Angels lose to Rays in ninth, wasting a solid start from Jered Weaver

Angels 2  Rays 4

Weaver battled nobly, pitching six total innings while giving up six hits to five strikeouts. He also had two runs, but only one was earned. That unearned run would be the story of Weaver's night on the mound. In an otherwise perfect bounce-back outing, Weaver was having no problems with the Rays whatsoever, and on the other side, Rays starter Jake Odorizzi was silencing the Halos. They were locked into a low-scoring battle through the first four innings, both hurlers breezing through the batters with fearlessness.

The fifth had things breaking open a bit, as the Angels came away with some runs. After C.J. Cron and Johnny Giavotella getting on base, recently demoted Andrelton Simmons was at the plate; the coldest Angels player there is at the moment had the spotlight on him, and he didn't disappoint. A single would score both Cron and Giavotella, and the Angels had a 2-0 lead in an extremely tight game.

With a two run lead and Weaver dominating, fans were probably thinking we were on our way to an easy win. But then when a guy got on base in the sixth,  because of a dumb C.J. Cron toss and error, and Weaver battling Steven Souza, you wouldn't be thought a lesser fan for thinking "I bet he gives up a homer right here", because that's just how the Angels season has gone. And that's just how it went tonight, as Souza took Weaver deep to left field and tied the game up 2-2. You couldn't script it any better...or worse...you know what I mean.

We wouldn't see much more of Odorizzi or Weaver for the night, and the focus would once again shift to the bullpen. That bullpen, for what it's worth, has been on fire for the past week and a half, even Cam Bedrosian is striking out guys left and right. It's weird, and feels like a cruel illusion that if I speak too much on, it will disappear into thin air so let's just not even acknowledge the great bullpen work.

We can, however, acknowledge bad bullpen work, and after having such a strong streak of games going, tonight they sprung a leak. Joe Smith was in the 9th, Huston Street still out, and he nibbled around all inning long until he finally got the bases loaded situation he seemingly wanted. Logan Forsythe hit a little flare out to shallow center, scoring two runs, and breaking the tie. With a 4-2 lead, the Rays just needed to stifle the Angels in the bottom of the ninth and they'd have the dramatic victory.

Fittingly enough, a GIDP was the last thing we saw from the Angels tonight, as they sputtered through the ninth and the game was over, no lighting of the halo in store for us tonight. A solid Jered Weaver, who literally had one mistake pitch, was the jewel of the evening. But that just makes this loss tougher to swallow, especially when you realize how little help he got from his supporting players at the plate. Good on Weaver though...much better than last time, but that's Home Weaver for ya.

The team as a whole, though...oof. If you're a good child, you will not bring your mother to the stadium tomorrow, maybe buy them some flowers and a walk in the park, instead. Much more entertaining.