scoring position for Lagares. But he flied out to end the threat.
Detmers came back from the IL just in time to make his final start of the year. He allowed two 1 out walks, but was able to get through it with no damage. 2-0 Angels after 1.
The second started with a leadoff walk to Rojas. Rengifo scarified him over to 2nd, and Fletcher doubled him home!
Ohtani was IBB-ed, and Gosselin singled to load the bases. Walsh hit a sac fly to score the 4th run!
Suzuki struck out to end the threat.
Mariners Chase Detmers
Now with a 4-0 lead, Detmers gave up a run on a double, a wild pitch and a single. He got 2 outs but another single brought in another run. It was it for Detmers, a short outing ends his season. Not even 2 innings, 2 ER.
Oliver Ortega came in for the Angels. He got the final out of the inning. 4-2 Angels after 2.
Mayfield walked to lead off the 3rd. He moved over on the bunt by Lagares. Alas, they could not score as Rojas struck out and Rengifo flew out.
Oliver went back out there for the bottom of the 3rd, he allowed a 2 out single but no damage. Still 4-2 Angels.
Angels add on
Fletcher Flew out to start the 4th, Ohtani struck out, but Gosselin singled and Walsh hit one out, 6 runs now for the Angels!
With a 6-2 lead, Maddon went with Sam Selman. He allowed 2 hits to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs, and Maddon pulled him for Mike Mayers. Mayers was able to get the last out on a flyout. 6-2 Angels after 4.
Lagares led off the 5th with a single. He went to second on a botched pickoff attempt. Rojas struck out. As did Rengifo. But Fletcher came through with a no mans land triple! 7th run for the Angels!
Ohtani was IBB-ed, but Gosselin grounded out to end the threat.
Mayers went back out for the bottom of the 5th, a 7-2 lead in hand. He shut the Mariners down in order.
Walsh walked to lead off the 6th as the Mariners and their fans started losing hope. Suzuki walked. Mayfield hit into a fielders’ choice. Lagares struck out, but Mayfield stole second to put runners at 2nd and 3rd for Rojas. He struck out.
Mariners not dead yet
Mayers was out there for the bottom of the 6th. Marsh was healthy enough to play CF now. A single and a walk with 1 out was enough for Maddon and Mayers was pulled.
Jose Quijada was in now, the man who crushed the Mariners 2 days ago was now out there in a jam. A single loaded the bases with just 1 out. Mariners scored a run on a groundout, but it was the only one. 7-3 Angels after 6.
The Angels went down in order in the top of the 7th, it was the first time they did so today. It was fine, however, as Quijada had himself a 1-2-3 bottom of the 7th. Still 7-3 Angels after 7.
Angels once again go down in order in the 8th. New pitcher AJ Ramos was tasked with the 8th as Seattle’s hopes dwindled. He had a quick 1-2-3 inning.
Angels and Mariners end their seasons
Last AB for the Angels hitters. Mayfield singled to start off the 9th. Lagares flew out.
It was at this point when the season was over for the Mariners as the Red Sox won, eliminating the last chance the Mariners had before the final out. The announcement prompted the Mariners to give a standing ovation to Seager and they gave him 3B. Literally. The game was meaningless now, just the last chance to pad stats for both teams now.
Marsh struck out. Rengifo grounded out. Bottom of the 9th time.
D-Cell came in to end the season for both teams. The Angels have been perfect when leading after 8, and did so again today, a silver lining of 2021. Not a save, but a win for the Angels nonetheless.
The Angels win, crushing the Mariners hopes and dreams, a day removed from the 26th anniversary of the game that the Angels blew that kept the Mariners in Seattle. The Mariners have not made the playoffs since 2001. Mina Kimes and Meg Rowley in shambles.
Upcoming
The season is over. We now wait for Ohtani’s MVP, Fletcher to maybe get a Gold Glove, and Perry to make some moves. We will still have content here, so come back to stay informed. Thank you for sticking with us in this frustrating 2021 season.
I guess there weren’t enough people in Seattle who Believed.
Touche.
Add a healthy Trout and Rendon in 2021 and let’s say that’s 9 more wins bringing the team to 86 wins. Still not making the playoffs.
The bullpen is a HUGE weakness and needs to be improved significantly.
Also, starting pitching needs two starters- one Ace and one #2/3. The matter could probably be traded for with Adell as the centerpiece.
Do the above and sign a decent (not great – good) SS and this team could win 92 games.
Yeah, we were screwed day 1.
I like that a lot. I figure we need to bring in 4+ arms to the pen with swing and miss stuff and you’re spot on regarding the starters.
I’d love a SS with an attitude like Correa or Baez but that cannot be the priority.
Other tidbits: Continue to find baseball people who can help develop players, get an authentic pitching coach and find a replacement for Alex.
Can we replace Alex with Alex?
Just go get six new arms, a short stop, a catcher, oh and I want to throw in overhauling the scouting, player development and training/med staff… it should be pretty easy to do so little with so much time left in the off season.
There’s a couple of long weekends around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and Del Taco will be open with plenty of seating.
Villar or Galvis?
Also, hasn’t the bullpen improved as the season progressed (along with the rotation). I think we have been blowing less late leads in the second half (but that is just my eyes, haven’t checked the stats). We still need bullpen pieces, but we have a start, if we re-sign Iglesias, Mayers, Warren, Quijada. Maybe CRod in a bullpen role?
Taylor
Yeahhhh… we should look a little closer at Taylor’s track record at SS.
MLBTR did a break down of Taylor – and I have two quotes in take away. First, is he a SS? Here is he compared to a group of FA SS (Correa, Semien, Story, Seager).
Secondly, he will not be cheap. The two names he is compared to here are Baez and Story – not just in terms of skill but also in terms of costs.
So, not likely a cheaper alternative (especially coming off the All-Star season).
I want Villar a lot. Galvis isn’t too bad a pick either, but Villar will have some use even if one of our SS prospects were to take a big leap. Thus it wouldn’t be a total waste to offer him an extra year on a contract if that’s what gets him here. Like 3 years 18M….
My opinion is that the bullpen needs to be ‘improved’. That can be by promoting talent from the minors to the big squad or hoping that pieces like Mayer’s and Q can do the job. However, what is clear to me is pitchers like Cishek cannot occupy leverage positions on the team. Nor can any pitcher prone to walks.
I’d be fine with any of the guys you mentioned in lower leverage situation. I’d like to see Raisel signed for the 9th and a couple strong relievers with good control and stuff for the 8th and 7th inning roles.
So – long answer – there are some pieces in place that can be used in lower leverage situations. However the only guy who seems capable of handling high leverage currently on the staff is Raisel.
That is fair enough, but it also (helpfully) sets the bar lower. We don’t need an entire new pen. We need to keep those members (all from the latter half of the season, barring Mayers) that can be used (and are also cheap). If we can get 2 guys (high-leverage capable) as you said, to augment the pen as is – I think we all sleep better.
(So, for my money, we need 2 SP, 2 RP, 1 mid-tier SS, and a backup catcher.)
Draft order out now. We tied with Detroit and the Mets and we slot in between them at 13
Mock at 13: Brock Porter, RHP, Orchard Lake St. Marys Prep (Mich.)
We can tell if the Angels scouting group is in on him based on whether or not his UCL replacement been scheduled.
This was fun even though it turns out the M’s would have been eliminated anyway. This abd Friday night were revenge for 1995.Winning 2-3 at their place to keep them out of the playoffs was FUN!!
Now if the Doggers can just be eliminated in the one game playoff, I can then enjoy the postseason with a smile on my face not really caring what happens.
I don’t know if anyone got to go look at the mariners gamethread, but man oh man, they HATE JOE AND THE ANGELS!!! Every other entry, “f#@k the Angels!” Did they think we were just going to let them win?? They are close to the last team we would ever do anything for. A couple of their entries were downright nasty!! I was hoping I could get in there and post.
It’s just funny like, if we put ohtani out there as a starting pitcher for one of these games then I’d have some inclination to agree with them. However, we handed the wildcard to them on a silver platter with the Salt Lake bees of anaheim
Glad to see that lousy organization get shut down. As far as I am concerned they can miss the playoffs until the end of time.
I am not optimstic about the off-season. I’m very concerned about the quality of the free agents available. Scherzer is very old and will cost a ton of money. I could easily see us spending nine figures on several who could seriously tank.
That all said, I’m sorry the season is over, and can’t wait for next year to start.
I like that, No. 2…”burnish.” If Shohei does not win the MVP, I will drive to Manfred’s home with my fungo and ping shots off his front door. I know its the writers but the commish is the target.
46 HRs, 100 RBI, 9-2, .965 OPS, 3.1 ERA, 156 Ks in 130 innings, 26 stolen bases.
And all that would have been WAY better with Trout and Rendon batting around him and a bullpen that was halfway decent.
And still: Vlad Jr will get a LOT of 1st place votes. Just watch.
Yeah. The problem with this off season is that they either have to sign no one…. and probably suck, or roll the dice, sign some guys (if guys will sign here, I think the idea we can pry Max away from LA is silly) and risk sucking and paying a lot of money to do it.
At this point though, with the offense we have when healthy, this (and next) season would be the rare instances where I’d go all out payroll wise. You gotta try and make the post season now to maximize the value of Rendon/Trout/Ohtani. Having “star power” isn’t the bad thing some people think it is, it can make the team a lot of money, but if he’s gonna make money off it Arte’s gotta spend a little more now.
Are we entirely sure max doesn’t want to play in a secondary market for less?
So…. you’re saying there’s a chance!
My source said Max’s wife hates Orange County and will not travel south/east of the 605.
God it would suck if it gets that specific. “My wife says she doesn’t look good in red so….”
When this team is healthy all around it will be an offensive force to be reckoned with. SS, Catcher, and pitching, both starting and relief will turn this team from perennial loser to a serious contender.
I’m pretty optimistic! I’ve said it before but if I were perry resigning iglesias and Cobb would be my number one priority. Sandoval and Suarez have been amazing surprises! Rendon and trout need to be healthy to protect ohtani. I agree with you the free agent market has some very over the hill starters that will cost way too much money but I think we have to go with one of those veteran aces. If anything you could consider the money spent on them to be investments to be a clubhouse leader and teach our young hurlers. Ala Maddux and kershaw(not sure if dodgers paid Maddux a lot of money back then, but I recall commentators gushing about how he is a potential teacher to kershaw).
Anyway, got to break the bank on pitching to convince ohtani to stay, let’s win 2022
Now let’s win the off season!
Like we did in 2018?
It’s always nice to go out with a win. Not the best of seasons but there was Ohtani and that was a very special year from him. Proud to be an Angels fan. Thank you for the good articles everyone
Okay, now that the season is over and the glaring pitching chasm has been identified (2015 for most here), I would like to propose to NOT have Matt V back in the booth next year ( French, Mota, who ever) and please MLB, let the announcers travel with the team. Having them announce from a feed is horrible.
Congratulations to The Angels winning their final game of the season.
Can I double Rec or is that not allowed?
Announcers ( and beat writers for that matter) should be required to travel with the team. Make em get extra booster shots and/or wear haz mat suit, I really don’t care. But its a joke watching these guys call a game or (write about it) when there in a trailer in a parking lot or sitting in their living room.
We might as well as start our own PxP CTPG Podcast
Exactly, I would rather listen to Rahul, Rev, Jessica, HT, Jeff Joiner, Charles, , John Henry, etc. announce the game at that point v. Matt V. Gubi and Jose are fine but I still want them traveling with the team.
I really like Rich Waltz, not fancy, not clueless. Worked well with both Gubi and Jose. Keep him, probably cheaper than Matt V.
I think Patrick O’Neal maybe a better choice to work with Gubi. But I’ll give Waltz another season.
Waltz was off calling college football games, I was watching one of the games he called. Pac12 or Mountain West conference. Just don’t like these part timers.
Wantz is terrible. Is it really necessary to pimp every home run like the Angels just walked off Game 7 of the World Series? Guess I’m old school, I don’t like and never did like “homer” announcers.
I don’t like obvious homers. I grew up listening to Scully, so he is my barometer.
Scully wasn’t a homer? Your ears do indeed hear different.
Scully was a Farmer John homer. “The Eastern most in Quality, the Western most is n flavor!”
Loved his reading of those adds. He was a top notch pitch man as well as the greatest play by play announcer ever.
No. He was not.
Saying he was not a homer does not mean he didn’t want the LAD to win, he did. But it was not obvious by the way he did the game. He did not actively “root” for the Dodgers on the air in the way the midwest announcers root for the Cubs and White Sox etc.
You are wrong on this one gitch.
Obviously, nobody compares to Scully.
But you are right about homer announcers; Scully always struck the perfect balance — you could feel his excitement when the Dodgers did well, but he was not a “homer.”
He was never “rooting” for the Dodgers on the air even though you knew he wanted them to win. But more importantly, his first love was the game of baseball and he always showed appreciation for a great play, even if it came from the opponent.
See, I’m not old enough to just love Scully cause Scully. I’m not saying he’s bad, or being a homer is bad. Other than just saying he was more deadpan than a screamer like Sutton I just don’t see much difference in the homer level. The words coming out of Scully’s mouth were always pushing the Dodgers, their history and their current team’s players…. and hot dogs. I totally got the sense he was rooting for the Dodgers, it just never bothered me because I figure that’s to be expected. I hear our guys note the good play or qualities of opposing players too and they do, indeed, appear to also love baseball, not just the Angels.
I just think a lot of the “this guys a homer, this guy isn’t” is just the speaker building a technical argument cause he can’t just come out and say “I just don’t like this PxP guy.”.
Honestly, it’s ok to just say “This guys job is to talk, and I don’t really like the way he talks.” Kind of like, even if he was totally read up and locked in with the Angels (which he never was) I still just don’t enjoy Matty V very much.
The Pitcher or the play by player?
I second the notion to separate from Matt V. We don’t need a big time, big name announcer. Or someone who is going to switch in and out to cover their other contractual commitments. Arte/Carpino/Kuhl could not even get this right.
Why can’t we have one guy to grow into the position full-time to build up comradery? Thankfully, we got radio covered, Terry and Langston are excellent.
and…put our own Jeff Joiner on the selection committee.
I liked Pat O’Neal as pxp announcer
Unfortunately, Mr De Mornay has voice modulation problems on his PxP.
Wow, he’s almost a decade younger than his former wife? :O. I was thinking he was pretty old, but he’s quite younger than I had figured.
Me too. I thought he, Gubi, and Mota were really smooth and comfortable in their dialogue while keeping the game interesting.
I know it’s satisfying to know that the Angels did their part in getting the Ms eliminated from postseason. But at the same time. I would rather be in the place of Mariners’ fans today, watching with bated breath on whether they will make the postseason on the last day of the season.
I like how Maddon was emphasizing to the players that this is playoff atmosphere, that you should relish this feeling and you want to play in this atmosphere next year.
Hoping to get some real help this offseason.
Yeah I often wonder about this very point. Better to make the playoffs and crash-and-burn like 2014, or not make it at all like 2015. But after seven years, I’ll take a 2014 finish.
Not me.
To have a great regular season and then get swept in the first round is such a major disappointment and letdown.
At least if you win a couple of games in the postseason it is probably worth the trouble. But to get swept right out of the gate? No thanks.
The Mets comparison is getting old so…
Are we the Padres of the AL or are they the Angels of the NL?
I listened to the mariners post game show on the radio. They sounded like somebody died. Very somber. Eventually they got around to talking about the rosy future. But it ain’t here now.
I was watching the Mariners broadcast when Walsh homered yesterday to put the Angels up. Their way-too-homerish announcers sounded like someone told them their children had been killed in a fiery car crash.
Too bad our blowpen (coughcishek!) couldn’t hold on. Then again, it extended Mariners fans hopes into today, only be DASHED ON THE SHARP TREACHEROUS ROCKS BELOW!!! MUahhahahaha…Muahahahaha (coughgaspcoughgasp) Muahahahaha!
Man, I need to get outside and go for a soothing walk. I feel a My Team Sucks Again psychosis coming on.
Ya know what would make me laff my ass off?
The Cardinals beating the Doyers on Wed.
At the same time, there’s something wrong with winning 106 during the regular season, only to be knocked out in a 1-game winner-take-all dealio. Imagine if it happened to us.
They should have won their division. But I think they’ll trounce StL.
Yea, serves ’em right for not winning 108 games.
Its all because of the extra playoff team. Before two wild cards the Dodgers would go directly to the NLDS versus the Giants.
Wouldn’t they have gone to the NLDS vs the best team NOT in their division? IIRC, the 5-team playoffs ended that stupid ass rule that always wound up having us face the Chowds.
The Angels, Tigers and Mets all finished with the same losing record, 77-85. Draft selection will be 11, 12 or 13 depending on the tie breaker. In past years, they looked at the previous season records. If they use this as the tie breaking criteria, Angels and Mets had the identical record in 2020. Could be a coin flip to determine 12th.
Ok…Angels got the 13th pick. They jammed a compensation pick to the Mets at 11 for not signing Rocker. That is what occurs if a player in the Top 10 (Rocker was 10) does not sign. Later in the round, I believe the compensation pick goes to the end.
So the Mets get 11 and 14. Tigers 12. Nationals did a great job tanking, No. 5.
I was at a Nats game on Friday, vs. the Chowds. The Nats had the most Angels inning ever — bases loaded, nobody out. K. K. Groundout.
Didn’t the Nats win on Friday though?
Nice to see Jose Iglesias help his team get to the post-season. Think he was happy about getting dumped by Perry?
No. I don’t think he was “happy.”
I’d go with something like “ecstatic.”
And now he gets the watch the Red Sox battle in the playoffs form the confines of his own home just like all the rest of his ex-Angel teammates.
Tony Watson is still in it
Watson went on the I/L 5 days ago with a strained shoulder so it looks like he’ll be at home on the couch with the remote too.
Oh yea wow that’s right: he was added too late in the season.
Yeah, but he no longer got to high-ten Ohtani when hit hit homers. Very few fingers hit after Jose left. Connection?
Yeah, Jose was always on the field greeting Ohtani before he entered the dugout after a bomb. Iglesias seemed tight with Shohei,
a good team guy..
Dude, are you speaking in code?
I hate the Mariners. So glad we crushed their postseason hopes.
Read their gamethread. They don’t care much for us either. Lol
When Devers was thrown a strike in the top of the 9th in DC, he hit it about 430 to dead center for a 7-5 Red Sox lead. THAT was what ended it for the Mariners. We just poured salt on their wounds.
Which I’m definitely okay with, tbh.
Trying not to be a Debbie Downer, but: not talked about much: the gathering reputation of the Angels’s org as a toxic losing mentality team that doesn’t seem to care. Fish rotting from the head down, etc.
I see this as an underrated factor in the difficulty of signing good FAs.
The only thing besides a shit-ton of $$$$ would be for Trout and/or Ohtani to personally reach out to potential FAs. Preferably both. If we can get TWO SPs who can reliably get through 6 or 6 2/3 innings…that would be huge.
I don’t understand this line about not signing FAs. We do, often, just not ones that pan out.
Sure, we would have preferred Cole to Rendon – but signing Rendon is still signing a FA, no?
I should’ve been clearer, as I have been on about five other posts today: ALL WE NEED IS PITCHING. All else is secondary.
I wouldn’t be surprised if some day 15 years from now or whatever we read about Gerrit Cole saying he didn’t want to sign with the Angels because of their toxic reputation. Or any other pitcher “we couldda had.”
Can you really believe anything that Gerrit Cole says now or in the future? I can’t
We added Quintana and Cobb on the pitching side. One of which worked out. Sure, Cobb was a trade (for Jam Jones), but a good find, no?
But yes, I would hope we sign 2 starting pitchers and better bullpen pieces this offseason. I just hate the narrative that Arte (or whoever) isn’t spending money or trying to win.
This year the FAs were duds too, right?
Was D-Cell a free agent or a trade?
We traded Noe to the Reds for him
Perry CRUSHED that trade. I was feeling that was the start of something good.
I’m personally happy our toxicity has made mainstream MLB news and that Trout and Shohei are speaking out about “fix this ish now!” I love our young guys coming up and getting the experience this year. PLEASE sign some stud pitching, Arte. On an another note, f the m’s and 1995. 😁
I agree, but the Mariners this year were contending for the playoffs with one of the best bullpens, solid defense, good record in close games even with mediocre SP pitching and horrible batting. Getting at least 1 ace, improving the bullpen and defense could vastly change the outlook for next season. Add 2 SP pitchers, then ya that should help contend for the division.
All your points are valid but one thing thats was brought up about Mariners season was that they actually hit extremely well with RISP especially in key situations which is how they squeaked out so many close games. I guess if you are going to choose your spots to hit.
I’d be worried about this if the FAs the Angels were trying to sign were a bunch of fatletes off of an Angel’s blog, but they aren’t. They do need to see that the org is spending to win, but all of the other stuff…. you think they aren’t aware of other Skaggs like situations in the MLB? Or that scrubs in the MiLB systems they came up in aren’t poor (especially when Covid made it impossible for them to live where they normally live)?
If the money is there, and it’s there for multiple players, most FAs who aren’t just dead set on being somewhere else for family reasons etc will at least consider signing here. They need to get paid and they need to see who else is coming aboard.
I liked the fight and heart in the team. I don’t think they ever stopped competing just not great talent beyond IL in too many positions. Glad they didn’t roll over in final series. See you guys next year or until a few articles get posted where we can second guess Perry!
Holy crap! Congrats on being the Ideal Angels Fan. I used to be like you, but not making the playoffs for 7 straight years kinda makes me into a Bad, Nasty, No-Good fan.
Kudos to you. Imma tryna be more like you, Chalk.
Then you better start choking up a little higher on that bat handle then.
Man. That non-prospect Jared Walsh sure likes to beat the poop out of Seattle.
Glad we ruined Seattle’s chances at a playoff spot. Much to be done as far as the team/organization is concerned but all I can do is continue to be a good fan.