Dan Haren, Angels Shut Tribe Down in 2-1 Loss

Jeanmar Gomez turned in a phenomenal outing for Cleveland Saturday, but it was not enough for the Indians (10-9) as Dan Haren and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (7-14) shut the Tribe down, 2-1.

The Angels got to Gomez in the top of the first as Kendrys Morales‘ one-out RBI single scored Howie Kendrick from second. It was all the Halos would get until Torii Hunter‘s solo home run in the fourth, after which Gomez, Joe Smith, and Nick Hagadone combined to silence Los Angeles’ bats for the rest of the ninth.

Meanwhile, Dan Haren matched Gomez pitch-for-pitch—and then some. The Indians’ only run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth, when Jack Hannahan‘s two-out single drove in Jason Kipnis. Haren was lights-out after that. He was so dominant that Cleveland hitters went 1-2-3 in six of nine innings.

Haren held the ball for eight great innings before handing the ball to Scott Downs, who closed it out for the save to give the Angels a 2-1 victory.

Source:

The Good: Jeanmar Gomez was phenomenal, holding the Angels to two runs on five hits in six strong innings, striking out seven while giving up only two walks. Not bad for a guy who until spring training looked like he’d be starting the season in the minor leagues.

Joe Smith and Nick Hagadone were both great too. They combined to go three perfect innings with three strikeouts, keeping the Indians within a run in the off-chance that they would be able to strike against Dan Haren.

The Bad: A bad night against one of the best pitchers in the game is excusable, but when your team is held to one run on four hits that’s never a good sign. Kudos to Haren for throwing a great game, but it would have been nice to see the Indians get to him a little bit.

The “Huh”?: The Angels called up Mike Trout for Saturday’s game, but as FanGraphs’ Paul Swydan persuasively argued, releasing Bobby Abreu was the wrong way to do it. Hard to see the rationale behind keeping the inferior player who’s a worse fit for the roster.

Interesting Tidbit: Gomez’ seven strikeouts were a new career high. It was the first time he’d ever struck out more than five batters in a game.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed, Like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter!