Angels 2 Astros 5
Framber Valdez was initially lined up to start this game before he was bumped back to a Friday start (against Shohei Ohtani). Unfortunately, Cy Rookie Ronel Blanco held the Angels to only 2 runs over 5.1 innings. The Houston bullpen did the rest.
Taylor Ward, who has been hot as of late, opened up scoring with this RBI single:
Probably THE biggest moment in this game that may have changed the entire result, was this terrible called strike 3 on Taylor Ward with the bases loaded. Phil Nevin was heated – as he should have been – and was subsequently tossed. We don’t really know what would have happened here, but we do know that was at least ONE run that should have scored with a WalkRBI
Brandon Drury launches one to the choo-choo tracks
Ben Joyce sighting! Blowing smoke past mini Altuve
Rough game for the Angels who were 2 for 10 with RISP and left 13 men on base.
I was actually marveling at how good the umpire was – he was calling a perfect game, then that call. It was the most impactful call of the year per UmpireScorecards. Overall with only 4 missed calls, he favored Houston by 2 runs.
https://twitter.com/UmpScorecards/status/1664641566965678081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1664641566965678081%7Ctwgr%5Ebe48d6929e81c42d8b445ca050b93c96e4ea46a0%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fumpscorecards.com%2Fsingle_game%2F%3Fgame_id%3D717936
Impactful.
Indeed.
???
One terribly timed terrible call was just….terrible, nevertheless other opportunities slipped through the Halos’ fingers. Pitching was pretty goodish, but expecting to win a MLB game with two runs just ain’t gonna do it.
Go Halos!!
Well, shit…
Just finished watching the game from recording.
Oh well. That was not amusing.
I agree with others… we should have broken through against that starter with 50 pitches in his first 2 innings and lots of walks. Shohei buried us with that brutal K with bases loaded and that guy on the ropes. And then we had a chance to come fully back and were blatantly robbed by the umpire, which should not happen and was super crap. That would have been a 1 run game, bases loaded, with Trout up.
….and what did Trout do? He popped out.
umpires make bad calls every game that go against both teams. The Angels lost because they couldn’t produce runs with runners in scoring position.
The solution for bad umpiring and PBP? Yes! AI
Was an Astros huge inning derailed by a blatantly wrong, horrible call that struck the batter out ?
The answer is no.
Indeed
Incredibly disappointing lost.
Not much else to say
I don’t know. – thought the Ohtani K with bases loaded was pretty huge too. That was a momentum shifter.
Angels were up 1-0, bases were loaded, Ohtani was at the plate with two outs. His strikeout in that situation turned the game around.
You Angels fans suffered horribly, I didn’t come in until the 4th inning, lol while crying at the same time my suffering while still tough, yours was brutal. 😄 
Thanks Jessica for not underplaying the game changing bogus strikeout of Ward. You acknowledged the importance of that, so thanks.
Not to excuse all the other LOBsters but that sequence of the game was huge. I saw an argument that Ward should have swung regardless because it’s 3-2. I disagree – Ward tracked that ball well as he should have. It was a good take. The score would have been 1 run closer with only ONE out. That change in the number of outs was the game changer.
Trout wudda hit into a double-play if Ward walked instead of K’ing.
But it would have been a 1 run game
Or he could have hit a sacfly and tied the game
Agree. You don’t swing there because a walk brings a run in — which is the result that technically happened. Ward and the Angels were robbed. Plain and simple.
But you predicted a sweep, are you behind the mass conspiracy against the Angels?
What is the difference between a “mass” conspiracy and a plain conspiracy ? How do you define “mass” in your own mind? More than three people ? More than five people ?
And what do you mean am I “behind” it ? Do I believe a plain conspiracy can happen? Yeah, sure. They happen every day. They have even been proven to have happened in Major League Baseball before : see 1981 shortened season and playoff format etc.
2:16 hours of a shit show Sad Donkey struggle session.
At least the pain was over more quickly than in past years.
Could be worse. Could have been 3 hours!
Anti Clutch Stat Monkey and The Murphy’s Law Gang
Total crap game. Between squandering opportunities and the horrible ump behind the plate, this was pretty unwatchable.
2024 isn’t that far away
Just really no hope that Trout or Ohtani will do anything when the Angels trail in the later innings. Maybe the expectations are too high, but that’s what the money is for.
Almost want someone other than Trout or Ohtani to bat when these RISP situations occur in late innings. When they do well, it seems they do their damage earlier in the game than late.
Where’s Pujols?
Yes, that is true.
I’m just not interested anymore in Trout or Ohtani. Let’s go young. Bring up a bunch of young guys who are hungry. It’s jus so much more fun to watch young players succeed then overpaid veterans fail.
Riverboat gambler, Dusty Baker, wins a crap shoot by starting a rookie Blanco. Pretty disappointing game where we could not come through with timely hits with multiple RISP.
Turn a page and move on.
Let me be the first to say, that was an absolute fucking travesty.
Boy I miss Rendon.
I miss Rendon and I miss managers fighting with umpires. That was fun, should happen more often with home plate umps calling balls and strikes.
We could have used his bat today. The bottom 4 of our lineup today were 7 for 16, but our top 3 could not come through when needed. Maybe it is time to consider separating Trout and Ohtani by two or three spots, i.e. Trout in 2 hole and Ohtani in 5 spot or vice versa. We had more hits than Houston today, but lost.
Yep. The Ward AB totally changed the game. That one bogus strike call turned it from a victory to a loss..
I think the Ohtani strike out with bases loaded in the second inning, and two outs was even bigger
Despite the call, the Angels still had Mike Trout at the plate with the bases loaded, a base hit away from tying the score. Trout hit a pop-up.
The context of the Trout AB was totally changed by what happened with Ward…
As MarineLayer said above the Ward walk would have “put the noose around the pitcher’s neck.” That puts MUCH more pressure on him and in addition to momentum for the Angels the pitchers’ confidence would have been hurt more by walking in a run etc