Anaheim Angels

The June 19th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Trumbo unsure about participating in the Home Run Derby, Scioscia explains the Angels' lack of stolen bases and much more... The Story: Mark Trumbo will only participate in the Home Run Derby if he makes the All-Star team. The Monkey Says: It is a little weird when a non-All-Star is in the derby but that is hardly the point. He has an outside shot at making the team though, so he could very well be back in the derby even if he is trying to back out already. The Story: Scioscia tries to explain the Angels' lack of stolen bases this year. The Monkey Says: He is going to have a lot more explaining to do after we all watched Josh Hamilton hit into three double plays with Mike Trout standing stationary on first base. The Story: Michael Kohn is emerging as a bullpen standout. The Monkey Says: And a lot of that has come from Scioscia protecting him from left-handed batters and often using him for only one or two batters. The Story: Brendan Harris ended an 0-for-27 streak on Monday night. The Monkey Says: I knew he was struggling but didn't realize it was that bad. Good thing he is the only righty off the bench so that Scioscia has nobody else to pinch-hit for Hamilton with. The Story: Mike Trout thinks the best players should go to the All-Star Game regardless of how long they've been in the majors. The Monkey Says: Not that he is biased or anything on the topic. He is right though that the best players should go, which is why fan voting should probably count for less since we live in an era where it is more about which team can conjure up the best ballot box stuffing strategies. The Story: The Battle of Los Angeles featuring copious amounts of schadenfreude. The Monkey Says: I really worry for Riley's health if one of these teams doesn't turn it around soon. The Story: Joe Blanton is baseball's biggest loser. The Monkey Says: To be completely accurate, Blanton isn't the worst pitcher in baseball, he is the pitcher in baseball still allowed to be in a rotation. And the invocation of FIP is misleading because FIP isn't just a measure of luck. Blanton defies FIP a bit because he is an exception in that he can miss a fair amount of bats but also allows a lot of good contact all while not walking many batters. The Story: Why does Mike Scioscia tolerate the poor performance of high paid players like Hamilton and Pujols? The Monkey Says: Because what other choice does he have? Is there some clearly better alternative out there? It isn't like Pujols can be put on the DL and Joey Votto is going to take his place. It would be Brad Hawpe. Do you really think the Angels are better off with Hawpe than keeping Pujols in the lineup hoping that he comes around? Don't be obtuse. The Story: The Inland Empire 66ers are having "Protect and Serve Night" to raise money for the police officers wounded or killed by Chris Dornan. The Monkey Says: This is a great cause, so please attend if you live in the area. [follow]

Josh Hamilton grounded into three double plays and struck out the other two times he came to the plate. Mike Trout did everything he could to will his team's offense into something resembling legitimacy. Instead, he was anchored at first, with Scioscia failing to employ his favorite (until this year) offensive tactic of activating his speedy base runners. The good news is, Albert Pujols is really starting to hit the ball with authority. A night after after 4 hits and one long, long foul ball, Big Albert tied the ballgame up in the eighth inning, slicing a majestic fly ball cutting through the Marine Layer and depositing the baseball into the Angels bullpen and supporting starter Joe Blanton. By the way: Joe Blanton was phenomenally good. Seriously, who was this guy? He struck out 11 Mariners over 6 2/3 innings, and did his very best to win the ballgame. Of course, it wouldn't be 2013 Angels baseball if the offense didn't immediately fall into a coma as soon as the starting pitcher finally dominates. But, such is life. Mariners 3, Angels 2 ------ Game Notes -- Kendrys Morales lined a shot just off Erick Aybar's glove to give the Mariners the lead in the 10th. What a terrible trade, by Jerry Dipoto! No? Not a funny joke? Okay. -- Chris Iannetta, coming in as a pinch-hitter in the 7th inning, walked twice. Again. He now has 40 walks on the season, and 35 hits. ------ Halos A-Hole of the Game Arte's prized signing of the Winter World Series, 2012, is your worst player today.

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Final Score in Ten Innings: Angels 2 Mariners 3 If you don't know Josh by now... You will never ever ever know Josh... If we don't bench Hambone by now, we will never ever ever see third place again... Josh Hamilton had a night to forget but Angels fans might never ever do that. Going 0 for 5 he struck out twice and grounded into three double plays. He left seven men on base. In his fifth Plate Appearance he had a chance for redemption but stranded the winning run on 2B with his second K. Joe Blanton allowed two solo home runs in the bottom of the second inning, but pitched into the seventh inning with no other opponents crossing the plate, striking out eleven M's in the process. He was helped by some great defense, a running Peter Bourjos catch in the alley sure to make any highlight reel that pays attention to west coast games. Mike Trout was 2 for 4 on a night that saw the most hideous stadium giveaway item in the history of the game handed out - a Trout Hat that featured a mounted Fish Head pointing out from the center-cap logo slate. Cursed as if it were Snuggy night. The Angels scoring was on solo home runs - a solo shot by Mark Trumbo in the second and a solo bomb by Alber Pujols in the eighth. In the tenth, Kendrys Morales hit a liner off of Erick Aybar's glove to drive in the winning run, kyle Seager, who had doubled off of Garrett Richards with two outs in the first frame of extra innings. Silver lining of the night is the realization that there is only four years and four months left in the Josh Hamilton contract. If you start high school or undergrad college in September, you will graduate in time to catch Hambone's final season in an Angels uniform and it will be impossible for it to be any more pathetic than his first. Poll Blame of the Game Josh Hamilton Arte Moreno for signing Josh Hamilton 13 votes | Results

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Joe Blanton wasn’t Joe Blanton on Tuesday night. Or at least not the Blanton that Angels have grown accustomed to seeing in 2013. Aside from two fastballs the veteran right-hander threw in the second inning that were hit for back-to-back home runs...

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ANAHEIM – They stuck together through high school, college and two minor-league cities. This past offseason, it was time for Mike and Alyssa Zunino to tie the knot. Zunino, the Mariners rookie catcher and top prospect, married his high school...

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