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Tuesday, August 09, 2005Liveblogging: How the West was wonRICHARD (7:00 PDT): Erstad's back in the lineup at first, batting third (doh!), with Kotchman as the DH batting sixth. The lineups: RICHARD (7:10 PDT): Darin Erstad is one of the game's premier "situational hitters." What evidence is there to back that up? Well, none. You'll just have to take the Grand Phyzard's word for it.ANGELS A's C. Figgins, 3B J. Kendall, C O. Cabrera, SS M. Ellis, 2B D. Erstad, 1B B. Crosby, SS V. Guerrero, RF E. Chavez, 3B G. Anderson, LF D. Johnson, 1B C. Kotchman, DH N. Swisher, RF B. Molina, C B. Kielty, LF S. Finley, CF J. Payton, CF A. Kennedy, 2B A. Melhuse, DH Anyway, the great situational hitter uses those "skills" to force Mark Ellis into an uncharacteristic error, scoring Figgins from third. 1-0 Angels early. RICHARD (7:12 PDT): Guerrero follows it up with a RBI single. C'mon big inning! 2-0 Angels RICHARD (7:29 PDT): Angels have got something brewing in the second as well after Finley reached on a strikeout/wild pitch and Kennedy singled. 1st & 3rd, no out. RICHARD (7:31 PDT): SQEEZE PLAY! Finley scores and Cabrera reaches first when Harden can't get the handle! Putting presure on the defense - it's what the Angels do best. RICHARD (7:33 PDT): And another mistake by the A's. Harden ruins a double play ball by getting his hand in the way. If the A's are spooked, having the bases loaded with Vlad up won't help none. RICHARD (7:33 PDT): GRAND SLAM! Who didn't see that coming? Angels 7, A's 0 Top 2nd. JOSH (7:36 PDT): Since I don't actually get to watch this game, I have to say that it looks like the A's necks are tightening up. Vlad GRAND SLAM!!! He seems to be the one Angel that has a real killer instinct when batting. I really think he does get better at certain moments (many of his recent home runs have been absolutely HUGE). RICHARD (7:50 PDT): You and your clutch hitting... RICHARD (9:08 PDT): Lackey continues to cruise and the Angels have added another run against Keiichi Yabu. Angels 8, A's 0, Top 8th RICHARD (9:12 PDT): Why is there no ESPN gamecast tonight? Don't tell me they're making that paid content too... JOSH (9:15 PDT): Well, from the beginning of the infamous Seattle Sweep (July 7th) until July 24, Vlad's average dropped from .348 to .305. During that time, he was 7-58 (.121) and hit 3 home runs and a double. His double came in the second Seattle game with the Angels down 7-0 and Figgins on 1st in the 6th...not entirely helpful, but it did get the offense off the ground as they ended up pulling to 7-4 before losing 10-4. The first home run came in the last game of that Seattle series, with the Angels down 7-3 and no one on base in the 6th...making it a winnable game (it still ended 7-4). His next home run came with the Angels down 5-2 in the 7th inning in the first game against the Yankees, and it was a grand slam to take the lead and eventually the game. His final home run was a 3 run shot with the Angels down 3-1 in the third against the Yankees two days later and it that completely changed the face of that game. Two of Vlad's 3 singles were essentially meaningless (one was in a 2-1 victory over Minnesota, the other a 3-0 loss against Oakland, neither of which had a man on before him, nor did anyone get a hit behind him). The other single was in the last game of that Yankee set, when in the 8th inning, down 3-1 Vlad started a near rally with a leadoff single. GA then popped out, Fins walked, and Ztu hit into a DP. So, 5 of his 7 hits during his prolonged slump had or could have easily had some meaning to the outcome of the game (including his two home runs that basically won games for the team). JOSH (9:17 PDT): I am watching on CBS Sportsline's GameCenter. GAME OVER: It ends 9-2. So I was wrong when I said the Angels had seen first for the last time. Sue me. Comments:I don't know how happy we should be about this win, take away the errors, the pass ball with Finley (the only way he gets to first is by striking out, what a shock) and this game would have been entirely different. I'm glad they won, but this is wasn't as good as it looks like on paper. I'm with Matt. Going back and looking at those miscues it's pretty clear the Angels running game played a part. Besides, when you put 9 hits on Rich Harden, you earned a win. PLEASE tell me you say Figgins' post-game interview with LeBrock!! BLB asks Chone about Vlad and this is what he says: "We have two great players in Ers-, um, Vlad and Garett." I was absolutely ROLLING on the floor! Classic! Aw man. I missed it (who sticks around for the post-game for a 7-run blowout?) and I already deleted the game. I'm glad for the win, and the Angels did play well, all I'm saying is that the game would have been totally different absent those early A's errors. For instance, Finley scoring on the error (marginally an error, it was a good bunt by OC), after getting on base by a pass ball after striking out, and so on. The Angels pushed every advantage they had, like a good team should, and the A's made too many mistakes. I'll take the win, but the A's cost themselves the win as much as or more than the Angels earned it. In my mind, this says more about the A's and whether they have what it takes to contend past August or not than that the Angels have turned it around. A's fan here... This was Angels baseball at its best. You put pressure on the defense, got a big hit from Vlad, and your usual good pitching performance. The A's were too amped up for this game, and made a bunch of trying-too-hard mistakes that young players make in big games. Experience beat youth. The A's need tomorrow's game, with Zito on the mound against Santana. But Santana has pitched well at night, and did well against the A's last time. So we'll see... bear88 (from the Athletics Nation board) |
