Angels Scioscia protest a call costing the Angels a sweep.

Last night, the Angels had a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning. A sacrificial bunt was laid down for the Royals, giving them chance of inching closer to the Angels lead. What happened next would determine the outcome of the game.

Angels starting pitcher Matt Shoemaker grabbed the bunted ball and launched it to first base. The runner racing towards that base was rookie Raul Mondesi. It was his first career hit in the major leagues, which would grant him two RBI’s.

However, the question of this play was did the runner interfere with Shoemaker’s throw towards first? The ball grazed Mondesi’s leg as he approached first base. The Angels argued whether Mondesi was inside the line or not.

In the video shown below, it’s clear he wasn’t directly on the line. However, Shoemaker had a chance to throw the ball to first before he made it to the plate.

When asked about the error following the 7-5 loss to the Royals, Shoemaker told MLB.com’s Alden Gonzalez:

“I had an angle; I just made a bad throw,” Shoemaker said. “The worst part is that he was probably going to be safe anyway.”

Angels manager Mike Scioscia spent 10 minutes arguing the call. During that time, the Angels filed a protest, and they reportedly even met with the umpire behind closed doors following the loss and hashed out this situation even further.

What’s problematic in this situation is Sosh’s argumentative behavior cost the Angels the game. Following the extended protest, Shoemaker’s next pitch resulted go-ahead triple from Jarrod Dyson. Shoemaker wasn’t to blame (once again) for this loss; however, wasn’t ready to point the finger to Scioscia.

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Instead of spending 10 minutes arguing a call that doesn’t have clear-cut evidence to be over-turned, why not focus on the game at hand and move on? If Scioscia was still arguing the call after the game was over, he wasn’t focused on the game but rather the call.

There was still three innings left to be played, the game was tied following the messy play. I’m all for a replay, but wasting 10 minutes arguing a call that is unlikely to be over-turned is counterproductive. Sosh should have known better than to waste that much time, that it would affect his pitcher.

Not only does it affect the players, it affects the fans. People watching the game don’t want to see a manager and a umpire arguing for that much time. In my opinion, the game was over following that play, because Sosh was no longer concerned with winning the game. The only concern from the Angels dugout was a blown call.

This is the kind of thing the Angels can afford to do this season, which is already in jeopardy. By taking your mind off winning the game and focusing on a bad call, you lose the game and a chance to sweep.

Next: Can the Angels make the post season

Earlier this season, i wrote an article on how a change in the clubhouse manager position could benefit the Angels. If anything it could benefit Shoemaker, Shoemaker has at least three losses due to Scioscia. Last night was another unfortunate event due to losing focus on winning the game.