Tyler Skaggs’ return wasn’t as triumphant as we’d like & Angels get shutout by Athletics 5-0

Angels 0 Athletics 5

Tyler Skaggs’ first MLB start in 14 weeks wasn’t the startlingly good comeback that everybody was wishing we’d seen tonight. It wasn’t atrocious, though, so there’s that; it was just mediocre, at best, with the typical rust and jitters that you’d expect from mortal baseball players. There were other reasons the Halos would end up losing to the Athletics 5-0, however, so he can also hang his hat on knowing it wasn’t ALL his fault. There were plenty bad plays and bad calls to go around.

Skaggs’ not-quite-triumphant return entailed 4.0 innings pitched (on 83 pitches), during which he would give up six hits, walking two and K’ing three. The biggest black mark was those three runs, all earned; one was on a wild pitch in the first, and the other two came off of a Dustin Garneau single in the fourth.

After that, we saw an appearance from Cam Bedrosian that was full of enough questionable ump decisions and some sloppy play, so much that tensions started to become visible in the dugout. This was not a pretty game at all, and the fuming faces after the Angels let a couple more on in that bad sixth side really summed it up nicely. Or badly. Whoever you want to look at it.

All of this was not the fault of Skaggs, though. We can put a lot of the blame on A’s starter, Paul Blackburn, who made it through nearly 7 innings (6.2 IP) and gave up five hits, no runs. Blanked. The Halos were an unstoppable force, and they met an immovable object...that WAS NOT a walk-off grand slam. Nope, this was just a run of the mill, average, crappy loss.

The Halos had been red hot, though, so this wasn’t supposed to happen. What gives? Tomorrow, the rubber game will decide if tonight was just a case of an unbeatable Blackburn and some other calamities, or if Skagg’s first trip back to the mound was exactly what we should have expected and can continue to expect. Or maybe it’ll just be a game against the Athletics.