Even with the rosters expanded to 30, the Angles didn't have a starting pitcher available last night because 6 pitchers (5 of which are starters) are on the shelf for Tommy John surgery.
So they decided to use only relievers last night and were no hitting the Rangers through 8 1/3 innings, pitching to a 27-year-old farm hand catcher making his major league debut.
Just to add to this, the starter was Smackie's favorite punching bag, Jim Johnson, who hadn't started since his MLB debut back in 2006. The 666 relief appearances he’d made between the starts was the second-longest stretch in big league history (just four behind Tyler Clippard).
He was the 16th different starter for the Angels this season, and they used 8 of their 14-man pen for the 1-0 shutout.
Oh baseball.