Ricky Nolasco gets buttercupped by his own petard, A's comeback and beat Angels 3-2

Angel 2  Athletics 3

A lot of stuff went right for the Angels tonight, until the end of the game, when things started going all wrong. Things went so wrong, that the Angels' win on the horizon turned into a loss. This is, more or less, a Buttercupping. You and I are disgustedly aware of what Buttercup is, what Buttercup means, but you know who was totally unaware? Ricky Nolasco.

Well, Ricky Nolasco, meet Buttercup. Buttercup, meet Ricky Nolasco. Now he knows the brutal truth, now he is initiated into our Buttercup Cult. Welcome, Ricky!

Now, this Buttercupping had some key differences than others, but the basic premise was there. Nolasco continued right where he left off in his last start, when he got a CG shutout in under 100 pitches, and was literally PERFECTO up until the sixth inning, when he gave up a single. That's quite some two-game stretch of scoreless pitching.

He was being matched quite well on the other side of the scoreboard, with Zach Neal giving the Angels some fits. They eventually turned that around in the fourth, when Andrelton Simmons got a big RBI double, and Kaleb Cowart tacked on a sac fly.

The game went on with that 2-0 Angels lead til the 8th inning, with the Halos looking like they were about to get their fifth straight series win. Nolasco came back out and that's when it all fell apart. He gave up a single to Billy Butler to start things off, then two four-pitch walks in a row, loading up the bases.

That was it...that was all she wrote for Ricky Nolasco, a man who was a pitching monster for basically two games and then all of a sudden was put in the ultimate hammerlock. Nolasco was lifted for Mike Morin, who then gave up a bloop and a grounder, both hits allowing all of Nolasco's runs to score and the A's had a 3-2 lead.

Yep, Ricky Nolasco was Buttercupped by his own petard, basically. Even though all the runs scored were his to own, the win and the glory were still right there in arm's reach, but out of nowhere, the game disintegrated.

That's a Buttercup.