Angels News: Phil Nevin Reacts to Rookie's Costly Error in Loss
The Angels had a 3-1 lead on Tuesday in the top of the fifth inning with RHP Lucas Giolito absolutely dealing. With two on and two out, he generated a routine ground ball to first base that should have ended the inning. However, that wasn't the case.
Rookie first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who was drafted just six weeks ago by the Halos, was unable to make the play, as it bounced off his chest and allowed two Reds to score to tie the game. Then, an RBI double gave the Reds a 4-3 lead, which would ultimately be the final score of the game.
This is a tough pill to swallow for anyone, but especially a 21-year-old rookie playing in his fourth career game at the MLB level.
He was understandably upset with himself after the game, but his manager, Phil Nevin, tried help him get through it.
“He feels awful for what happened,” Nevin said. “We’re not putting this on him. We had chances to score. The three home runs were good. But only three other hits besides that. Really scattered around. There was no traffic. We didn’t put any pressure on their defense, nor their pitcher. So to me, that’s what it came down to.”
Giolito wanted to make it clear that he wasn't blaming Schanuel, either.
“I know that sometimes people want to point the finger at the error,” Giolito said. “But there’s a lot of things I could have done better to even avoid that situation altogether. Four-pitch leadoff walk kind of put us in a tough situation to start the inning.”
It's nice to see the Halos support their rookie after the difficult play. Every game is crucial for the Angels at this point in the year, so these kind of mistakes could prove to be especially costly.
Hopefully Schanuel is able to shake it off quickly, though, as the Angels have an all-important doubleheader with the Reds on Wednesday.
Schanuel is out of the lineup for the afternoon game.
