The ball is made of butter (or an explanation of the Angels defensive miscues Thursday night)

A’s 7, Angels 4

There is a sentient being that floats around major league baseball. She bounces around from club to club, sometimes in two places at once, sometimes in none at all. Tonight, she resides with Oakland. I am, of course, talking about the Lady 500. Lately, it seems the Angels have been friend-zoned by the good Lady. The team gets close, tantalizingly so, but in the end, they are rejected time and time again.

Thursday night it was the pitching and the defense to go. There’s no beating around the bush, Tyler Skaggs was horrific. On a night that the bullpen needed him to go deep, he couldn’t. In just four innings of work, he walked four and gave up five earned runs. To me, this is the end of the road for Skaggs as an above-average pitcher. He is average. If he has a good outing, it is by chance. There’s nothing more to be gained by hoping for him anymore. He’s been on the team far too long with nothing to show for it. The chips are in the other baskets now.

Although Skaggs was horrific, the defense didn’t help him out either. Kole Calhoun double clutched a throw, failing to nail Chad Pinder at the plate when he should have been a dead duck. Luis Rengifo allowed a ball to go underneath his glove. Dustin Garneau Lucroy’d the joint up by allowing a passed ball. However, Brian Goodwin took the cake.

Hey, Mike Trout crushed a home run, and it is good to see him at his best. He’s hitting homers with runners on base, thanks to the prolific baseballing abilities of Tommy La Stella. And he’s drilling pitches.

Jaime Barria entered the game for Skaggs and quietly pitched well, going five strong innings, allowing just one run and striking out six.

The strike zone was wack, but what else can you expect from Major League Baseball?

Also, if David Fletcher doesn’t start the All Star Game at third, vote Matt Chapman. Seeing him and Simba play alongside one another would be heavenly. Even though he did this:

Khris Davis finishes the game hitting .247, which is always fun.

All in all, nothing to see here, move along, sweep Seattle.