Angels Recap: Same Thing Different Day

August 6, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels second baseman

(10) before coming up to bat in the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The second game of this series against division rivals the Texas Rangers saw Garrett Richards face off against Yu Darvish. It looked like inevitable doom for the Angels in the first inning when Texas scored two runs in the top. Leonys Martin singled, stole second, went to third on an infield single from Elvis Andrus, then scored on a sac fly from Douchebag, I mean, Ian Kinsler. Andrus moved to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and then scored on another wild pitch. Luckily, that was all the scoring they did, and Garrett Richards seemed to settle down some.

The Angels did show some promise in the bottom of the first when Yu Darvish gave up back to back home runs, first to Kole Calhoun, who got things going with a leadoff home run, his 3rd since he’s been called up, followed by Mike Trout hitting his 19th home run of the year. But Josh Hamilton flied out to left, Mark Trumbo popped out to first, and Erick Aybar struck out to end the inning and the scoring.

It was a thankfully uneventful top of the second inning, when Richards got David Murphy, Mitch Moreland, and Jurickson Profar to all ground out. Things got a little interesting in the bottom half of the inning when J.B. Shuck walked, Chris Nelson popped out, and Grant Green, who was just called up from the minors after being acquired in the deal that Sent Alberto Callaspo to the A’s, got a single in his first big-league at bat (welcome to the Angels, buddy!), but both Chris Iannetta and Kole Calhoun flied out, and the Angels were unable to score.

Engel Beltre singled to lead off for the Rangers in the third, but he was picked off when he was caught on a bunt attempt, which I just love to see. Leonys Martin singled and stole second, but was unable to score when Elvis Andrus grounded out and Ian Kinsler struck out to end their inning. The score remained tied when Trout, Hamilton, and Trumbo went down in order.

The Angels got their second 1-2-3 inning in the fourth when Adrian Beltre, A.J. Pierzynski, and David Murphy struck out, grounded out and struck out respectively, then took the lead when Erick Aybar doubled and scored when J.B. Shuck singled. Chris Nelson grounded into a double play (so it’s almost like Howie Kendrick was here… ok, that was a low blow, sorry), and Grant Green got his second hit in as many at bats, but Chris Iannetta flied out to end the inning and the scoring

The Rangers tied it up again in the fifth and it remained tied until the eighth, when they regained the lead and it just kept getting worse from there. After the Angels failed to score in the bottom of the eighth, Texas scored four runs in the top of the ninth to give them eight. It was like a never ending nightmare of hits with two outs, which has been the bane of Angels pitching existence this year. After Moreland and Profar got out, pinch-hitter Craig Gentry walked, stole second, then scored when Leonys Martin reached first on what was ruled an error and stole second.

I really didn’t want to watch any more when Scioscia brought out Ernesto Frieri and hit after hit kept driving in run after run. With Martin on second, Elvis Andrus singled, which scored Martin. Then Ian Kinsler singled, moving Andrus to second. Adrian Beltre singled, which scored Andrus from second, and moved Ian Kinsler over to second from first. A.J. Pierzynski singled as well, which, stop me if you’ve heard this one, scored Kinsler. Thankfully, Frieri got David Murphy to fly out to end the inning and the scoring.

Our Halos were unable to do any scoring in the bottom of the ninth. Chris Nelson flied out to right, Grant Green grounded out, Hank Conger singled as an offensive replacement for Iannetta and moved to second on defensive indifference, and Kole Calhoun flied out to left to end the game. Same thing, the Angels lose to the Rangers, different day, Tuesday, August 6th. Remember when the Angels won the first three games to begin August with such promise? Yeah I don’t either. Let’s see if Tommy Hanson can do any better tomorrow as the Angels complete this series against the Rangers facing Alexi Ogando at 7:05 PT.