Angels Steal One in Their Return Home (39/81)

In what could end up being the AL Wild Card playoff matchup in October, the Angels erased a 4-run deficit to beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-7 in their return home to the Big A.

The Angels showed their resiliency last night after coming home from a roller coaster road trip, and the offense and bullpen refused to let poor starting pitching be the factor in this one.

There's a lot going on with the Angels right now, so I'll try to catch you up on the Hometown front:

Banged-Up Starters:

When the Angel's offense was struggling mightily in April and May, the starting rotation picked the team up with their powerful throwing arms and carried them until All Star outfielder, Mike Trout showed up to give the offense a swift kick in the rear.

Now that the Angels have found their bats, it puts less pressure on the starters to throw perfect games every time, but the end of the June and beginning of July have not been so kind to the rotation.

Dan Haren is on the DL with a sore back for the first time in his career. Jerome Williams is struggling in his rehab assignment and won't be back until after the All Star break. Ervin Santana is regressing after what looked like bounce-back starts, including a 1-hitter. And finally, despite the Angels bailing him out, Garrett Richards was optioned back to Triple A this morning after two terrible outings in a row.

Remember when Angels had 6 elite-level starters a little over two weeks ago? Yeah, me neither.

Brilliant Bullpen:

If you asked me before the season started if I would have ever written this headline about the Angels bullpen, I would have given you a resounding "NO!" Not only would I have been wrong, but lately the Angels bullpen has proved that they're just as good as any in the majors. For 5 innings they shut down the Orioles lineup that managed to smash 7 runs off Richards in the first 4 innings.

Mike Trout, The Modern Era Rickey Henderson:

All I need to do is show you ESPN's graphic comparing Mike Trout vs Rickey Henderson as the only two players to hit at least .343, slug .551, with 10 home runs and 23 stolen bases in their first 60 games before the All Star break. Reminds you of how good The Man of Steal was and how good Trout is going to be.

All Star Trumbo:

In case you didn't already know, Angel's All Star LF/RF/1B/3B/DH Mark Trumbo will be participating in the home run derby and he's not worried about his swing. The young slugger spoke with Garrett Anderson, who won the derby in 2007 as well as the All Star Game MVP, and was reaffirmed that he needs to approach the contest just like batting practice and not try to pull the ball too much. While he has a good a shot as any to win, I doubt Trumbo takes home the crown. I do, however, think he'll hit the farthest ball in the park (and probably outside the park too).

Angels Stumble Into A Win (11/81)

Didn't get to watch the game tonight, (damn you AT&T U-Verse dispute!) but I was able to follow the final stats during the 8th inning, or as Angels fans like to call it, "please don't use the bullpen~!"

Angels escaped away with this one by beating the Minnesota Twins 4-3 during Rally Monkey Beanie night at Angel Stadium.

Desperate to never use the bullpen again, manager Mike Scioscia let his pitchers pitch throw at least 108 pitches for the fourth straight day trying to get as much mileage from them as possible. It's early in the season, and pitchers need to save their arms for late in the season when it really counts, but the Angels are in win-now mode. Anything less than a 10-run lead is risky to turn over to the bullpen. Actually, don't be surprised if Scioscia allows his starters to throw a complete game if the Angels are ever up to 10 runs at any point in this season.

Torii Power

With offensive threat, Mark Trumbo, getting the night off it was up to Torii Hunter to do the damage to his former team. Hunter drove in 3 runs this evening, including two off a blast that ended up being his 3rd home run in 4 days despite not hitting one for the previous 19 games. Catcher Chris Iannetta also went yard to extended the lead to 4-0, a lead that actually held.

Trouble in the Late Innings? No Surprise.

I think all of us listening to the game were holding our breath when we saw LaTroy Hawkins enter the game when C.J. Wilson got into trouble in the 8th. After giving up 3 runs, Hawkins got the out, and then Scioscia, with his smartest move of the season, brought in Scott Downs to get a four-out save, his second in as many chances. Looks like the Angels have found their new closer.


Final Thoughts:

As much as I'll miss the firing 9th inning power brought in by the cannon arm known as Jordan Walden, I think having Scott Downs close out games is the best thing for the Angels right now. They need a guy who is dependable with the game on the line, and Downs has proven his mettle as an Angel. When you lose late-inning leads, morale takes a hit, and the Angels can't suffer any hits to what is left of the little morale they have left right now.

Walden has been wild since Spring Training, so him losing the job was no surprise, but it is interesting that Angels are shopping for a closer. I think a strong middle relief guy is what they need. Someone who can transition to the late innings, but if this leads to Trumbo getting shipped out for a guy like Grant Belflour, then I will be up in arms against the Angels.

I've got a bad feeling about this search for a new closer business.

Where Is The Angel's Bullpen? (10/81)

It's hard to give an award to the worst bullpen in the majors with teams like Toronto B-Jays, the BoSox and the Angels, but Los Angeles of Anaheim are sure doing their best to stake that claim.

Dan Haren took a shutout into the 8th inning on an overcast Sunday afternoon, but the bullpen couldn't hold the lead. They blew their fourth save of the season to tie (appropriately) with the B-Jays. No wonder ace, Jered Weaver, insisted on going the distance the other day, not wishing to entrust the bullpen with a 3-run lead. Even the usually dependable Scott Downs got rocked by giving up two runs in the eighth. LaTroy Hawkins got tagged with the loss in extra innings when he gave up an RBI single to Baltimore Oriole's outfielder, Nick Markakis. Baltimore beat the Angels in 10 innings 3-2.

The bullpen, that has been Angel's Achilles' Heel for the past two seasons, was supposed to be upgraded this off-season with experience. The Angels added veteran relievers, Hawkins and 39-year old Jason Isringhausen, and hard throwing righty, Kevin Jepsen was returning healthy after an injury plagued 2011 campaign.

However, the Angels have seen strong starts come and enough times this season for a hush to overcome Angel Stadium whenever a relief pitcher gets brought into the game. On top of blown saves, the Angels relievers have inherited 26 runners and allowed 12 of them to score. Poor Dan Haren, who's lost two quality starts thanks to a revolving door bullpen. If I'm Haren, I'm never letting that ball out of my hand no matter how much manager Mike Scioscia insists.

Howard Homers

Howie Kendrick got his second home run of the season. With the bomb, he becomes the only second baseman besides Texas Ranger's Ian Kinsler to hit at least 12 home runs since August 15 of last year.

Vernon Wells: Scoring Machine

Baseball is all about scoring more runs than the other team. Say what you will, but Vernon Wells is helping this team win games by getting on base and leading the team in home runs (3) and runs scored (10). The stats still look insignificant next to another outfielder just down the freeway, but the much maligned hitter is producing at a relatively higher rate than some of the other guys on the team.

Final Note:

The Angels might possibly sign reliever Mike Gonzalez, a Scott Boras client. Angels fans are conditioned to hate the super-agent, Boras, thanks to all the stress he has caused them with the early handling of Weaver and the departure of Mark Texeira, but this would be a good thing.

Boras handles players with talent, and Gonzalez is no exception. Gonzalez was part of the Texas Ranger's solid bullpen last year that included Mike Adams, Koji Uehara, Darren Oliver, and Neftali Feliz, and owns a lifetime 2.94 ERA. The former Pittsburgh Pirates closer who notched 26 saves in 2006, would add a steady right handed arm for the middle innings that Isringhausen, Jepsen, and Hawkins have failed to deliver thus far.

It may sound like the Angels have a ton of relievers signed as it is, but you can never have too much quality arms in the pen. Doesn't matter how many runs you score if a bullpen can't hold a lead. Just ask the Boston Red Sox.