ANGELS HIT BY A LEFT LOSE TO CLEVELAND SOUTHPAW LAFFEY CLEVELAND 6, ANGELS 2.Byline: BEN VILLA Staff Writer Twice in the past two weeks, the Angels accommodated Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. and switched their starting time Noun 1. starting time - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her" commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, start, kickoff, beginning, first on a Sunday so the entire country could watch them on national television. Angels manager Mike Scioscia Jered Weaver Jered David Weaver (born October 4, 1982 in Northridge, California), is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Jered attended college at Long Beach State University where he was the 2004 College Baseball's Golden Spikes Award winner. gave up six runs and the Angels' struggles with left- handers continued in a 6-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. in front
of 40,037 at Angel Stadium.
On Saturday, Indians southpaw C.C. Sabathia pitched a complete game against the Angels. On Sunday, it was young Aaron Laffey's turn. The 22-year-old left-hander was making just his sixth career start, and although he only lasted five innings and was routinely in jams, the Angels could not take advantage of them, going 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on . The Angels' record against left-handers fell to 16-18 this season. "Our batting average batting average n. Baseball A measure of a batter's performance obtained by dividing the total of base hits by the number of times at bat, not including walks. Noun 1. against left-handers isn't awful, but we haven't had success winning games against them," Scioscia said. "We'll continue to look at it and we hope that some of our right-handers step up soon. "But tonight, we went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and that was the story right there. We had their kid on the ropes, but we couldn't get a big hit. You have to give him credit. He got out of jams when he needed to." The Angels dropped a game in the standings when Seattle beat Detroit 14-7 earlier in the day, but they're still comfortably ahead by eight games in the American League West The American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. with 19 left to play. This series was billed as a possible playoff preview with both teams leading their divisions, and if it is, then it figures to be a good one. The two teams finished the season splitting their 10 games, but whatever momentum the Angels might have had was killed when they lost Saturday and Sunday. "Their offense is pretty good," Weaver said of the Indians. "That's why they're in first place. If we see them in the playoffs, we'll make the necessary adjustments. I know I will." Unfortunately for Weaver, he couldn't make them Sunday. The Angels staked him to a 2-0 lead when they scored in the first inning on a throwing error by Indians shortstop Jhonny Peralta Jhonny Antonio Peralta (b. May 28, 1982, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a baseball player who is currently the starting shortstop for the Cleveland Indians. He signed with the Indians in 1999 as an undrafted free agent. and in the second on a sacrifice fly by Mike Napoli Michael Anthony "Mike" Napoli (b. October 31, 1981 in Hollywood, Florida) is a Major League Baseball catcher with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Napoli attended Charles Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines, Florida. , who had been out with a hamstring injury hamstring injury Sports medicine A muscle injury of biceps femoris, seen in sprinters and runners, when a contracted muscle meets a lengthening force, overpowering intrinsic muscle resiliency Management RICE, NSAIDs, gradual ↑ of pain-free activity–eg, since July 28. Weaver faced the minimum through the first three innings, but in the top of the fourth, the Indians hammered him. After Grady Sizemore scored on a Asdrubal Cabrera single and Victor Martinez singled, Ryan Garko hit the first pitch he saw from Weaver, a slider A block of material that holds the read/write head of a magnetic disk. See flying head. , over the left-field wall for his 17th home run of the season to gave the Indians a 4-2 lead. "He usually doesn't swing at the first pitch and I was trying to drop one in there," Weaver said. "He hit it where he was supposed to. I wish I could do things differently. I was good through the first three innings, but then I hit a roadblock in the fourth. "I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. really what to say. Their offense put some good swings on me. The most frustrating thing is, I have to wait five days to get back after it." Weaver threw 97 pitches and left after only five innings, allowing nine hits. "Jered was a little out of sync tonight and he paid for it," Scioscia said. "The pitch to Garko, I'm sure he would like to have back. He didn't pitch that poorly, but the Indians got the one big hit they needed off him." The Indians scored another run in the fifth inning on a Cabrera double to extend their lead to 6-2, and that was more than enough for Laffey and the Indians' bullpen. The Angels had opportunity after opportunity to get back in the game, but they failed to come through in the clutch. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Napoli came up with runners on first and second with one out, but grounded into a double play. The Angels' final scoring threat came in the sixth inning against Indians reliever Jensen Lewis when Chone Figgins, who was pinch-hitting for Robb Quinlan, singled with one out. After Casey Kotchman singled, Napoli struck out looking and Reggie Willits hit a soft grounder to second base to end the inning. "We're the same team no matter who's on the mound, a right-hander or a left-hander," Willits said. "All of our left-handed hitters like Casey Kotchman and Garret Anderson hit lefties really well, so I don't think there's anything to this idea that we can't beat them. "Most of us have never faced Laffey before, but we've seen a lot of film on him. He tries to keep you off-balanced and tonight, he did a good job of it. Sometimes you've got to give the other team credit." ben.villa@presstelegram.com (562) 499-1338 ANGELS TODAY Off day. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Cleveland's Ryan Garko, left, rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run in the fourth inning, as Angels third baseman Maicer Izturis can only watch. Mark Avery/Associated Press |
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