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.