Game 48: Angels 3, Mariners 4
In what is becoming a seasonal habit, the Angels’ bullpen surrendered a narrow lead, and as a result, fell to the visiting Seattle Mariners 4-3 in ten innings.
30-year-old rookie Matt Palmer put the Angels in a great position to earn a victory on Saturday night by allowing just four hits over seven scoreless innings while striking out five and walking none. But while Palmer certainly lived up to his end of the bargain, the bullpen did not.
With the Angels holding a 3-0 lead at the start of the ninth inning, closer Brian Fuentes entered the game, but ended up allowing three runs and blowing his third save in 16 attempts this season. The tenth inning wasn’t much better for the bullpen either. Jose Arredondo gave up a double to Wladimir Balentien to lead off the inning, and the Seattle outfielder ended up scoring the game winning run after two sacrifice flys.
Here are some additional thoughts on tonight’s game:
- After three blown saves before June, Fuentes is on pace to hit double figures by the end of the year. In contrast, K-Rod is 1-0 with a 0.76 ERA and 13 saves. Oh by the way, he also has zero blown saves. Maybe we could use him?
- Scioscia needs to consider keeping Palmer as a starter even when Kelvim Escobar returns from injury. The bullpen clearly could use some help, and I think Escobar has the tools to give some juice to the ‘pen. Additionally, Palmer seems more suited toward the starting role, as he continues to improve as the game progresses. The fact that he has five victories in seven starts doesn’t hurt his case either.
- While the bullpen holds the majority of the blame for tonight’s meltdown, the offense wasn’t perfect either. The team’s “big free-agent signee” Bobby Abreu went 0-for-5, while everyone else in the lineup recorded at least one hit. While the team did have eleven hits, the problem is that only 1 out of the 11, a double by Erick Aybar, was an extra base hit. You don’t need a bunch of home runs to win in the american league, but some doubles and triples would be extremely helpful. As of right now, the Halos aren’t getting much of anything.
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