C.J. Cron hits a grand slam!!!...........................oh & Red Sox won the game 5-4, whatevs

Angels 4 Red Sox 5

Red Sox...why does it always have to be Red Sox?

Yes, the Angels traveled yesterday, by aeroplane, to the ye olde towne of Bahstin, to partake in a scrum with the infamous Red Sox baseball team. A series loss is normally something that MLB fans can often get over rather quickly, but not me, as I have recently seen the month of June crush spirits like a hydraulic press. Today is July 1st, a time they can go with a clean slate into the holiday weekend. Or, and I’m just thinking out loud here, it is just another build up for a Buttercup.

Yes, this game, this series was important not only for the Angels need to get back on track, but also, It’s the Red Sox. No, losing just one game is too much. I needed the Angels to bring the pain tonight, but I saw no pain being doled out; if it weren’t for one pitch that C.J. Cron gave a ride to, then things would be even more bleak. This is all stuff we’re used to at this point, though. Right?

Jhoulys Chacin was the starting arm for the Angels tonight, and he almost matched my line for him in my silly article from yesterday. I had him going 4.0 IP, 7 H and 5 ER, whereas he actually finished with 4.2 IP, 12 H and 5 ER. I’m telling ya, these dudes are getting so predictable. (and hopefully you weren’t doing JDL’s drinking game, because I think you would have been chuggin’ at that point)

You’ve seen this all before. Chacin is exactly who we think he is, and I see him in the rotation as a capitulation to the endless bummer that is 2016. We can give props to the bullpen, though, as Deolis Guerra, Joe Smith (fresh off the DL) and JC Ramirez combined to hold the Sox at cinco.

The Angels actually did some damage to Sux starter and knuckleball enthusiast Steven Wright, the biggest blow of which came from Cron. It was in the sixth, with Albert Pujols, Jefry Marte and Daniel Nava on base. Cron launched a pill all the way out to left center, over the monster and into someone’s dumb bread bowl. Grand salami, BOOM.

At this point, Boston already had their five runs from Chacin, which unlike the Angels, they got from various innings, not the one lump sum payment plan like Cron signed us up for. So the bases clearing blast pulled them within one run, 5-4.

This is where the universe decided to get cruel. It began raining hard enough for the umpires to put us into a rain delay, as if losing a game in the capital of Pink Hat Nation wasn’t bad enough, now fans and the team would have to sit around and wait for things to start again. I used this time to reassess my life decisions I’ve made surrounding my fandom for this team.

The Halos’ detention didn’t last all that long, though, but wouldn’t they know it, they were just headed down one pre-determined outcome: Angels lose to Red Sox 5-4. They had their chances, in the pre-rain portion or in moments like a failed suicide squeeze from Johnny Giavotella in the eighth. They needed one run to send it into extras, two runs to win. They got nothing.

C.J. Cron was actually the last batter of the night, with Trout at third and Nava at second, but two outs already on the board. The man who had given all the runs for the Angels with just one swing earlier was all out of lump sum payment swings.

So, July is off to a suboptimal start. Let us hope this is just June gloom residue, but deep down we know this is just what this team looks like. Mike Trout greatness (and he was great tonight!), and then it’s Scioscia roulette, in what feels like perpetuity. Go team.