Recap
Box Score
Win Probability Graph @ Fangraphs
Record: 20-10, 1st Place
Highest WPA:
Cliff Lee .479
Victor Martinez .192
Casey Blake .084
Lowest WPA:
Jhonny Peralta -.093
Travis Hafner -.081
Trot Nixon -.042
Cliff Lee was the story of the game, pitching a rather unexpected complete game in just his second start of the year. The Angels' offense gave Cliff a helping hand, hacking away at his high fastballs early and often. I don't know if I've ever seen so many harmless popups in recent memory. The amazing thing about his pitching performance is how seldom he used his curveball: it seemed to me as if was just going with his fastball and changeup. But I still was amazed how awful the Angels' approach was; you'd think at some point the hitting coach would be telling his players to make him bring his fastball down, or at least take a pitch or two. Mike Scioscia said after the game:
I guess "soft" equates to "struggling" in this instance. Or possibly "ungritty."
Victor Martinez drove in the first two runs of the runs of the game with a single and a home run, Casey Blake the next two with two singles with RISP, and Travis Hafner plated the final run with a groundout. Hafner had a brutal day at the plate, striking out four times against Ervin Santana; Rick Manning noted that Hafner wasn't picking up the spin on Santana's pitches. Sunday's grand slam aside, Pronk has really struggled in May, hitting a very unPronk-like .138/.342/.379 the first 8 days of the month.
Up Next: More late-night fun in Anaheim, LA, California, etc. Byrd vs. Good Weaver, 10:05 PM.