April 27, 2017

The Angels made it four in a row on Thursday at the Big A, with a 2-1 victory over the A’s.  The Halos completed a three-game sweep of Oakland, and evened their record at 12-12 on the season.

Ricky Nolasco pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 4 and walking 2.  He improved his record to 2-2 on the season.  Bud Norris earned the save, his 4th of the season.

In the 6th inning, Nolasco got Jaff Decker to pop out and Matt Joyce to groundout.  However, Jed Lowrie and Khris Davis walked, then Yonder Alonso reach on an error by Cliff Pennington.  That loaded the bases for Ryon Healy.  Mike Scioscia brought in Blake Parker, who struck out Healy, which ended the threat.

Kendall Graveman (2-1) took the loss for the A’s.  He pitched 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 6 hits, while striking out 4.

Both Angel runs came in the 1st inning.  Albert Pujols singled home Mike Trout, and CJ Cron doubled in Pujols, and that was all the offense the Angels needed.

The only Oakland run came in the 4th inning came on an RBI single from Yonder Alonso.  That was just 1 of 3 hits the A’s generated on the night.

Blake Parker, David Hernandez, Jose Alvarez, and Norris did not allow a single run or hit in 3 1/3 innings of work.

The Angels now travel to Texas to open a 3-game series with the Rangers on Friday.  Daniel Wright will be in the hill for the Halos, while the Rangers will go with Nick Martinez.

April 26, 2017

Matt Shoemaker pitched 5 solid innings for the Angels on the way to his first victory of the season, and the Halos defeated the A’s 8-5 on Wednesday night at the Big A.

“Wins are always great, but the satisfaction is that we won,” Shoemaker said. “It was a tight game up to that point. Just had to battle to get through five. Winning after that, that was the great thing right there.”

Bud Norris pitched a scoreless 9th inning to earn his 3rd save of the season.

Sean Manaea (1-2) got through just two innings before taking the loss.  He allowing three runs before his night ended after only 34 pitches because of left shoulder tightness.  Manaea retired the first three batters he faced, then allowed three runs on four hits in the second inning.

The Angels fell behind 2-0 in the 1st inning on a 2-run single from Yonder Alonso.  However, a Danny Espinosa double, a Cameron Maybin RBI single, and an RBI double from Martin Maldonado put the Angels back in front 3-2.  The Halos would tack on one more in the 5th when Albert Pujols delivered an RBI single to right, scoring Mike Trout.

A solo shot in the 6th inning by Yonder Alonso made it 4-3, however, the Angels produced a 4-run 7th inning to put the game out of reach.  Former Angel Matt Joyce hit a 2-run homer in the 8th inning, but it wasn’t enough.

The Angels improved to 11-12 on the season.  They’ll try to even their record at .500 on Thursday night at the Big A.  Ricky Nolasco (1-2, 4.76 ERA) will oppose the Athletics’ Kendall Graveman (2-0, 2.00 ERA).

April 24, 2017

Jesse Chavez pitched 6 strong innings giving up only 1 run on 4 hits, and the Angels defeated the Blue Jays 2-1 on Monday night.  The Jays and Angels split their four game series with two wins each.

Chavez improved his record to 2-3 on the season.  He threw 101 pitches, giving up only a solo home run to Russell Martin in the 4th inning.  That put the Blue Jays up 1-0 at that point.  Chavez struck out 7 and walked 4 on the night.

The Angels didn’t generate much more offense but it was enough to win.  Albert Pujols delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the 4th inning, which scored Mike Trout to tie the game 1-1.

The Halos would go-ahead 2-1 in the 5th inning when Cameron Maybin scored after Yunel Escobar hit into a fielder’s choice.   Maybin broke from third on contact and scored on a close play at the plate.

Yusmeiro Petit, David Hernandez, and Bud Norris pitched the last 3 innings and shutdown Toronto over that stretch.  The trio allowed a total of three hits.  Norris earned his 2nd save of the season, despite letting a pair of Blue Jays on base in the 9th.  He did induce an game-ending double play to end the threat though.

Francisco Liriano took the loss for the Jays, falling to 1-2 on the season.  Liriano went 5 1/3 innings, allowing the two runs on five hits and four walks, with two strikeouts.

Earlier in the day, the Angels acquired right-handed reliever David Hernandez from Atlanta.  To make room for Hernandez, the Angels optioned right-hander Daniel Wright back to triple-A Salt Lake.  Their top 3 relievers are on the disabled list, along with ace, Garrett Richards.

Up next, the Halos will host the A’s for a 3-game set beginning Tuesday.  JC Ramirez (2-2; 6.46 ERA) will get the ball for the Angels, and he’ll be opposed by Jesse Hahn (1-1; 3.00 ERA).

April 23, 2017

Marcus Stroman pitched a complete game and gave up only 1 earned run on 7 hits, and the Blue Jays had a 4-run blitz in the 8th inning to beat the Angels 6-2.

At one point, Stroman retired 17 consecutive batters during his 99-pitch performance, which improved his record to 2-2 on the season.  It was also his is first appearance back in Southern California since pitching the U.S. to victory in the World Baseball Classic final at Dodger Stadium last month.

Things looked really good for the Angels for most of the game.  Albert Pujols delivered a 2-run single in the 3rd inning, and the Halos had a 2-0 lead all the way until the 8th.

Spot starter Daniel Wright gave up only three hits over his five shutout innings of work.  Blake Parker and Jose Alvarez recorded the next six outs for the Angels.  Then Mike Scioscia turned to Deolis Guerra to pitch the 8th.

After issuing a lead-off walk to Russell Martin, with 1 out, Devon Travis hit a 1-1 pitch over the left center field fence and the Jays had a 2-1 lead.  Ryan Goins grounded out, then Scioscia brought in Brooks Pounders to face Kevin Pillar.

3 pitches later, Pillar took Pounders deep to left, and Toronto had a 2-run lead.  An Ezequiel Carrera triple and a walk to Jose Bautista  set the stage for former Angel Kendrys Morales to add to the lead.  He would reach on an infield single to 3rd, scoring Carrera, and it was 4-1 Jays.

Pounders ran into more trouble in the 9th, giving up a 2-run shot to Goins, which padded the lead to 6-1.  Pounders allowed two homers, a triple, a double, a single, and a walk over 1 1/3  innings.

The Angels threatened in the 9th, as Andrelton Simmons produced an RBI single to make it 6-2, but Stroman induced a game-ending double play.

The Halos have now lost 10 of their last 12 games, and they have the 2nd worst run differential (-20) in all of Major League Baseball.

The Angels will try to salvage a split of their four game series on Monday night.  Ricky Nolasco (1-2; 4.76 ERA) will be on the hill for the Halos, while the Jays will go with Francisco Liriano (1-1; 5.11 ERA).

April 22, 2017

Andrelton Simmons hit a grand slam and the Angels held on to beat the Blue Jays 5-4 at the Big A on Saturday night.

Simmons hit a tie-breaking grand slam in the 3rd inning, the 2nd of his career, and also made a spectacular defensive play in the 9th.  The Angel shortstop made a diving stop to help turn the fourth double play of the game, and end the Jays final threat of the evening.

“Double plays are great, but grand slams are cool, too, especially when you win,” Simmons said.

The Blue Jays jumped out to a 1-0 lead  against Tyler Skaggs in the 1st inning.  Justin Smoak came through with an RBI single.

The Halos tied it in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI single from CJ Cron, which scored Mike Trout.

After Simmons made it 5-1, the Jays were held in check until the 8th inning.  That’s when Kevin Pillar hit a 2-run homer against Kirby Yates.  Smoak would take Yates deep to start the 9th, and the Angels found themselves clinging to a 5-4 lead.

The Blue Jays then had the tying run on first with nobody out  when Devon Travis hit a grounder up the middle that Simmons turned into that spectacular 6-4-3 double play.

Skaggs got the win, pitching 7 innings, giving up 2 runs on 7 hits and striking out 4.  He picked up his first win of the season, and is now 1-1.  Bud Norris came in during the 9th inning to record the save.

Casey Lawrence took the loss for the Jays.  He’s now 0-2 on the season after pitching 6+ innings, yielding 4 earned runs on 8 hits, and striking out 4.

The Angels and Jays are back at it tomorrow afternoon in game 3 of the series.  Jesse Chavez (1-3; 5.00 ERA) will go for the Halos, and Marcus Stroman (1-2; 4.05 ERA) will get the call for Toronto.

April 21, 2017

Just when you thought things could only get better for the Angels, they lose to the team with the worst record in baseball on Friday night at the Big A.  The Blue Jays defeated the Angels 8-7 in 13 innings in the first of a four game set.

Jose Bautista hit his first homer of the season, a 3-run blast coming in the top of the 13th inning, to put the Jays ahead 8-5.  The Halos threatened in the 9th inning, but Toronto held on for just it’s 4th victory of the season.

The Blue Jays were off to their worst start in franchise history, and Bautista was hitting only .109 coming into the game.  The Angels haven’t been much better, now losers of 9 of their last 10 games, and tied for last place in the AL West.

The Angels were forced to use Jesse Chavez in the 13th inning.  Chavez took the loss, and was schedule to start on Sunday.  The Halos used all of their position players and relievers.

After a walk and two Toronto errors, the Halos loaded the bases in the bottom of the 13th inning with nobody out.  The Jays brought in reliever Joe Biagini, who struck out Cliff Pennington for the 1st out of the inning.

A single by Kole Calhoun, and a walk to Mike Trout made the score 8-7.  However, Albert Pujols struck out, and CJ Cron lined out to center to end the game.  Biagini earned the save, and Ryan Tepera got credit for the win after pitching 3 scoreless innings of relief.

The Angels started Alex Meyer, who made his season debut after being called up from the minors.  However, he didn’t last long, pitching only 3 2/3rd innings.  He yielded two runs on four hits, walking four, and also had a wild pitch that scored one of the runs.  The Jays had a 2-0 lead heading to the bottom of the 3rd.

Albert Pujols gave the Angels the lead with a 3-run double in that 3rd inning.  Two innings later, Mike Trout hit a solo home run and it was 4-2 Halos.

A few innings later, the Angels gave the lead right back.  With a 4-3 lead, Bud Norris walked two and gave way to Cam Bedrosian, who promptly wild pitched the runners up a base and gave up a two-run double to Justin Smoak.

An RBI double from Jefrey Marte in the 8th inning would tie the game at 5-5.   It appeared the ball may have bounced off the bottom of the foul pole, but after a review it was ruled a double.

After all that, the Angels and Jays will be back at it on Saturday night at the Big A in game 2 of the series.  Tyler Skaggs (0-1; 5.19 ERA) will get the ball for the Angels, and the Jays will counter with Casey Lawrence (0-1; 13.50 ERA).

April 20, 2017

Another day in Houston, and another loss where the Angels couldn’t get their bats going.  This time a 2-1 loss to the Astros, which gave Houston 3 victories in the 4 game set.

The Angels were victimized by the long ball in this one.  Carlos Beltran connected on a solo shot off Matt Shoemaker in the 1st inning to give the Astros a 1-0 lead.

Houston would add to that in the 5th when Jake Marisnick took Shoemaker deep to left for another solo homer, and the Astros had a 2-0 lead.

The Halos only run came in the 9th on a home run by Mike Trout.  It was his 4th of the season.

Shoemaker took the loss, his first of the year.  He went 7 innings, giving up just the 2 home runs on 3 hits, while striking out 7 Astros.  He departed after 98 pitches, then turned things over to Bud Norris who pitched a scoreless 8th inning.

However, the Astros pitching was more flawless on this day.  Lance McCullers pitched 6 2/3rd innings, delivering a 3-hit shutout in that stretch.  He improved to 2-0 on the season. 

Chris Devenski pitched the final 2 1/3rd innings to get credit for the save.  He allowed 3 hits, including the Trout homer, but stranded Cliff Pennington and Andrelton Simmons at 2nd and 3rd to end the game.  At one point he struck out 8 of 10 Angels.

The Halos now lead the majors with 25 home runs allowed.  They’ve also dropped 8 of their last 9 games to fall to 7-10 on the season.

The Angel are now headed home to open a 4-game series with the Blue Jays.  It will be Tyler Skaggs (0-1; 5.19 ERA) going for the Halos on Friday, while the Jays will deploy Mat Latos, who was just called up from Triple-A.

April 19, 2017

The Angels took another loss in Houston on Wednesday night, this time by a score of 5-1, and it was their usually stellar defense that let them down.

Dallas Keuchel went 7 strong innings for the Astros, and Josh Reddick had 3 hits including a home run in the victory for Houston.  Reddick drove in 2 runs, scored 3, and finished just a single shy of the cycle.

The Halos started an unusual outfield, which included Jefry Marte in right field, and Cameron Maybin in left.  Marte did not play a single inning in the outfield during spring training, and Maybin has spent little time in right field.  It was evident on Wednesday night.

Reddick was just the second batter of the game, and hit a line drive near Marte, which he missed by a few feet after getting a late break on the ball.  That hit turned into a triple.  Reddick would score shortly after when Jose Altuve singled to right field, on a play where Maybin also got a late break on the ball and couldn’t corral it after sliding.  That gave the Astros a 1-0 lead.

The Angels were fortunate to escape that inning without any further damage.  Altuve stole 2nd, and got to 3rd on a single by Brian McCann.  A wild pitch by Angel starter JC Ramirez got by Martin Maldonado, but the ball bounced off the backstop and back to the the Angel catcher, who tagged out Altuve.

The Angels would tie things up in the 3rd inning, on what would be their only run of the game.  Danny Espinosa doubled, and two batters later, Yunel Escobar singled him in.

Ramirez made his 2nd career start, and was on a roll for the next three innings.  He struck out the side in the 4th, and had 5 straight overall.  However, he ran into trouble in the 5th inning.  Alex Bregman led off with a double and scored on a Yulieski Gurriel single.

In the 6th, Reddick led off with a drive to left field, which gave Marte more trouble.  He tracked it back to the wall but could not glove it, giving Reddick a generous double. Ramirez then retired Altuve, but his night was over after that. Jose Alvarez came in to face McCann. Alvarez retired McCann on a flyout.   Blake Parker would come in next to face Evan Gattis, who ripped a run-scoring single to right.  That made it 3-1.

The Astros delivered the final blow in the bottom of the 7th, when Reddick crushed a 2-run homer to right field off of Mike Morin.  Ramirez ultimately took the loss, falling to 2-2 on the season.

The Angels are now 7-9, and are losers of 7 of their last 8 games.  They’ll try to find the win column during a matinee showdown with Houston on Thursday.  It will be the final game of the four game set.  Matt Shoemaker will be on the mound for the Angels.  He’ll be looking for his first win of the season against Lance McCullers Jr, who is 1-0 on the year.

April 18, 2017

The Angels snapped a 6-game losing skid on Tuesday night against the Astros with a 5-2 victory.  Albert Pujols hit a tie-breaking 3-run homer in the 5th inning to help secure the victory.

Ricky Nolasco pitched 6 strong innings for the Halos, giving up just 2 runs on 8 hits, and striking out 3.  He improved to 1-2 on the season.  Cam Bedrosian pitched the 9th to earn his 3rd save of the season.

The Angels jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Andrelton Simmons hit a solo homer in the 2nd inning off of Astros starter’ Joe Musgrove.  The homer snapped a 21-inning scoreless streak for the Angels.

The Astros came back in the 3rd with a pair of solo homers.  One of them came from Yuli Gurriel and  the other from George Springer.  Those were the only two runs Nolasco allowed in his 103-pitch performance.

Mike Trout put the Angels back in front in the 5th with an RBI double, which made it 3-2.  Pujols was the next batter, and he delivered the decisive blow with homer.

“We have a lot of confidence in our offense,” skipper Mike Scioscia said. “I don’t think anyone was doubting that we would get back on track. But the sooner the better, and we did a good job in the fifth inning.”

Musgrove took the loss, and fell to 1-1 on the season.  He gave up all 5 runs on 8 hits, in 5 innings of work.

“We turned the page on last night and got a win,” Trout said. “You can always look at the negatives, but this team looks at the positives. … It’s a good win. Just go and build on this momentum for tomorrow.”

The Angels will be back at it tomorrow in game 3 of the 4 game set.  JC Ramirez will be on the mound for the Angels, and Dallas Keuchel will go for the Astros.

April 17, 2017

Just when the Angels pitching starts to get a little better, their offense goes into the tank.  The Halos were shutout in Houston on Monday night by a score of 3-0.  It was their 6th straight loss, and the Angels haven’t scored a run in their last 20 innings.

Charlie Morton and three Houston relievers combined to throw a 5-hitter.  Jose Altuve drove in two runs for the Astros as well.

Jesse Chavez pitched 7 innings for the Angels, giving up only two runs on 7 hits, but he took the loss.  Yusmeiro Petit pitched the 8th inning, and gave up Altuve’s RBI double, which extended the lead to 3-0.

Altuve also had a sac fly in the 3rd inning, while Alex Bregman got the Astros on the board in the 1st inning with an RBI single.

In their last twenty innings, the Angels have generated only seven singles. In their last 46 innings, they have mustered two extra-base hits.

“It’s not ideal,” first baseman C.J. Cron said. “We haven’t been hitting like we should, like we know we can.”

The Angels also played without Albert Pujols, who decided, along with Mike Scioscia, that Monday would be a rest day.

“I think we had a bunch of good at-bats, at times, and then a couple that obviously we didn’t get it done in,” Scioscia said. “I thought we hit the ball hard a couple times with guys in scoring position. We worked some counts, had [Morton’s] pitch count up. We just left a lot of guys on base early in the game.”

The Angels and Astros will get back it tomorrow in the second game of the series.  Ricky Nolasco gets the ball for the Halos, and he’ll go up against Mike Fiers.