Texas hosting AL Champion Angels

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jacktoast
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Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2018 1:01 pm
Location: Winona, Ms

Texas hosting AL Champion Angels

Post by jacktoast »

Angels 4 Texas 2

The Anaheim Angels played game won of the final three game series on their longest road trip of the season and the brought their big bats to the game and if chicks dig the long ball, they had a blast watching this one. Texas has ben in first place all alone since opening day and only recently faltered and fell back to the pack.

The Angels entrusted their hopes to a teted thirty five yeat old right hander from St. Louis Missouri. The hometeam sent out their prized first round pick from Takahama, Japan, Ikuo Matsumoto.

Matsumoto, a product of the Japanese Baseball League, where he was a top ace for the Hanku Braves. Matsomoto who has a sizzling fastball, a variety of breaking pitches and a off the shelf sinker that has mnesmerized major league hitters. Matsumoto at 2-1 has had four no decisions.

On the day July 3 when the players and sports fans were still talking about the Gold Medal winner Floyd Patterson had knocked out Romanian Vasile Tita in the first round and Poland reluctantly adopted a Communist imposed constitution in Europe a capacity crowd ignored the unseasonably warm temperatures to come out to see the most anticipated series of the season thus far for themselves. The scoring action began in the first inning and the huge crowd responded accordingly when the home team took a 1-0 lead on a solo homerun by Henry Gilbert (4th) off Marion with two outs.

The defending American League champs soon got back into the game with a power display of their own. In the top of the 2nd inning Troy Uhlaender, only recently back from an extended stay on the disable list, hit his first homer of the season, and that one was followed up immediately by one off the bat of Tom Kearns, his 7th and first of two in this game. They were the first two homeruns hit off Matsumoto.

The visitors took a 2-1 lead.

Kearns told reporters after the game that the scouting report he got on the Japanese star said that he should ''recognize Matsumoto's sinker early and lay off of it to get a fastball that he could hit'' and he added ''we were able to do that a little bit in parts of the game. He is a talented and very crafty pitcher and he adjusted a bit as the game went along.''

Texas did not trail very long for Marion gave back the lead in the bottom of the inning. Reliable Ted Bettencourt singled and stole second base, a consistent problem for Anaheim this season. Mark Witted cashed in on the man in scoring position with a single to center field tying the game 2-2.

There was no more scoring until the 8th inning when Don Lary hit the Angels third homerun off Matsumoto. ''He hung a slider or a curve ball'' said Lary. ''He came off his sinker after we hit it hard early and went to the curve. That I think was the pitch that beat him.''

The Angels had a 3-2 lead.

Snake Cooley, the thirty six year old veteran out of Falling Spring, West Virginia, who will turn thirty seven on August 15 and supposedly has from time to time celebrated his birthday early, replaced Matsumoto after 7 inning 9 hits allowed 3 runs allowed, all on solo homeruns, three alks, which did not hurt him and six strikeouts.

Cooley, sporting a two day growth of beard, and sweating profusely after his warm-up pitches, retired the first batter only because Texas third baseman Harl Loucks made a spectacular stop of a ball that literally knocked him down to field it and threw out Uhlaender. Kearns, who took Matsumoto deep earlier in the game, solved Colley as well, for his 8th of the season, the 3rd allowed by Cooley.

4-2 Angels.

Marion went 8 innings gave up 7 hits and 2 earned run, one homerun, did not walk a batter and pitched to contact striking out just four. he is now 3-0 this season after his good friend Charlie Vines made his 12th consecutive scoreless relief appearance (12.2 innings 2 hits 3 walks 7 strikeouts) for his 9th save.

All Vines had to say was, ''We have to saddle up and do it again tomorrow, this one is in the books.''
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