"Angels actually try to beat Blue Jays, fail adorably": 36 Runs to Crush the Angels


I would love this picture even more if they were holding hands. "Let's get 'em! Together."

I flat out stole the title of this post from Halo's Heaven, mostly because it amused me.

I'm not sure how adorable Mike Scioscia found it, because he gave some epic "Scioscia Faces" when he was shown on camera. He also turned several shades (he was puce at one point) when his team kicked the ball around the field. None of the Angels looked very happy.

After the 15-3 loss on Saturday, Huston Street lost his damn mind. He yelled and threw things. 

“I hate losing. I hate losing like this,” Street said. ”Sometimes you just have to get in people’s . . . .

“This is frustrating. There needs to be a sense of urgency. Guys need to feel that. And I wanted people to at least hear or feel it. Because it’s time.”

On Sunday, when the Angels scored five runs in the bottom of the first, it seemed like maybe the outburst had fired up the Angels. It turns out, R.A. Dickey wasn't knuckling like he wanted to. He settled down and the Jays scored eleven unanswered runs. 

Other than the first inning on Sunday, the entire series was Blue Jays. This offence defies adjectives.
I am out of adjectives. Gibby is stumped for words.

"We’re on fire right now," said John Gibbons. "It was a heck of a series, I really can’t describe it. But one thing we do is score runs, we’ve been doing that all year."

The bottom of the order got on for the top of the order and it clicked along like a juggernaut. Donaldson, fire of our baseball loins, had a monster series. The media wanted it to be an epic showdown between Donaldson and Mike Trout this series. I don't buy into all that and I think Mike Trout is probably going to turn out to be one of the greatest of all time, but I was glad to see Donaldson turn it out like he did. 

It was hardly a one man show. Toronto finished the series hitting .393 (48-for-122) with a .436 on-base percentage and hit .409 with RISP. Jose Bautista went 3-5 today, missing only a triple to complete the cycle. Bautista gave credit to the bottom of the order. "When those guys can contribute and one through six, one through seven, that we have going out there, it's going to be a fun day."

Bautista's homer was about the time the Angels were just over it. I don't think Bautista's homer had even landed yet when this happened:


I give full marks to Dickey. He struggled out of the gate, but settled down and let the offence do what it does. He said it was his favourite win of the season.

"When I came into the dugout, everybody was still upbeat and there was no reason to pout," said R.A. Dickey said about giving up five runs in the first. "I look at things in terms of metaphors so much and it really felt like a family win. Guys are encouraging you and saying, 'Hey, we're going to get them back, don't worry.' And they did."

Josh Thole was called up to give a hurting Russell Martin a break. Alexis Brudnicki wrote a great article about Martin through the eyes of A.J. Burnett and Clint Hurdle.

I never realized Burnett was so poetic, but maybe people were just asking him the wrong questions or maybe Russell just inspires it in him. 

“I always look at the catcher’s eyes through the mask,” Burnett said. “I told him as soon as he came here how much I missed that. He makes you better. Certain guys, you can look down and see their eyes, and they’re just ready to go. They’re ready for the game, they’re competitors.

“Russell always had that look in his eye. He never had a pitch he took off. He never took an inning off. It was just about how good can I make that guy be out there? You see that. It’s hard to explain but it’s something that very few people have.”

Martin also inspired Burnett to refer to himself in the third person (it's almost always hilarious when guys do that): 

“He’s one of the guys who knew how to pull the reigns on A.J.,” Burnett said. “He knew how to control me on the field. He knew I was not joking around, competitor on the mound, very serious, real emotional, and if he didn’t get to know me he wouldn’t know how to handle me."

Pull the reigns on A.J.

Follow @baseballexis. She does some really great work.

Finally, Devon Travis was on with Wilner on the pre-game show. I phoned. Travis said my question was good. He's such a nice guy. You can really hear it in the interview.