RECAP: Diamondbacks 6, Angels 5
- Updated: March 11, 2015
Mike Trout and Erick Aybar warm up to face Arizona (image via Twitter)
Poor defense doomed the Angels 6-4 on Wednesday afternoon at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, as the club had three errors, including a key gaffe by Taylor Featherston in the eighth inning, that sealed an Arizona victory.
With the score tied at four, Featherston booted a ground ball to start the bottom of the eighth, and back-to-back Diamondbacks doubles with two outs pushed across two unearned runs off reliever Jeremy McBryde.
Featherson redeemed himself in the top of the ninth, knocking in a run on his own double to tighten the game to 6-5, but Kyle Kubitza flew out and Daniel Robertson popped out to end the threat and seal the game for the Diamondbacks.
Jered Weaver started for the Angels and made it into the fourth inning, allowing two runs (only one earned, on a solo home run) on five hits and two walks, while striking out three. While he wasn’t his sharpest and the Diamondbacks had traffic in every inning, he did leave with the lead, giving way to reliever Trevor Gott.
The Angels struck early, and were able to score their first three runs without significant offense, only recording three hits to do so. They took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first when a David Freese ground out scored Kole Calhoun.
In the top of the second, the Angels scored two more. Chris Iannetta came in from third on an overthrow by Diamondbacks catcher Tuffy Gosewich, who was trying to throw out Matt Joyce at second base. After Joyce then advanced to third, Grant Green drove him in on another RBI groundout to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Diamondbacks fought back with two runs off Weaver: one in the second and one in the fourth made the game 3-2. A.J. Pollock drove in a run on a second inning double, and Brandon Drury, the final batter Weaver faced, hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. Gott worked a clean inning after Weaver left, preserving the lead.
Drew Rucinski threw a scoreless fifth inning for the Angels, but ran into trouble in the sixth, relinquishing the lead to more timely hitting by Pollock. Adam Wilk replaced Rucinski with the Angels down 4-3 with one out in the sixth, and wiggled out of the jam, but the damage was done.
Diamondbacks pitching held the Angels offense in check for much of the game, with their first three runs coming on two ground ball outs and a throwing error. Starters did almost nothing against Arizona, with Joyce leading the way, going 2-for-3 before being pulled in the seventh inning.
In the seventh, D’Arby Myers – who pinch ran for Joyce – scored on a Marc Krauss single to tie the game 4-4 and get Rucinski off the hook for a loss. The tie wouldn’t last long, though, as the Diamondbacks pushed two more across in the bottom of the eighth to seal the victory.
The Angels fell to 3-4 in early Cactus League play, and return to action tomorrow, hosting the 1-6 Chicago Cubs at Diablo Stadium at 1:10 pm PDT.
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