In the first inning Erick Aybar hit a long fly that looked a great deal like Alex Gordon snagged it with a diving catch just over the foul line. But third base umpire Ted Barrett ruled that it was neither a foul nor a catch, leaving Aybar safe at second. Naturally he later came around to score when a screaming Torii Hunter grounder took an awkward hop off the mound. And in the next inning the Angels added three more with a home run off the unlikely bat of Mark Trumbo.
LA mounted a couple more attempts at offense, but mostly they just struck out a lot. The only other interesting top of an inning came in the fifth. Albert Pujols hit a clean double to center, but when he saw Jason Bourgeois struggling to field the ball he tried stretching it to three. Bad move.
We were no less peculiar. The first couple of innings went fine (we even scored in the second), and it was hard to complain about Tony Abreu’s lead-off homer in the third. Billy Butler led off the fourth with a double but looked like he might end up stranded as the next two batters struck out swinging. Then Jeff Francoeur hit a tough one to short. Aybar threw it well wide of the first base bag, so far off that Butler scored all the way from second.
From there on the Royals had trouble getting anything done. In the late innings Mike Scioscia started playing the stupid lefty-righty match-up thing, all the more aggravating because it worked for him. We got a brief glimmer of hope in the bottom of the ninth when Mike Moustakas singled and gave way to pinch runner Jarrod Dyson. Though the speedy runner had second stolen cleanly on the very next pitch, he overslid the bag. One more pop-out and the game was over.
The weather is turning cool now. Not just a fluke chill providing welcome relief from the summer heat. Autumn may not officially start until next week, but it felt like it was in the ballpark for real this afternoon.
The box score: ANGELS (4) AT ROYALS (3) ANGELS AB R H BI ROYALS AB R H BI Mike Trout 3 0 0 0 Jason Bourgeois 4 0 1 0 Erick Aybar 4 1 3 0 Alcides Escobar 4 0 0 0 Albert Pujols 4 0 1 0 Alex Gordon 3 0 0 0 Torii Hunter 4 0 1 1 Billy Butler 4 1 1 0 Howard Kendrick 4 0 0 0 Salvador Perez 4 1 1 0 Vernon Wells 4 1 2 0 Mike Moustakas 4 0 1 0 Alberto Callaspo 4 1 1 0 Jeff Francoeur 4 0 1 1 Mark Trumbo 4 1 1 3 Eric Hosmer 3 0 0 0 Bobby Wilson 3 0 0 0 Tony Abreu 2 1 1 1 TOTALS 34 4 9 4 TOTALS 32 3 6 2 ANGELS 130 000 000 -- 4 ROYALS 011 100 000 -- 3 LOB--ANGELS 5, ROYALS 4. ERR--Erick Aybar, Eric Hosmer. 2B--Erick Aybar, Albert Pujols, Billy Butler, Salvador Perez. HR--Mark Trumbo, Tony Abreu. ANGELS IP H R ER BB SO HR Dan Haren 5 2-3 5 3 2 1 5 1 Nick Maronde 0 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Garrett Richards 1 1-3 0 0 0 1 0 0 Scott Downs 0 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Jordan Walden 0 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kevin Jepsen 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 ROYALS Will Smith 5 7 4 4 2 2 1 Louis Coleman 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 Aaron Crow 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 Kelvin Herrera 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 Greg Holland 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 WP--Aaron Crow. BALK--Dan Haren. SO--Howard Kendrick (2), Torii Hunter (2), Mark Trumbo (3), Mike Trout, Alex Gordon, Tony Abreu, Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez. BB--Bobby Wilson, Mike Trout, Alex Gordon, Tony Abreu. LOCATION: The K CONDITION: Dry WEATHER: Cloudy, Cool Buck: B (high school athlete) Guard: Job Corps JROTC Anthem: Feedback City Umpires H: Fagan 1: Mr. Pine Tar 2: Reyburn 3: Barrett Time: 1:12 (listed on the scoreboard as 6:12) Temp: 70
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