Back Under .500

I’m still working on getting back into the swing of posting after Comic-Con and the Angels aren’t helping my motivation. But as I watched this game it seemed once again to show how deflated the Angels have become.

Frustration is Settling In

A nice start to the game ended once again in defeat but not only that, you could see the frustration. Justin Upton struck out looking to end the game and from camera’s vantage point, it was clearly a strike. He thought it was a bad call and argued as much with the ump but the game was over.

As far as the good points, Trout had an 0-fer game but that wasn’t bad for him, he actually walked 4 times, or rather was walked 4 times, and he did knock in a run with a sacrifice fly. Shohei Ohtani smacked a monster home run in the 4th and David Fletcher went 3 for 4. That was about it as Jaime Barria had one of his worst outings.

The pitcher gave up 4 runs in 5 innings to take the loss. That’s all they wrote. The offense can’t be counted on to score like they did Sunday on a regular basis, and putting together 3 runs is usually a stretch these days, even against a team the posts the 3rd worst ERA in the majors at 4.86.

I think the team is mentally fatigued from trying so hard to overcome the injuries that have decimated their season and now they’re watching even a decent season slipping away. When the only thing an opponent has to do to win is walk Mike Trout 4 times and then wait for the pitching to implode, things are not looking good.

I keep thinking they’re overcoming both the offensive and pitching woes but it only seems to happen for a single game here or there. They need to be able to string 5+ wins together on a regular basis to have any hope and when your putting relievers out on the mound as starters every few games it’s hard to get momentum going.

In any case, I’m a bit down on my team right now. I give my Player of the Game to David Fletcher and hope, he continues to make the best of his time in the bigs. With Zack Cozart on the DL, he should get plenty of time and perhaps he’ll be the 3rd Baseman of the Angels’ future.

Daily Ramble 244.2 | Sports – Angels – Back Under .500