The tone for most of the game was set in the first inning when Shohei Ohtani blasted a full count change-up that Aaron Judge would hop up and catch over the wall. He then turned around in the bottom half of the inning and put the game out of hand by hitting a ball with almost precisely the same distance and exit velocity, but to a better part of the ballpark. Of course, the Angels were only down 2 runs and Griffin Canning wouldn’t surrender another run, but bad sequencing and failure to capitalize in key moments would make it appear that the game was destined for tragedy.
In the 8th, however, Hunter Renfroe found a gap in the infield with a ground ball, advanced on a balk, and made it home on a single that Gio Urshela had absolutely no business hitting to tie it up and keep hopes of an early series win alive in New York. Judge would make another great –this time, diving– catch to snub Brandon Drury and keep the Angels from taking the lead, but it finally felt like a battle.
Except it wouldn’t really be. Matt Moore came in in extras, put Aaron Judge on first because who wouldn’t, hit the next batter, and induced a one-out game-winning sacrifice fly. Game over.
A very anti-climactic end to a very boring game, a combination that doesn’t come all that often. The Angels still have a chance to take the series tomorrow, assuming they don’t go 1-15 with RISP again.
It took me a year to understand Gitch-speak.
I feel that the level of optimism that he recently expressed on the team’s prospects this year are a sign of good things to come.
I feel much better about things…..
Our prospects are a sign of…. things that will come
Yeah, I used to butt heads with him a lot more than I do now lol
Now you have to figure out Tootsie-speak.
Good luck.
And now you know the true meaning of freedom
Just bought tickets for Friday’s game. Hopefully we get Shohei on the mound that night.
I’ve only seen him pitch live once somehow, and it was last year in Detroit when he was sick and really struggled.
You certainly cant blame him for being sick in Detroit.
Downtown Detroit was surprisingly nice actually. Very unexpected.
Yeah, what’s depressing about Detroit is it’s collapse. The place has amazing architecture all over the place, cool history, it’s a border city, old school sports teams, a really cool art and band scene, diverse population…. it’s just a shame it got driven into the ground by Arte.
I honestly think that, if they get a few legislative things right, Detroit’s got a lot of opportunity for people who can handle winter. Start ups, small manufacturing, etc can start their and workers can afford it. Land is cheap. They also pretty much have the classiest uniforms in baseball history.
Detroit has some architectural and “vibe” similarities to Chicago – though smaller and FAR less people.
Greek Town is cool.
So, the team feels like it’s basically .500. Perhaps they can maintain that level of goodness (though with the obligatory self-fulfilling doom we feel when we watch each game) and come up with a couple of 12-3, or two or three 7-3 stretches to eek a wild card slot. It’s still spring, so hope…blah, blah, blah
I’m stoked that Canning is proving to be a useful addition. Just like franchise icon Tucky D.
Neto! Yeeeeaaaaah!
That loss didn’t even feel like a loss. It felt like the end of the third round or something…. like there should be more innings where real stuff happens.
How many games have we seen where the Angels can’t get the ghost runner home? Pretty remarkable.
Damn ghost runners. Cheap Arte should have just paid those Ghostbusters!
Are you aware of the definition of insanity?
This is where, if I were a total dickhead, I’d say something about Loup and Tepera not being DFAd yet….
it is, according to Sophocles (as related by Plato) to be a dickhead *without* saying anything about Loup or Tepera
Being an Angels and UCLA fan? Unfortunately I’m both. 02 was good, 95… Cade mcnown 98.. um yeah, might be 10-9 tomorrow! It’s looking up
I am an Angels, Colts, and Purdue fan. I feel your pain.
Oh yeah, my bloodstream is full of angel dust and I’m driving in a stolen Yugo RIGHT NOW!
Boiler Up?
I’m not even a colts fan and am still bummed Andrew Luck retired haha. Loved watching him play
I listened to Victor’s podcast today. Not sure if his numbers are exactly right, but he said all teams will win sixty, lose sixty. The great teams will dominate the remaining ones. We are not a great team, or even that good, because we usually can’t take care of business in this type of close game.
Its pretty much the reason why i’ve stopped watching sports in general.
we will always win 60 and lose 60 (indisputable facts) , but the 1 run game will always be decided by the other team and there’s a drive into deep left by Castellanos and that’ll be a home run. and so that’ll make it a 4-0 ballgame.
I just applaud your decision not to watch if it’s just gonna bum you out.
Thanks.
Enjoy Something
I’m enjoying this right now.
But if we can just DFA Rendon we’d be the BESTEST TEAM EVER, right?
That loss was frustrating but there was a lot of positive. We went toe to toe with a good club and their best player single handedly made the difference. We had some borderline calls that didn’t go out way either. Razor thin margin of defeat.
Positive takeaways:
– Canning looks like a very serviceable 5th starter. I like what I’m seeing so far.
– Neto looked great tonight on offense and defense.
– As long as Loupera doesn’t pitch, we have a solid bullpen. Not lights out but good enough to be competitive.
Not so positive:
– Thaiss should not be on a major league roster.
– Severe lack of clutch plays. I’m not sure Trout has a single clutch moment all year. Does he have any RBI during crunch time?
– I am not sure about Estevez. He has a decent ERA and K/9 but his WHIP is insanely high. He was barely producing whiffs tonight, so many foul balls
It seemed like alot of ball/strike calls went in favor of New York. What else is new..
Trout actually drew that walk in the 10th — he was his consistent self — didn’t chase outside the zone. It was Renfroe that did not come through in the big spot, stranding Mike at 3rd when all he needed was a medium fly ball or grounder up the middle to bring him it. Still hard to be mad at Renfroe with the big HR’s and all the RBI’s lately … But loss was not on Trout. No way.
Sorry, Mike was Ghost Runner in 10th.
I think you meant the 9th. Apparently Nevin agreed with you since he got tossed after that.
When Joe Torre did our PxP years ago with Reggie he advocated for a new stat called a “Squander” ( kind of like a LOBster) that a team would get counted against them when a player was at 3rd with less than 2 outs or at second with no outs and did not score. I have always liked this concept since you don’t necessarily need to get a hit in those situations to score a run.
Tonight we had 3 squanders.
Neto was stranded after a leadoff double in the 3rd
Trout was stranded in the 6th after he and Rendon got singles to start the inning.
Trout was left at third as the ghost runner in 10th
Any of those would have won the game for us. It’s not uncommon to have one squander a game but 3? Good teams just don’t do that. They find a way to convert these opportunities. Our line up should be deep enough so this is not a problem.
I like that concept of the squander. We seem to have lots of those. The 02 team I felt never had them, always made productive outs
Now THAT was a bullpen!
Yeah, unfortunately Renfroe sad tromboned our shot at the win. It happens.
I am not blaming Trout for the loss by any means. Just pointing out that it doesn’t feel like he has come through once all season when we’ve really needed him to. I can’t remember him being instrumental in any come back wins this year.
Have we had any come back wins this year?
We’ve had 4 or 5 wtf losses. Isn’t it time we had a wtf win; I mean it should even out right?
We almost had a wtf win versus Toronto. That game was nuts. But, you know, ghost runners and stuff. We are haunted by the ghost runner.
I’ve accepted trout is who he is at this point. A .280 37-40 HR 190k guy who doesn’t steal. His Obp was down to .369 last year career low, tho at least that’s back up so far to .440s. I’d love a .311 48 hr season like vlad jr had 2 years ago, a .320 .440 45, if hits .280 then .280 .420 55 just one of those awesome seasons, lead league in ops+ again like 2015-19. I hope he can get back to being that player.
Well good for you . I’m glad to see the counseling is finally paying off
I mean Trout still can’t hit a high fastball or a good fastball which is why he doesn’t come through in the clutch, and is also why he strikes out a lot, 3ks tonite 8ks in last 3 on pace for 190. Ohtani strikes out a lot, tho not as much, but there is not a pitch he has as much trouble with as trout and the fastball. Ohtani comes through in big moments way more and it shows: .314 avg RISP last year .412 so far this year to trouts .243 RISP last year .222 so far this year. And I think there is that stat of Ohtani having amazing high SLG% with 2 outs and RISP ( while holding batters to lowest SLG% like .200 with RISP). And trout never used to chase pitches way off plate see that way more in big moments now like tonight. Whatever he is what he is .280 36-40 Ks a lot and doesn’t really come through when matters.
Agree with much of this, but I would add that I “watched” today’s game via ESPN gamecast and according to the batting average by zone (9 total), Trout is below .150 average on the lower 3rd of the zone – The lower zone is where he’s traditionally feasted.
Not stealing seems to be an organizational decision out of caution so I’m willing to give him a bit of a pass there, but the K rate is alarming indeed and has been for about 4 seasons and counting.
At least the BB’s are up a bit.
Factual evidence! Not surprised that the stats back up the eye test. I wonder how Trout’s whiff rate this year compares to past years. It feels like he can’t make contact with anything so far this season.
Found it on FanGraphs. His career contact % on pitches inside the zone is 87.1%. So far this year he is at a career low 74.7%.
Out of the zone – career 68.3%, this year 61.5%. Tied with 2021 for the second worst mark of his career.
Damn, but that unfortunately backs up what I’ve been seeing for awhile now
Wow to be down 13% inside zone is a lot. Hopefully he turns it around
To me it seems like he is fouling off alot of pitches that he usually drives… Alot of fastballs fouled off to the right for instance ..
So, you are saying Trout has hit his floor – which is good for 8th in the MVP race in the AL. I mean you take that every day and twice on Sunday and thank your lucky stars.
I am so amazed that everyone is so down on Trout. How did the big match up in NY become Shohei vs. Judge when even this year Mikey (non-clutch Trout) he still has higher WAR that NY’s 6’7″ giant.
Well they are the last 2 MVPs, shohei is shohei and judge was .311 62 211 ops+ last year and robs home runs. I would love trout to reinsert himself in that convo, outhit judge.
I think the Saturday game vs the Blue Jays was actually a comeback win.
estevez is like 6ft 6 and throwing 96 mph HEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
96 MPH heat that was out of the strike zone and not producing whiffs
According to FanGraphs, Trout is more clutch this year than he has been most of this career (third highest, after MVP 2014 and ROY 2011).
At least the Mariners got swept at home by the Brewers. They went 0-3 . So, that is something to feel happy about …
Start spreadin’ the news!
Man – have a look-see at Oakland’s run differential!!!
Yeah, they are like the inverse of the Rays !!
We really should have swept them. Missed opportunity due to Nevin and Loup.
We’ll get another chance at home next week — let’s hope we don’t screw it up by going 2-2 lol.
Also big time missed opportunity due to shitty run production against an inferior pitcher that night too.
This. Good. Yes.
Angels didn’t have a ghost runner of a chance to get to the 11th.
I hate the ghost runner.
Not a fan of the ghost runner rule
Big lobster fest.
Canning – solid
FMTT. Fu*k me to tears. Just not clutch this season at all.
Player of the Game!
He didn’t help us!!! Need ghostbusters!
Put him in pinstripes
an expansion club should name themselves The Ghosts. Dudes could have some seriously dope uniforms and color ways. But they will probably be called the Confident Ones or Nurse Heroes…. or the fans will vote and a bunch of kids will force the team to be called the Peach Princesses or something.
That sucked.