Angels’ bullpen implodes in 6-5 loss to Cardinals in 10 innings
Reporting from St. Louis -- The only thing Fernando Rodney and Scot Shields set up Sunday was the St. Louis Cardinals’ comeback.
The setup men stumbled badly in the final three innings of the Angels’ 6-5, 10-inning loss at Busch Stadium, continuing the season-long struggles of a bullpen that was expected to be one of the team’s strengths.
Rodney gave up the two tying runs during the Cardinals’ eighth-inning rally, leading to his first blown save in 22 opportunities going back to last season, and Shields was charged with the winning run in the 10th after walking two batters and hitting another with a pitch.
“You can’t go out there, especially against a team like this, in extra innings and walk two and hit a guy,” Shields said. “You’re going to lose, period. And that’s what happened.”
The irritation level is clearly rising for the Angels after they lost a series in which they held slugger Albert Pujols hitless in 10 at-bats with three walks. Loud obscenities could be heard emanating from the clubhouse as Manager Mike Scioscia spoke with the media after the game.
“It’s really frustrating because we do have the talent,” Shields said.
It’s the execution that continues to hold them back, even on an afternoon when so much went right. Mike Napoli crushed an opposite-field, three-run homer and Kendry Morales added a solo shot for the Angels, who received six solid innings from starter Jered Weaver in building a 5-3 lead.
Things quickly deteriorated after Kevin Jepsen pitched a scoreless seventh.
Rodney retired two of the first three batters he faced in the eighth, striking out Matt Holliday to end a 12-pitch at-bat. But walks to Pujols and Colby Rasmus set the stage for a double steal that put runners on second and third base.
David Freese then hit a high fastball for a two-run single through the right side of the infield that tied the score. After he walked Yadier Molina, Rodney was pulled during an inning for the first time this season.
The meltdown was stunning for a pitcher who had converted all five save opportunities this season and had gone 3-0 with five saves and a 0.56 earned-run average over his last 18 outings before Sunday.
Asked if the long confrontation against Holliday tired him out on a sweltering day in which he threw 37 pitches, a career high for an outing of less than one inning, Rodney said, “A little. Too hot.”
Shields set down the Cardinals in order in the ninth but immediately got into trouble an inning later, issuing a leadoff walk to Holliday. The right-hander struck out Rasmus before hitting Freese on the left arm and following with a four-pitch walk to Molina.
“Maybe I was trying to be a little too fine,” Shields said, “and I think that’s where the difference was between my first and second inning.”
With the bases loaded and only one out, Scioscia brought in reliever Trevor Bell and deployed a five-man infield. Center fielder Torii Hunter stood between second baseman Howie Kendrick and first baseman Morales on the right side of second base.
It didn’t work. Felipe Lopez lofted a low fastball well over Bobby Abreu’s head in right-center field, as the Angels lost for the fourth time this season in a game in which they had a four-run lead. Their bullpen has been a big part of the problem, with a 5.30 ERA that ranks last in the American League.
“We still have confidence that we will soon be that bullpen that we knew,” Shields said. “We just have to start pitching better.”
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