By Brigham Prince
The Provo Angels and Casper Rockies squared off twice over the weekend to wrap up their four-game series.
Friday''s game, July 11, saw the Angels continue to pound the Rockies'' pitching by scoring 15 runs on 13 hits. The Rockies'' defense didn''t help the cause by committing three errors.
The Rockies took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a throwing error by Angels catcher Bobby Wilson and an RBI-groundout by Neil Wilson. The Rockies'' lead didn''t last long as the Angels scored a run in the bottom of the first inning and four in the second to take a 5-2 lead.
The Angels put the game out of reach in the fourth inning, scoring eight runs on six hits. The Rockies'' pitchers helped by walking three in an inning that saw 12 Angels come to the plate. An RBI double by Angels third baseman Matt Brown, and an RBI single by Howard Kendrick in the fifth increased the Angels'' lead to 15-2. The Rockies would add three runs late in the game to lose 15-5.
Bob Zimmerman, the Anaheim Angels'' fourth-round draft pick, saw his first action of the season by pitching two innings of no-hit ball while striking out two.
In Saturday''s game, missed opportunities by the Angels and late-inning heroics by Rockies leftfielder Casey Fuller helped the Rockies avoid a four-game sweep by the Angels.
The Rockies jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning on clutch hitting by Rockies batters and sloppy defense by Angels fielders. Rockies catcher Daniel Underwood drove in the first run of the game with an RBI double and later scored on an error by Angel shortstop Adam Pavkovich. The Rockies scored two more on Juan Mosqueda''s triple to right, who later scored on a single by Jose Valdez.
The Angels quickly answered with six runs of their own in the second inning. Blake Balkcom reached on Pedro Strop''s throwing error, which was followed by Kendrick''s single. Both runners would score on Bobby Wilson''s double. Designated hitter Aaron Peel drove in two more runs with a double of his own, and would score on Brown''s single. Pavkovich added another run with an RBI groundout to give the Angels a 6-5 lead. The Angels increased their lead to 7-5 in the third inning with a double by first baseman Matthew Pali that scored Balkcom.
The Rockies cut the lead to one in the sixth inning with an RBI triple by Valdez. The Angels responded with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly by Kendrick, making it 8-6.
The Angels'' lead would not hold.
In the eighth inning, Angels reliever Carlos Morban gave up a three-run home run to Fuller. With two runners and two outs, Morban quickly got ahead on a 1-2 count to Fuller, who then homered on the very next pitch, giving the Rockies a 9-8 lead. The Angels threatened in the ninth inning by getting two runners on base with only one out, but failed to score. Angels hitters failed to capitalize with runners on base by stranding 13 throughout the game.
With the weekend split, the Angels stay at .500 with a 12-12 record, while the Rockies fall to 9-15.
The Angels will now take to the road with four games at Casper and three at Ogden, before returning home July 21.