Hector Santiago’s weird start leads to 5-2 Angels win over Red Sox

Angels 5 Red Sox 2

The Angels rebounded from last night’s Tim Lincecum-tinged loss and played quite the ballgame this evening at the Big A. Hector Santiago was on the bump, multiple MLB scouts in the stands, seeking further evidence that their employers wish to offer the Halos a trade, and he had a peculiar start.

Luckily, the offense picked him up with a handful of runs, which allowed Santiago to get as weird and peculiar with his starts as he wanted. By “weird”, I’m talking about the fact that he needed 119 pitches just to get through 5 innings. He’s just the second starter in 2016 to throw 115+ pitches in five innings and allow two runs or less (the other being Joe Kelly).

The Angels were at work with the lumber to help out Hector, via Albert Pujols’ 20th homer (he’s the first player to record 30+ RBI in July since 2010), a ground out from Jefry Marte, a single from Johnny Giavotella and a big double from young catcher Jett Bandy. The Bandy Man can...and did!

It wasn’t the perfect outing for Santiago by any means, but it got the job done, despite the crazy amount of pitches and the six walks he gave up. And the offense put enough runs on the board to close Boston out.

I wonder what this game could do for Santiago’s trade value. That walk business was not pretty, and plenty guys got on base, but he only allowed two runs. He’s also now 6-0 in the month of July. That’s the first time an AL lefty has gone 6-0 in a month since Andy Pettite in 2007. He also joins a small list of Angels that have had 6-0 months: Ken McBride, Nolan Ryan, Chuck Finley, Jered Weaver

Quite the month for Santiago. It was also quite the night for the bullpen. Joe Smith had four up, four down. He hasn’t allowed a run since All Star break, which can do wonders for that trade value. Then there’s Cam Bedrosian, who struck out the side in the eighth. He has an ERA of 0.92 with 48 Ks in 39 innings.

This was a solid win for the Angels, showcasing good baseball in multiple areas of the game; a strong, balanced win against a cold, bitter, east coast enemy. On a summer Saturday night, in southern California. Nice.