By the time Angels rookie Garrett Richards had recorded the first out of his career Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, his ERA dropped from infinity to 81.00. It was that kind of night for the Angels as they allowed 9 runs to the Bronx Bombers. Down 7-2 late with the bases loaded, Peter Bourjos grounded into a double play on the first pitched tossed by Rafael Soriano, called in to relieve starter Ivan Nova. With no outs and the bases loaded in the 7th inning, Soriano threw a total of 4 pitches to retire the side with but a mere run scoring.
The final score, Yankees 9, Angels 3 is not an indicator of how lopsided the contest really was.
Pitcher Joel Piñeiro came out of the bullpen and gave rest to any notion that it would have been better for manager Mike Scioscia to leave him in the rotation. The veteran righty allowed 3 runs in 3 IP. Considering the options, Garrett Richards is the likely fifth starter in the rotation for at least another turn, matching up with the Rangers in Anaheim on Monday.
Up until Tuesday, Angles' manager Mike Scioscia felt he didn't want to put too much pressure on rookie first baseman Mark Trumbo to bat him any higher than his typical #7 spot in the Angels' batting order. However, Trumbo leads the team in home runs and RBI, and the Angels #7 spot in the order leads the American League in RBI out of that batting order slot. The time must be right to move Trumbo up as he's hitting 5th in tonight's order.
Last night's 6-4 comeback win was their 27th of the season, third in the A.L.
The Angels optioned relief pitcher Horatio Ramirez to make room for tonight's starting pitcher Garrett Richards. The club transfered Francisco Rodriguez to the 60-day DL to make room on the 40-man roster. Richards is also the 14th Angel to make their debut over the last two seasons, while 11 players on the team's 25-man roster have less than 2 years of MLB experience.
