Final Score in Kansas City: Angels 3, Royals 6 ... Joel Piñeiro had to be perfect and when he was not the defense is supposed to be, but the groundball specialist allowed quite a few liners and a few flyballs, one of which was ill-timed with men on base and led to earned runs that really should be demoted from Torii Hunter's gold glove scorecard. The 4-Run 6th inning was damning to Piñeiro's cause, but the Angels blew many chances to get back in as well as take over this game.
Erick Aybar lost a step and a half on defense, Torii could not get a read or play in the gaps if you paid him (which the Angels in fact do, and quite dearly) and Mike Napoli kept the bat on his shoulder all night long (cue Lionel Richie: all night... all night long... once you get started you can't take a swing... hey don't laugh chixdiggit).
But the fates were also against the squad with Hideki Matsui missing a monster HR by literally a quarter inch. That would have changed the entire game had it been coupled with Torii Hunter taking two steps back on routine deep fly instead of an inexplicable three steps in. One thing Angels fans were not subjected to in the game: Any ramblings about Kansas City barbecue, as the king of kliché, announcer Steve Physioc, has been ousted and the current announcing squad embraces discussing the game in front of them.
