Angels 7, Tigers 0: Errors in the outfield

In a far more toned down affair, the Tigers and Angels met for the second of four games in Anaheim. Jordan Zimmermann faced off against Matt Shoemaker. The offense, which was on fire in Thursday’s game, was muted in this go-round, and it looked a lot more like the Tigers in Anaheim we’re used to seeing.

One positive was the return of a healthy-looking J.D. Martinez, back in the bigs a bit earlier than expected because of Jim Adduci’s assignment to the disabled list. Though he didn’t start the game with a bang like he did against Chris Sale last season, he did get a hit in his first at-bat and looked good at the plate (not so much in the field).

Ultimately it was one of those games where things didn’t boom or bust too tremendously, making it feel relatively unexciting. The shutout was a disappointment, to say the least, but seems to have become the rule and not the exception for gmaes in Anaheim.

ROARS:

Jose Iglesias - Gold Glove incoming, baby. Iglesias continued his campaign to make everyone forget his tepid offense by being mind-bogglingly good in the field. He robbed Mike Trout of a hit and almost turned a near-impossible double play at the same time, missing the out by fractions of an inch. In an otherwise lacklustre game, Iglesias was just fun.

Chad Bell - relieved Zimmermann and pitched a scoreless inning. Not terribly exciting stuff but also not a disaster implosion that resulted in fan tears, that was yet to come.

HISSES:

Offense - it was a classic case of TTBDNS, with the bases loaded early and no one able to make anything come of it. To add insult to injury the Angels then loaded the bases and knocked in two runs, as if to say “See, guys, this is what you’re supposed to do.” Tigers managed to collect just four hits, but nary a single run.

J.D. Martinez - picking up where Tyler Collins left off on Thursday, Martinez committed an error that allowed a run to score. Welcome back, I guess.

Anibal Sanchez - Tigers’ pitchers had kept reigning MVP Mike Trout hitless through almost two full games. So naturally Sanchez gave up a 430 foot 2-run home run to him in the bottom of the eighth.

STREAKS AND INFO:

“First and only trip to Angels’ stadium this season,” Mario informed us. Thank goodness. The west coast road trip can’t end soon enough.

This is... not great.