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Well, that was bound to happen eventually. Baseball is a game of failure, after all. Blake Parker had given up only 1 earned run since April 4th. 13 appearances across an entire month. And then last night, after Mike Trout sparked a 6-run 6th inning rally with his 8th home run on the season (hitting streak now at 16 games). They had a 2-run and would add another run in the 9th. But in between Parker would take the mound and give up 4 runs, all earned, on 4 hits and a walk. He would only get two batters out. And the Angels would take the loss 7-8.
Anybody know why Maldonado got so pissy here? Seemed like a pretty innocuous tag. I don't know what M's pitcher Nick Vincent was all about.
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A Little Bit of Angels News
Ricky Nolasco was cruising along until the 5th. Double, sac bunt, home run, double, IBB, base hit, take a shower. What we hear now, from Mike Scioscia, is that Nolasco was cramping up. But with the recent history of this club, such a silly little tale tends to lead to running, and screaming.............
Mike Trout, your American League Man of April........
Trout Porn. Are we finally seeing it all come together in the same season?.........
He Who I Must Not Mess With has a new post up for you all to enjoy..........
Alex Meyer is tonight's starter. I suppose it's the right thing to do. Troy Scribner has the more innings, the better ERA, the better WHIP, the same BB and K numbers. But Meyer already has the uniform stitched up and fitted. (More seriously, Scribner pitched just this past Monday whereas Meyer pitched last week.)..........
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Everywhere In Baseball
Buster Olney calling for permanent fan ejections if they violate the abusive language warning........Scott Boas wants Congress to pass a law or three (which would be interesting should a future incident then take place at Rogers Centre)..........
Pedro Martinez, at 5' 11" and 170 lbs., would have fit into my back pocket. Martinez is braying these days. Yesterday it was Chris Sale. Martinez, who spent 7 of his most dominant years in the American League where he didn't have to bat himself, is quoted a lot these days promoting the glory of pitchers plunking batters. How courageous...........
I doubt Martinez will feel the same about Kevin Gausman. Gausman plunked Xander Bogaerts in the 2nd inning and what with all the attention being paid to the shenangans ongoing between these two clubs over the past week, Gausman got the zero tolerance hook. Gausman was claiming that it was a curveball that failed to follow orders and curve. O's catcher Caleb Joseph went absolutely bonkers (bumped the ump, too, FWIW), maybe more out of frustration that Manny Machado has been thrown at something like 6 times over the past few games with little consequence............Something to note, though. Apparently neither team was issued any warnings pre-game. So that was just the plate ump ruling on his own...........Both teams DID have to visit the principals office, however..........
One guy loves Atlanta's new stadium. From what I can tell, he loves it in spite of a bunch of flaws, because it is small and surrounded by a shitload of things that have nothing to do with a baseball stadium..........
The last thing you expect when you attend a ballgame is getting shot. Can't ever again say that it never happens..........
April attendance figures are in, and you will never guess which fan base has revealed itself as the biggest of bandwagoners! Well, Ok, yes you will. Most likely in 3 guesses............
New Yankee Stadium, stealthily built to be a bandbox. Coors Light, if you will..........(Only 3 of Aaron Judge's MLB-leading home runs have been on the road.)...........
What? Tim Tebow was blessed with some grooved fastballs to make him look better than he otherwise might actually be? Such things happen in the real world? Since when? While you are pondering that, make sure to check out the Tebow selection of jerseys in the MLB store...........But don't tell Tebow about this. Tebow BELIEVES!..........
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The Duffle Bag
Micah Johnson, 2B for the Braves, lays down a serious burn on a grown-assed autograph hound........Uh, yeah, as an Angels fan, I know how to troll this particular troll..........Tobacco companies + lawyers = shameful levels of audacity..........This 3B gets far too much credit for hidden ball trick. None of his teammates or coaches could lend an alert or two or three in all that time? NONE of them noticed?..............The balk rule is the most twisted and tortured of rules in the book..........Toledo Mudhens and A Theme Too Far (h/t UniWatch)..........Oops! Celebrating a tad too hard here, young baller..........I noticed this as well. Not every fan in Fenway made a point to repudiate the ill treatment received by Adam Jones. Not even close to every fan............But among those who DID stand, there was probably the person who reported an offensive patron to security. And the Red Sox are now operating under a zero-tolerance policy..........
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