MVN - Most Valuable Network

Smash Hits

This is how horrible the season has become for the Cleveland Indians: They hang up eleven against the team with the best record in baseball Wednesday afternoon . . . and lose.

That’s because this is how remarkable the season has become for the Los Angeles Angels: Their best pitcher—even with Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders having concurrent career years—surrenders six earned runs in five innings . . . and wins, the eventual final 14-11.

Oh, there was the small detail of the usually low-impact Angel offence (you know, the one whose image is that of being barely able to hang up three or four runs a game) shoving a 6-5 deficit overboard with a five-run fifth, before hanging up deuces in the sixth and seventh and handing it over to their usually stingy bullpen . . .

Oops. Darren O’Day, to this point an impressive enough rookie bringing a 2.97 ERA into the Cleveland seventh, was greeted rather rudely from the beginning of the assignment when Jhonny Peralta opened beating out an infield hit and Shin-Soo Choo doubling him home. O’Day also got greeted rudely with one out in the Cleveland eighth, when Grady Sizemore hit one into the right field seats. The rattled rookie then plunked David Dellucci and Ben Francisco back to back, only to have Ryan Garko—a forceout and a bases-loading pass later—single home Dellucci and Peralta.

Jose Arredando let Dellucci double home Jamey Carroll in the top of the ninth, before Francisco Rodriguez came in to draw Francisco into a game-ending groundout and a 42nd save that probably shouldn’t have been a save opportunity in the first place.

“It seemed like we had runners in scoring position all day,” said Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick after the game. “We were getting pitches out over the plate to hit, and guys weren’t missing. Our pitchers have been carrying us for a while, but it looks like our bats are waking up a little bit.”

He wasn’t exactly wrong. The Angels had sixteen men in scoring position all day long and cashed in nine of them. The Indians actually did better, putting eight men into scoring position on the day and cashing in all but one. Fat lot of good that did them.

“It’s not a wasted effort,” said Sizemore after the game, “but it’s still not what we wanted as far as the outcome.” Of game and season.

The Indians jumped John Lackey for two in the first—Lackey didn’t help himself throwing a little wild on Shin-Soo Choo’s comebacker, allowing Francisco to score and all hands safe—but the Angels jumped Aaron Laffey right back for two in the second, Howie Kendrick doubling home Vladimir Guerrero (a leadoff single) and coming home in due course on a wild pitch.Garko hit one over the left field fence with Choo aboard and nobody out in the Indians’ fourth, but Gary Matthews, Jr. with one out singled home Kendrick (tying a franshise record with three doubles on the day), Casey Kotchman (the first Angel to enjoy a five-hit game on the season) singled home Matthews one hit and one out later, and Erick Aybar singled home Jeff Mathis to answer in the Angels’ fourth.

The Indians shot right back with two out and two on in their half of the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles (Andy Marte, Sal Fasano), but the Angels had counter-replies in the bottom before Laffey yielded at last to Tom Mastny (who hadn’t pitched in over a week) with nobody out and the bases loaded: a walk (Matthews) and Jeff Mathis going salami for the first time in his Show career.

Mathis took care of the sixth-inning deuce with a two-run double (he’s the first Angel to drive in six in a game on the season) and Kendrick took care of the seventh-inning deuce with a two-run single, both with two outs, and the Indians continued their disheartening descent while the Angels continued their heartening if occasionally hair-raising ascent.

Each club left twenty one men on base throughout the proceedings. But the Angels out-hit the Indians 19-14, out-walked them by one (4-3), out-ribbed them by two (13-11), punched out two less (7-9), and out-scored them with two out (7-4).

The Indians, however, have a slightly larger standings differential. They’re thirteen games back (tied for bottom with the Kansas City Royals) in the AL Central, to the Angels’ ten games up continuing ownership of the AL West.

Still, you had to be a little bit alarmed for Lackey, who’d never allowed six earned in his Show career until Wednesday. He’s 2-1 in his last four starts, but his ERA over those starts is a grotesque 7.60, following nothing more than two earned in eight of his nine starts before that spell. Santana and Saunders are looking like gilt-edged insurance even more as the Angel season heads for the stretch.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 6:39 pm and is filed under Casey Kotchman, Jeff Mathis, Tom Mastny, Ben Francisco, Erick Aybar, Catbird, Daniel O'Day, Jose Arredando, Shin-Soo Choo, John Lackey, Grady Sizemore, Vladimir Guerrero, Howie Kendrick, Ryan Garko, Andy Marte, David Dellucci, Francisco Rodriguez, Jhonny Peralta, Gary Matthews Jr., Sal Fasano. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.