Scores like 3-1 mean somebody pitched well. That’s what happened here. Anaheim’s starter was Ervin Santana, and he eight eight strong innings. He allowed just five hits and one walk. Just one run, too. It’s hard to top that.
Dustin Nippert made the start in place of Vicente Padilla, and was “OK”. Not bad, and not great. His overall line was 5.1 innings, with five hits and three earned runs. Thing is, most of that happend right at the end. He was great through five, keeping the Angels off the board totally. He just ran out of gas in the sixth, and the Angels got to him.
Still, 3-1 isn’t the worst score you could lose by. Yeah, a loss is a loss, but 3-1 is less disheartening as say 17-3 would be.