Chris Iannetta says finish proves the importance of every game

 

Chris Iannetta

Chris Iannetta/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Angels

 

Angels catcher Chris Iannetta had a very good observation Monday while cleaning out his locker in the Angels’ clubhouse. It came a day after the Angels lost 9-2 at Texas. They needed a victory in that game to force a one-game playoff with Houston for the right to play in the American League wild-card game Tuesday at New York.

“It was definitely an exciting finish, but it obviously didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to,” Iannetta said. “That’s why every game through the course of a season is important – whether it’s the first game or the last game. At least we had the opportunity to write our own destiny at the end. We just fell a little bit short.”

The Angels won nine of their last 12 games to put themselves in position to make the postseason, but it didn’t happen.

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Five things to take from Angels’ 7-0 victory over Minnesota

Matt Shoemaker

Matt Shoemaker/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Angels

 

– Big outing for Matt Shoemaker in this one. Shoemaker, who has struggled this season to find the rhythm that helped him go 16-4 in 2014, pitched six innings of two-hit ball. He struck out 10 and walked three on 88 pitches to move to 5-7 on the season. Even so, his ERA dropped only to 4.55. It was 3.04 a season ago.

Chris Iannetta continued his recent surge at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a three-run home run and four RBIs. He is 9-for-32 over his past 10 games, which equates to a .281 average. That’s not spectacular, but it did raise his average from .181 to .199.

C.J. Cron went 4-for-4 to raise his average to .278. That is quite impressive since it was just .204 upon being recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake City in late June. Cron is hitting .488 (21-for-43) this month.

Daniel Robertson has continued to make the most of his opportunity. Typically, he’s been platooning with Matt Joyce in left field. But with Mike Trout taking the day off with a sore left heel, Robertson was in center for this one. He had two more hits and raised his average to .271.

– Speaking of Trout, he told reporters that he woke up Tuesday morning and his heel was sore. He said he didn’t remember doing anything specific to cause it. He is day-to-day.

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Chris Iannetta cool with where he’s at after miserable April

Chris Iannetta

Chris Iannetta/Photo courtesy of Los Angels Angels

 

Angels catcher Chris Iannetta in 2014 had his best overall season with the club. He hit .252 with seven home runs, 43 RBIs, 22 doubles and an on-base-percentage of .373 in 306 at-bats.

It’s been a different story here in 2015, his fourth season with the Angels. This season he’s hitting just .184 with three home runs and 15 RBIs in 141 at-bats. He has four doubles and an on-base-percentage of just .287, the lowest of his 10-year major-league career.

He said it’s not as bad as all that.

“Yeah, I had a really bad April,” Iannetta said. “Since then, I’ve been playing really well, to be honest with you. I think if you look at the numbers since May, it’s been what I did all last year.

“I just had an abysmal April. And it’s still reflected on the scoreboard. Since then I think I’ve been hitting roughly around .250 and doing pretty well, doing what I want to do. It’s going to take a long time to change the overall aggregate number on the scoreboard, but I like where I’m at.”

Iannetta hit just .093 in April and he did come back to hit .264 in May. However, he’s hitting just .206 this month.  He’s hitting .241 (21-for-87) since the end of April.

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Angels hold another team meeting, Mike Scioscia blasts pitchers.

In a season full of team meetings, Angels manager Mike Scioscia called another one following an 8-3 loss to the Texas Rangers.

In his comments to reporters afterwards, Scioscia singled out the team’s inability to hold runners on base. The Rangers stole six bases off Angels catcher Chris Iannetta in six attempts.

However, Scioscia refused to blame Iannetta.

“Chris is throwing the ball well,” Scioscia said. “This is about the inabilty of some of our pitchers to make the adjustments they need to make.”

“The reality of it is, if this is going to become an instructional league,” he continued, “we have to make some changes, because guys up here should be able to do a better job.”

More in tomorrow’s editions.

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