Bobby Abreu shines as Los Angeles Angels thrash San Francisco Giants 8-0 – MLB Spring Review
Bobby Abreu put in a brilliant performance as he smashed a three run homer to help the Los Angeles Angels humiliate the San Francisco Giants 8-0 in their Cactus League encounter on Wednesday, March 23 at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Arizona.
The most promising team in spring training, the San Francisco Giants, left fans in amazement as they lost their third straight game. The Angels outplayed the Giants and did not allow them to score a single run in the entire game.
The Angels went after Giants’ pitcher Matt Cain as they smashed him for five runs in the first inning. Cain struggled and lost most of his momentum as he ended up allowing a massive seven runs in just over three innings.
"I was behind on a lot of counts," Cain said. "I wasn't able to command the left side of the plate. I was a little bit out of rhythm. My arm strength was fine. I felt fine. Today doesn't look great, but I felt fine."
Giants remained on the back-foot as Steve Edlefsen and Javier Lopez, who followed Cain, also proved costly. The 26-year-old reliever Edlefsen tossed one inning and permitted two runs without striking-out any batter as Lopez allowed one run.
On the other hand, Angels’ hurler Ervin Santana completely outclassed his opponents with five lock out innings. The 28-year-old did not allow a single run with six strike-outs and just two walks. Santana pitched brilliantly as he managed to contain the powerful
Giants’ offence from scoring any runs.
However, Santana was aware of the Giants’ batting strength as he commented. “Those were great hitters," said Santana, 17-10 with a 3.92 ERA in 2010. "They made me think a little bit."
The foundation set by Santana was so strong that it created relief for pitchers that would come in later. Fernando Rodney and Hisanori Takahashi allowed just two hits in three combined innings with four strike-outs.
Short-stop Erick Ayber and second baseman Howie Kendrick also managed to contribute with singles in the first inning. Mark Trumbo also got in on the action as he got two runs on one hit including one RBI. Torii Hunter and Peter Bourjos both added one run
each to take the lead to an imposing 8-0 in the fifth.
The Angels looked very good during the game, as they managed to shut-out the powerful Giants’ offence. Los Angeles came together as a team and dominated early in the game, as they got decent runs in the first innings. The Giants will be disappointed as they
have now lost three in a row and looked as if they were struggling throughout the game.
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