It was going to be a tall task to beat Pittsburgh tonight. Offensively the Angels were basically playing 8 on 9 so they needed Jose Soriano to bring his A game to the mound. Unfortunately he did not.
The big blow was that home run, a three run shot from Hall of Great Guy-er Andrew McCutchen that pushed the score to 5-1 Pirates and ended Soriano’s night. The one run on the board for the Angels came courtesy of what else but a solo home run; this one by Taylor Ward.
If you think the Angels only score on solo shots, you are right. Hard to blame Ward here as the pitcher’s spot was ahead of him in the lineup. But it has been a long time since the Angels put up a crooked number when hitting a longball.
In the home half of the 4th, the Angels scratched across two more runs to cut the deficit to 5-3. A Nolan Schanuel sacrifice fly plated Jorge Soler then a Jo Adell doubled punched in Logan O’hoppe.
Unfortunately that would be as close as the team go. Pittsburgh extended the lead to 6-3 in the top of the 5th. And the Halos were a bit fortunate to only be down three. The Pirates hit into 3 inning ending double plays over the first 8 innings or it would have been worse.
Walks to Taylor Ward and Mike Trout brought Jorge Soler to the plate as the tying run with 2 outs in the 8th inning. The Buccos went to their closer Dennis Santana who put Soler away on three pitches. Two of them were in the dirt but Soler swung anyway.
Ian Anderson came in to really put the game away in the 9th and he did, giving up another run to push the final score to 9-3.
Tomorrow former Angel Andrew Heaney toes the rubber for Pittsburgh. Our squad counters with Silent C. Hean-dog’s ERA starts with a 2, our guy’s starts with a 6.
If you’re looking for something to put a smile on your face today, here it is:
Joe Madden agrees with the silverliners got fired in May of 21.
Wash watch starts Now…
I’m feeling pretty good about the team’s performance thus far. There have been games that have created the feeling that the team could be in the playoffs much sooner than I previously thought, and there have been games that have illustrated that the young players have more work to do so that the growth can be sustained. It’s all good!
If the season were to end today and we were at .500 and missed the playoffs, I’d still consider it a success. Yes, I’d lament that with a few more wins, we could have made the playoffs—but that’s what being a fan is all about.
Keep playing the kids.
Wash watch.
Wait…no pictures of all the coaches we could have had…but didn’t sign?
By the way, we missed you when the team was winning and playing well. Your constipation from not posting must have been painful. 🤔
So its water resistant?
Yes. .500 + maybe some trades for more kids + a solid draft and I’d feel like we got ahead of our curve and were setting up for some really good seasons down the line. I’d be almost as happy as a winning season.
Hit on a Perry Lotto pick or 2.
I am still optimistic about the long game as we progress slowly. The middle infield defense with Neto and Paris looks awesome, especially for someone who was supposed an outfielder. His hitting will adjust and we’ve seen his potential. Now we don’t have to count on Moore to play 2B and if and when he starts to hit he might be Ward’s replacement. Klassen and Detmers will likely replace Silent C and Hendricks/Anderson by next season if not before. These kinds of things will be shifting around all year as some guys wake up and by the end of the year we’ll have a much better idea of where the holes are. We have the draft and trades to add to our player pool.
I know it’s hard to watch sometimes because Soriano, Anderson, and Kikuchi have to win every start to offset the other 2 guys right now and that isn’t going to happen.
We’re moving slowly in the right direction, it’s just slow and painful for now.
I do agree with others with regard to “What in the world are our hitting coaches doing?”
If our offense continues to sputter by the end of May we have to replace the hitting coach. Jeez, I’d even consider bringing back Mickey Hatcher, anybody please.
My suggestion is Darin Erstad or Tori Hunter
Are they hitting coaches? Or are they just men who we wish would have a beer with us?
Both seem horrible drinking wingmen, for different reasons.
It would be nice to sit down and have a beer with them. Not sure just thinking about people who are linked to our organization and hit well. I just wish someone would interview the coaches and get their philosophy on what is going on. Some insight. Not that my curiousity means anything to them. Lol
Give the guy a season before passing judgment. It’s way too early to take a chainsaw to the coaching staff.
What is a coach going to do?
If that’s the case why have coaches. What are they getting paid to do
im with you.
Without decent starting pitching, last night is a preview of what the rest of the season will look like. The hitting is what the hitting will be. Lots of K’s, a few solo HRs and a clueless approach.
From the gritchoplaybook:
F*ing Arte putting saltpeter in the food to make sure he doesn’t have to pay out paternity leave /s
I heard from a friend who knows someone that read it on the internet that when
cattlea player is added to the 40-man roster, Arte first brands and then castrates them.That’s called Organizational Orientation.
Ouch
Well, no. This chart shows that Arte is evil by not paying his players enough that they feel comfortable having children. Plus the wives are nervous about Arte injuring their husbands.
Soriano is one of cornerstone pieces for the future? Yikes! The building is collapsing.
The linka are scheduled for 10 AM today.
The linka? You sounda lika my uncle from Calabria. Capische?
Paul Skenes in the Halo rotation in 2028!
Arte will never pay somebody like Skenes. Great to dream though …
By that time Arte will have died or sold the team.
At least Minasian drafted the great RP Sam Bachman with one of our #1s.
And let’s not forget the enormously successful all pitcher draft.
That’s the same draft. And Skenes was 1/1 wasn’t he? But hey, bitch creep is kind of our thing here aint it? Facts suck.
We need to wait for him to be well past his prime.
We need to wait for his 2nd TJS before signing
2033?
After the game:
Wash: “…we had to give him a chance to find it, by the fifth he didn’t find it”
Translation: “WTF was that Jose?”
I guess he should think about the last place he left it.
In the refrigerator, along with the house keys.
If we had something tho clap about….maybe The Clapper would help.
Apple has an app, “find my stuff” for pitchers
Last Doyer reference:
On that misplay in CF, the Doyer CFer got hit in his throwing hand by the ball when he missed it.
BTW-I caught the tail end of the Doyers game and I loved it.
If I heard just one more Dodger Blew sycophant say, “Center cut” my TV was in danger of a flying object.
Cutch is old, but you can’t toss a cookie to him and expect him to miss it.
Another game tonight
Go Halos!
18 hits to the Pittsburgh Pirates is unhinged. I had a nice time at the ballpark at least
18 hits is like 4 or 5 Pirates games…..and 4 or 5 Angels games worth too.
Well. At least we lost to a team I like. It was nice of us to give the Pirates a special day all to themselves.
Soriano. Broken pitchiololis bone in his arm? Blister?
Ian Anderson…. gas can that never empties…. like Isaiah and the oil and flour.
Trout still looks like shit. Sure, if he closes his eyes and swings real hard he crushes one every now and again, but has anyone noticed that Jorge Soler, who follows Trouts ABs, actually looks like a professional hitter and Trout doesn’t? I still have great hope for Trout, but he’s not “on the cusp” or what ever. He’s gotta fix what ever is wrong.
Speaking of fixing what’s wrong. Paris. He is getting strait HANDLED by teams meh starters now. The books out my friends. Now we gotta see how long/well his adjustment takes. I just don’t think he should bat lead off right now.
Ah well. At least the Doyers are a bunch of smug assholes and their fans have all passed VD to their children. Walker Bueller looks sick right now.
And Nolan/Adell look like they are actually thinking in the box and execute every now and again. That’s nice. Also, Newman may suck at the plate right now but he sure can field better than Rengifo.
We need Ward to heat up that BA a bit so we can trade him. we need to trade Anderson to the Cubs or Orioles right now. Rengifo…. needs to stop being constantly hurt so we can trade him too. Soler…. back to the Braves…. or the Brewers grab him for cheap pop. Jansen to the Yankees because Devin Williams has a ten cent head. We’re about two months away from The Great Folding.
That sure sounds like typical CTPG sad donkey talk, buddy. Careful. It’s a slippery slope.
Eh. They still have holes and players with a lot to do. But they are still WAY better off than I expected. We will win some games.
Still think Trout can be a 40-40 guy……. 41 HR’s and 49 RBI
Now that’s funny
Ugly game. tomorrow is a different day.
I watched the Klassen start – he’s had it going the past two appearances, after a rough rough beginning to the season. Polar opposite of the Austin Gordon start tonight, which was disastrous.
Perry’s trying to turn relievers into starters across the system. Klassen is a promising experiment in that regard. Urena and Gordon aren’t quite there yet.
Just embarrassing on all fronts.
José Soriano – José Suarez
Jose Soriano – Jose Feliciano
Jose Suarez – Jose Cuervo
I still expect us to win tonight. I’m not giving up!
Jo will come through due to his photogenicity.
If we lose the series it is a semi disaster….