Well… at least the regular season was something to remember.
The Angels were once again terrorized by horribly un-clutch hitting and defensive miscues on Monday night, and even with a late-inning comeback, it wasn’t enough to topple the Boston Red Sox, and the Los Angeles Angels lost Game Four of the ALDS 3-2.
John Lackey looked like a true ace on Monday, keeping his team in the game all night by going seven innings and giving up just two runs to Boston.
The Halos once again could not produce a run to save their lives, leaving a total of 10 men on base. Garret Anderson, who struggled out of the two-hole all series, left the most men on base (three) in the game. If one thing is clear out of this series, it’s this: it’s time for the Angels to change their offensive mindset.
As previously stated, John Lackey pitched well enough to get the win, and was hurt by defensive miscues by Chone Figgins, Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick. Though John wasn’t overpowering tonight, he hit the corners and made the big pitches when he needed them.
Scot Shields pitched the 8th and 9th innings, and gave up a walk-off single to Jed Lowrie, after giving up a lead-off double to newly crowned Angel-killer Jason Bay.
The most glaring error of the night for the Angels came in the top of the 9th inning. After a lead-off double by Kendry Morales and a sacrifice bunt to get pinch-runner Reggie Willits over to third, Erick Aybar came to the plate and missed the bunt on an attempted squeeze play. Reggie Willits was eventually run down by catcher Jason Varitek, essentially sealing the victory for the Red Sox.
Here are tonight’s best…
Top Three Angels Performers:
1) Torii Hunter went 1-4 on the night, but came through with two outs in the 8th, singling and tying up the score at 2.
2) John Lackey did not deserve the no-decision tonight after the way he pitched. Lackey went seven strong innings, giving up just two runs to a very powerful Red Sox offense, keeping his team in the game.
3) Lead-off man Chone Figgins did his best to get the offense going tonight, going 2-4 with two singles.
Jeff Weaver of the Game:
Mike Scioscia gets the Jeff Weaver tonight. Calling a squeeze play with one out in the top of the 9th inning was overmanaging, and it cost the Angels the win.
Play of the Game:
With two outs and runners on second and third in the 8th inning, Torii Hunter fought off pitch after pitch before singling to right field and driving in the game-tying runs.
What to look for next:
The Los Angeles Angels’ season is now over, and they have a lot of personnel decisions to make. This should make for one very interesting offseason.
You have to try it out — the best Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim articles and videos from around the web delivered straight to you.
1 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete