Angels Come Home, Leave Bats on Plane (30/81)

Yesterday may have marked the Angel's first home game since coming back from their awesome road trip, but the Angels have been back in sunny southern California since the beginning of the week.

In the last four games since getting off the plane, the Angels are 2-2 and have only managed 7 runs. Last night they got blanked by the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 and are waiting for their bats to make it through customs. Even the sizzling hot, Mike Trout, has cooled off going 1 for 13 with a single and a walk in the past 3 games.

Surprisingly, the two Angels who have had the most offensive impact the last two days have been the most surprising. On Wednesday, the Angels beat the crosstown Dodgers 2-1 thanks to home runs by Alberto Callaspo and Erick Aybar. Last night, the Angels only managed 3 hits against D-Backs starter, Trevor Cahill, with two of those hits coming from Aybar and Callaspo.

I was listening to the game on the radio last night on my way to Downtown Disney to grab dinner when I heard that the Angels had elected to intentionally walk D-Back's catcher, Miguel Montero. This was a smart move as Montero has been tearing up the ball in recent games, but didn't pay off when D-Back's second baseman Aaron Hill ripped a high cutter over the fence for a 3-run home run off Angels starter, Dan Haren. Yes, that was the nail in the coffin for the Angel's futile offense that game, but you can't fault Mike Scioscia's team for making a smart move to walk Montero.


I've been faulting Scioscia a lot this season for some impractical moves, but in recent weeks, I've got to admit, he has been managing his team very well. Besides the one incident where he left Jerome Williams in too long against the Dodgers, the skipper has been putting together a very smart baseball team. Now if only these nerds can remember where they left their bats.