It’s a serious question. Not trying to be funny like “nanny nanny boo boo” funny, but seriously, are the Angels about to go down the drain for this season?
If this is the turning point in the long season for the Angels, then the game yesterday was the 2nd dagger in the Angel’s heart, (More on the 1st game in a minute).
Yesterday, C.J. Wilson blew an eight-run lead to fall eight games back in AL West race.
Pinch-hitter Carlos Pena delivered a tie breaking homer in the eighth inning, Evan Longoria also hit a two-run shot and the Tampa Bay Rays overcame an eight-run deficit to beat the Los Angeles Angels 10-8 on Saturday night.
Jake McGee (4-2) earned the win with a perfect seventh and Fernando Rodney got three outs for his major league-leading 38th save. The Rays, held to one hit over the first four innings by C.J. Wilson, rallied from an 8-0 hole with seven runs in the fifth against the All-Star left-hander.
And get this: Wilson is winless in a career-worst 10 consecutive starts (0-5) with a 5.70 ERA since beating Baltimore 7-3 on June 26 at Camden Yards. The knockout blow for him was Longoria’s two-out, two-run homer after an RBI single by Sam Fuld, a bases-loaded walk to Desmond Jennings and a three-run double by Ben Zobrist.
Wilson was 5-0 with a 1.30 ERA in the seven starts that preceded this winless drought.
So while the offense of the Angels are continuing to get runs, it appears the Angels pitching staff is going to be the Achilles heel for the Angels, and if you tink Angels ace Jared Weaver is immune to the bad pitching going on, he’s part of the problem too. The Angels dropped yet another game to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, August 17, and the worst part of it was that ace Jered Weaver looked as bad as ever.
Weaver got shelled, giving up a career-worst nine runs on eight hits and was chased from the game after only three innings of work. The bullpen was able to stop the bleeding, allowing only three more runs for the rest of the game.
But the damage was already done.
The fact that it was Weaver, who has been rock-solid for the Halos, that had such a dismal outing is an indictment on the state of the starting rotation. With a 6.00 ERA in the month of August, they are clearly the problem.
The team is feeling the pain as well. The Angels are just 4-11 in August going into Saturday’s game against the Rays at home. Things have gotten so bad, that manager Mike Scioscia is nearly on the hot seat.
It must really be pressure packed in the team’s locker room what with the Pujols pressure in the beginning of the season, for them to fight and claw never really getting within 3 games of the Rangers, now the pitching is falling apart before their eyes.
The #1 dagger to the Angel’s heart? When the Angels were in the 3rd game of a 4 game series here in Arlington. The Rangers came back to win the last two games of that series. That is the turning point of this season for the Halos.
Good times for Rangers fans. It looks like the Angel’s August is the Ranger’s July. Welcome to the club.
UPDATE::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Rays finish four-game sweep in Anaheim
The Rays couldn’t manage so much as a hit or a walk Wednesday in Felix Hernandez‘s perfect game, but look at what they did to the Angels’ starters in four games since:
Dan Haren: 3 2/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER
Jered Weaver: 3 IP, 8 H, 9 ER
C.J. Wilson: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 7 ER
Zack Greinke: 6 IP, 7 H, 6 ER
That’s a combined $50.25 million worth of starting pitching, and the Rays just ate them alive on their way to sweeping a four-game series in Anaheim. They won 8-3 on Sunday and outscored the Angels a combined 37-14 in the four games.
The Rays now have the AL’s third-best record at 67-54, while the Angels have slipped to two games over .500 at 62-60. They’re not only nine games behind the Rangers, but they’re now four games back of the A’s for second place in the AL West.
Greinke has been a bust of an acquisition through five starts, going 1-2 with a 6.19 ERA. The Angels gave up three prospects to get him from Milwaukee last month, but they currently find themselves with the eighth-best record in the AL and they don’t stand to gain any compensation if he leaves as a free agent this winter.
The Rays, on the other hand, appear to be in fine position, particularly with Matt Moore having come on so strong. Moore was the winner today after allowing two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his last seven starts. He’s gone from 5-6 with a 4.42 ERA to 10-7 with a 3.57 ERA during that span.
About Me