|
 But when Los Angeles Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher visited
him at the mound during the seventh inning on Sunday, the
right-hander suggested that he should be replaced by a fresh arm
from the bullpen.
"It took a lot for me to do that," the Los Angeles Angels
right-hander said. "But at certain times you have to swallow your
pride, and those guys came in and did a great job."
It worked out well for the Angels, who went on to defeat the Toronto
Blue Jays 9-3, with catcher Hank Conger driving in a career-high
five runs on three hits, including a three-run homer.
Right-hander Michael Kohn replaced Weaver with the bases loaded and
one out in the seventh and retired the only two batters he faced to
end the inning without a run scoring.
"In that situation, with a pretty good fastball hitter [center
fielder Colby Rasmus] up, I didn't have any command of the fastball
there," Weaver said. "Definitely in the seventh and I was a little
erratic there in the sixth. [Butcher] came out to me and asked me
how I felt and I was honest with him. I told him I was getting a
little fatigued there and probably didn't have the fastball command
that I wanted to. I told him I think the right thing to do is to
bring in the fresh arm and be able to locate that heater a little
better than I could."
"I'm good with it," manager Mike Scioscia said. "They talked it out
and if he's tired it's important for him to let us know."
Weaver (4-2) held the Blue Jays (18-20) to four hits and one run
over 6 1/3 innings as the Angels (19-17) have won the first three
games of the four-game series.
"In all honesty, we looked tired today," Blue Jays manager John
Gibbons said. "But they're taking it to us. They've got a good
pitching staff over there."
Conger hit an RBI double against right-hander Drew Hutchison (1-3)
in the fourth, hit his third homer of the season against reliever
Marcus Stroman in a four-run sixth and added an RBI single against
left-hander Brett Cecil in a two-run ninth.
Hutchison allowed three hits, four walks and three runs in 4 1/3
innings in his eighth start of the season.
"My fastball command was a little bit off," Hutchison said. "You
can't walk four guys. Things like that you can't do."
Weaver left after designated hitter Adam Lind doubled, catcher
Dioner Navarro singled and third baseman Juan Francisco walked.
Kohn ended the inning on a popup and a strikeout.
Conger said it was unusual for Weaver to ask out.
"He wants the ball," Conger said. "He wants to keep going. It was a
very good assessment on his part. He was fatiguing a little bit. I
was a little shocked. ... I think he was kind of frustrated on the
3-1 fastball that kind of bounced on him [on the walk to
Francisco]."
Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion doubled home two runs
against right-handed reliever Fernando Salas with one out in the
eighth after shortstop Jose Reyes led off with a walk and left
fielder Melky Cabrera singled.
[to top of second column] |
Left-hander Hector Santiago, in his first relief outing since being
removed from the starting rotation, retired the next two batters.
The Blue Jays took a 1-0 lead in the first as the result of
aggressive base running by Reyes, who led off with a single, stole
second and scored from second on right fielder Jose Bautista's
groundout to second. Bautista failed to reach base safely for the
first time in 38 games this season.
The Angels took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. Second baseman Howie
Kendrick walked with two out, stole second and continued to third on
Navarro's throwing error. Angels right fielder Efren Navarro doubled
to left to tie the game and scored on Conger's double to
right-center.
Designated hitter Mike Trout greeted rookie right-hander Stroman
with an RBI double in the fifth to give the Angels a 3-1 lead. It
scored center fielder Collin Cowgill, who led off with a walk
against Hutchison and took third on a single to right by shortstop
Erick Aybar.
Stroman allowed four runs in the sixth on five hits, including the
three-run homer by Conger and a triple by third baseman Ian Stewart,
who scored on Cowgill's single to make the score 7-1.
"For me it's just kind of a matter of slowing everything down,"
Conger said. "When I try to get too big, then everything kind of
gets out of whack. Obviously it was a good day. The pitching has
been doing a great job for us for the whole series."
NOTES: Blue Jays RHP Casey Janssen (left abdominal/lower back
strain) was reinstated from the disabled list on Sunday. Janssen,
who had 34 saves last season, went on the DL March 29. INF Chris
Getz was designated for assignment to make room. ... The Blue Jays
put RHP Sergio Santos (forearm tightness) on the DL. ... Angels LHP
Sean Burnett (left elbow surgery) started a rehabilitation
assignment at Double-A Arkansas on Saturday, allowing four hits and
three runs in two-thirds of an inning. ... Angels INF Ian Stewart
left Sunday's game after he was hit on the left hand by his own foul
ball in the seventh inning. INF John McDonald completed the at-bat
and took over at third base. X-rays were negative, but more tests
will be done ... Angels manager Mike Scioscia was back with the team
on Sunday after missing the first two games of the series to attend
his daughter's college graduation. ... Blue Jays 3B Brett Lawrie
(hamstring) is scheduled to return Monday. ... LHP C.J. Wilson (4-2,
3.21 ERA) will start the series finale for the Angels on Monday
against LHP Mark Buehrle (6-1, 1.91).
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|
