Pickoffs, TOOTBLANS, and Reckless Baserunning by the Angels Still Not Enough to Let the Dodgers Win

Dodgers 3 10 2
Angels   8 12 0
WP- Haren (7-5)
LP- De La Rosa (3-2)
HR- Kemp (21), Aybar (4), Kendrick (8)

This loss could have been much worse, Dodger fans. If the Angels weren't TOOTBLANing left and right, it may have been like 15-3. Rubby De La Rosa walked far too many batters, and the uselessness of Uribe who went 0 for 5 with an error while hitting second in the lineup in front of Ethier and Kemp was the nails in the proverbial coffin tonight.

The Angels began the game bumbling out of the gates. Izturis singles, but is thrown out at 2nd, Aybar strikes out, Abreau walks and steals 2nd, Wells singles and in an almost double-headed TOOTBLAN Wells is caught between 1st & 2nd, but Carroll has his eye on third and throws home getting Abreau out at the plate. In the bottom of the 1st Gordon whiffs, Ethier singles with 2 outs, and then Matt Kemp blasts his 21st homerun of the season giving the Dodgers an early 2-0 lead.

In the 2nd, Callapso walks, Kendrick strikes out, Trumbo singles and is picked off by Navarro at first, Mathis walks, and then Honeycutt visits the mound to try to settle Rubby down. Haren singles scoring Callapso but Ethier guns down Mathis at 3rd. In the bottom of the 2nd Thames doubles, but his frail body cannot handle actually hitting and he leaves the game with a strained left calf. No big loss there. Tony Gwynn Jr. comes in to replace him. Gwynn reaches third on a Navarro grounder. Carroll hits into a fielder's choice, but Gwynn is tagged out at home attempting to score. De La Rosa singles off of Aybar's glove, but Kendrick catches Gordon's flare to end the inning.

In the 3rd, Aybar singles and while Abreu strikes out swinging Aybar is picked off 1st by Navarro embarrassingly. He would later get his revenge. In the bottom of the inning Ethier, Kemp, and Loney all single consecutively to load the bases. Then Gwynn proceeds to whiff and Navarro pathetically grounds out to waste those three singles.

Rubby pitches his best inning in the 4th striking out Callapso and sending the Angels down 1-2-3. In the bottom of the inning, Carroll doubles, Rubby bunts Carroll over to 3rd, but then Carroll is tagged out at home on a fielder's choice grounder by Gordon.

The Angels come back in the 5th when Mathis walks, Haren bunts him over, Izturis then doubles Mathis in making it 2-2. Aybar then gets his revenge by hitting a 2-run homerun making it 4-2 Angels. The Dodgers try to scratch their way back when Ethier doubles, Loney singles Ethier to third, and Ethier scores on a force out by Gwynn. Loney out at second, 4-3. Gwynn steals second when Mathis laughingly throws to 1st base by mistake. Navarro pops out to end the rally.

In the 6th the Angels continue to score like teams do with good managers. Wells singles, Honeycutt visits the mound again, Wells is caught stealing second, and then Kendrick proceeds to hit a solo homerun making it 5-2. In the bottom of the 6th Rusty Anchor walks and takes second on a wild pitch, Uribe hits into a signature grounder.

Rubby De La Rosa goes 6 innings, allowing 9 hits, 5 runs, 4 walks, and striking out 6 on 100 pitches.

Haren goes 6 innings, allowing 10 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, and striking out 3 on 118 pitches.

Dougie pitches a 1-2-3 inning on 9 pitches in the 7th. Takahashi, a lefty version of Hiroki Kuroda, comes in to pitch for the Angels and strikes out Kemp while sending down the Dodgers in order in the bottom of the 7th.

Kuo comes in to pitch the 8th and immediately allows a single to Aybar, Bourjos bunts and Kuo can't get to it. Loney picks it up and throws the ball away allowing Bourjos to reach third base on his error. Aybar scores. 6-3 Angels. Kuo strikes out Wells then Hawksworth is brought in and he immediately gives up a single to Callapso which scores Bourjos, 7-3. The inning is finally over when Kendrick hits into a double play. The Dodgers of course go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 8th against Takahashi including whiffs to both Gwynn and Carroll.

In the 9th Trumbo reaches on an error by Uribe who had a horrible night to add to his horrible season thus far. Trumbo steals 2nd. Mathis sacs him over to third. Elbert is brought in and Wilson's fly ball scores Trumbo, 8-3. Kohn pitches the bottom of the 9th and the Dodgers go down in order and finish up with a Uribe strikeout as the cherry on top of this loss.

The Angels did have some baserunning issues, but even this was not enough to lose to the Dodgers. Remember last season the Angels swept us at home, and this series might be an instant replay. Tomorrow I believe Kuroda is pitching in a 1:10pm game. Go Blue:)