Angels Shut Out White Sox 5-0!

Today’s pitching matchup is Griffin Canning versus Davis Martin. Martin is not a superstar but appears to be a competent pitcher by the numbers. I have a bad feeling about this. Last year, Griffin Canning had a good game against the White Sox. That was last year, though.

Inning #1:

Nicky Lopez got a leadoff hit but was gunned down attempting to steal second base. Meanwhile Luis Robert Jr. had struck out. Andrew Benintendi flied out to right field. Taylor Ward also lead off with a base hit. Zach Neto flied out to left field. Nolan Schanuel hit into a double play.

Inning #2:

Andrew Vaughn grounded out to first to start this inning. Gavin Sheets flied out to center field. Lenyn Sosa grounded out to short. Niko Kavadas then struck out swinging. Logan O’Hoppe grounded out to the shortstop Nicky Lopez. Eric Wagaman flied out to left.

Inning #3:

Dominic Fletcher popped out to Eric Wagaman at third. Korey Lee struck out swinging. Miguel Vargas singled on a ground ball through to center. Nicky Lopez flied out to left. Charles Leblanc drew a walk. Jordyn Adams popped out to second base. Gustavo Campero singled on a sharp liner to Dominic Fletcher in right field. He was out on the throw at first (from right to shortstop to first). Charles Leblanc made it to second base. Taylor Ward singled on the ground to left and Charles Leblanc scored. 1-0 Angels.

Ward took second on the throw. Zach Neto hit into a fielder’s choice out by Taylor Ward at third.

Inning #4:

Luis Robert Jr. struck out swinging. So did Andrew Benintendi. Andrew Vaughn flied out to left. Nolan Schanuel walked. Niko Kavadas singled on a liner to right. Logan O’Hoppe struck out swinging. Eric Wagaman singled on the ground to left scoring Nolan Schanuel. 2-0 Angels.

Charles Leblanc flied out to right as did Jordyn Adams.

Inning #5:

Gavin Sheets walked. Lenyn Sosa struck out swinging. Dominic Fletcher singled on the ground out to right field. Korey Lee bounced into a double play started by Eric Wagaman. Gustavo Campero singled on a grounder through to center fielder Luis Robert Jr. Taylor Ward struck out swinging while Campero stole second base. Zach Neto flied out to Benintendi in left. Nolan Schanuel doubled to right scoring Gustavo Campero. 3-0 Angels.

Then Niko Kavadas struck out.

Inning #6:

Miguel Vargas struck out looking. Nicky Lopez walked. Luis Robert Jr. flied out to right field. Andrew Benintendi flied out to Taylor Ward in left. Logan O’Hoppe flied out to center field. Eric Wagaman homered for the second night in a row. 4-0 Angels.

Now, Charles Leblanc came up and walked. He promptly got picked off. The Angels challenged the call and Leblanc was ruled safe.

Jordyn Adams struck out swinging and Gustavo Campero grounded out to first to make it all pointless.

Inning #7:

Brock Burke came in to replace Griffin Canning. Andrew Vaughn struck out swinging. Gavin Sheets grounded out to first. Lenyn Sosa lined out to right. Taylor Ward beat out a throw from the White Sox shortstop for an infield hit. He then stole second base. Zach Neto flied out to center. Nolan Schanuel grounded out to advance Ward to third. Ward scored on a wild pitch (by Jake Eder). 5-0 Angels.

Niko Kavadas walked. Logan O’Hoppe struck out looking.

Inning #8:

Hunter Strickland came in to pitch. Dominic Fletcher singled to lead off the inning. Korey Lee struck out swinging. Miguel Vargas flied out to left. Nicky Lopez singled on a liner to center field. Luis Robert Jr. struck out swinging. Eric Wagaman singled on the ground through to right. Jack Lopez reached first base on a “hit by pitch.” Jordyn Adams hit into a double play. Wagaman was now at third with two outs. Gustavo Campero grounded out to second base to end the inning.

Inning #9:

Ryan Miller now replaced Hunter Stricklend. Andrew Benintendi grounded out to first base. Andrew Vaughn reached on a weird-hop single toward right that got past Schanuel. Gavin Sheets grounded into a double play to second. The Angels won 5-0! All right. I’m done trying to predict these things. Luckily I don’t gamble on sports.

Photo credit: Rex Fregosi