Well, At Least We Had That One Inning

Obviously, the expectations for today’s offense were not too high.  It didn’t help that Paul Byrd gave up six earned runs in only three innings on the hill.  But regardless of who’s pitching, to give up four home runs (one of which was a grand slam) is rarely going to win you baseball games.  No exception was today’s loss to L.A.

Mike Napoli, the eigth-hitting catcher, took Byrd deep with the bases juiced to give the Angels a 4-0 lead before the third inning even started.  And while I was hating on our 6-7-8 combination coming into the game, it was the bottom of the order that did all of the damage for the Tribe.  Jhonny Peralta apparently got the invite to the start of the season, going 3-f0r-5 with a huge home run to left field, and David Dellucci went 2-for-4, scoring once as well.

Of course, Jason Michaels went hitless in three at-bats, taking his average on the season down to .048.

If we’re going to look at this with a half-full glass, not long after Victor Martinez gave up five stolen bags to the Angels, Kelly Shoppach was able to hold the fort down, allowing zero swipes.  Perhaps because home runs do not necessarily allow for baserunners, but the Angels did strand three so we’ll give him some credit.

The bullpen, while allowing two earned runs, did manage to only give up three hits in five innings of relief work.  Julio, Kobayashi and Lewis all struck out a batter, and only Julio allowed a free pass.  You can’t complain about that.

I’m willing to bet that the boys can’t wait to come home this weekend.  Unfortunately, the weather isn’t looking too hot for the weekend series against the As.  But they better get their act together if the following series against Boston will even be close.

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