Angels Win in 10

Game Date: July 22, 2006
Game Score: Angels 4, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Shields (6-6), LP: Wellemeyer (0-1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 34-63

Lead off walks. They’ll kill ya every time. And if they don’t, then they should. Especially when you walk Chone Figgins—the American League leader in stolen bases. Todd Wellemeyer walked Figgins on four pitches in the tenth inning, and that was pretty much the ball game. Figgins stole second and took third after Berroa couldn’t catch Paul Phillip’s throw that bounced in front of the second base bag. Figgins scored on an RBI single by Reggie Willits.

Unfortunately, Paul Phillips was involved in another play that cost the Royals. In the bottom of the ninth inning, with the scored tied 3-3, Joey Gathright led off with a single and then he stole second. Bell called for a sacrifice bunt from Phillips, but he couldn’t get the job done and we ended up not scoring. Between Phillips and Buck, you’d think that at least one of our catchers would be able to drop down a sacrifice bunt since neither do much else at the plate, but that’s not the case.

Now for the pitching. Luke Hudson was solid again. He pitched into the seventh inning and left with a 3-2 lead. With two runners on, Burgos came in and threw another wild pitch—allowing the tying run to score. I’m not even sure what to say about this guy anymore. He was a poor closer because he can’t throw anything off speed for a strike and his fastball is straight as an arrow. Oh, and he’s as wild as Mitch Williams. But he isn’t any better in middle relief. Somebody needs to teach this guy a third pitch and they need to teach him how to throw a splitter that goes further than 58 feet.

Hopefully, we can put the poor performance behind us and go out and win today. Winning three out of four from the Angels would still be something to smile about. The Royals send Brandon Duckworth (1-3, 4.78) against Jered Weaver (6-0, 1.12). You may remember that back on June 13, Weaver threw seven innings of shut out ball against us. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.