
Note: I gave up on the Angels in the bottom of the eighth to go to bed, so I hope they came back and this post is all backwards!
Things seemed to be going the Angels' way in the second game of this gigantic three game series, that is, until the Rangers went nuts with a 6 run fifth inning. The return of the good ol' John we know and I love (solid until the 5th or 6th, and then gets rallied on) spelled disaster for the Halos, in a game that ended 4-7.
Big John wouldn't consider this one of his better outings. The Texas native went just 4.67 innings of 6 run ball against the team from his home state. Despite getting 6 Ks and only allowing 2 walks, John went completely off the tracks after a homer run by Andruw Jones. Who ever said this guy is no good? Jones' three run jack in the fifth opened the flood gates for the AL West's second best, and was followed by Blalock scoring on a wild pitch and Saltalamacchia singling home Byrd to get the 6 spot. John wishes he could have had that pitch to Jones back, I'll tell you what. Lawerceville, GA native Jason Bulger came in to save the day with 1.3 innings of shutout ball. Matt Palmer went 1.67 inning of 2 run ball, Oliver went 0.3 innings of shutout ball, and something else that happened after I went to bed.
Chone Figgins continued to make his case for that last All-Star spot after getting the Angels on the board in the third. The Halos scored 4 runs on 8 hits in the match, and it all started on a Figgins single to drive home Aybar in the third. Good ol' JR added a jack, Aybar added a single, and Chone would walk with the bases loaded for his second RBI to produce all that beautiful offense. The VIP club was kind of a lonely place tonight, with Erick Aybar giving us a 2 for 2 night with a walk (best game of the season for "Air-Sick?") and Juan Rivera going 2 for 4 with 1 RBI on a nice jack. The bottom line was that the Angels offense showed up, but the Rangers got all they needed in their outburst-type inning to get the job done. Tonight's spotlight has to be fixed squarely on Juan Rivera. Magic Juan-d went 1 for 3 with a solo jack to continue his recent run of success. In his last 7 days, Good ol' JR is hitting .357/.400/.536 with 7 RBI and 3 walks. So far in July, he's hitting a stunning .417. Are you kidding me? Is this where I bring up how I was the man on board saying that the JR/Ma$e for Guillen straight up was one of the best moves in Angels history? Let's not let the usually solid Bobby Abreu get off this one scott free. Abreu had a chance to get the Angels back in the game with the bases loaded and two outs, but got punched out by the erratic Jason Jennings. I know you can't just expect him to come through in that situation, but it was a tough one.
The loss drops the Angels to 46-36, which is the identical record of the now tied for first place Texas Rangers. I know it's dumb, but I just wish we could sweep these bastards. As I type, the Mariners are 3.5 back (but losing 3-12, despite me picking them in Streak for the Ca$h), and the A's are 11.5 back (after losing to the Red Sox earlier this afternoon). With an evening game on Wednesday for a lot of marbles (but not all the marbles, of course), the Angels and Rangers are squaring off for a big one. The Angels send Ervin "I think Tommy's Wife Has a Curse On Me" Santana (1-4, 7.43) to take on Tommy "Big Game?" Hunter (1-1, 3.18). Hunter, an Alabama graduate, only has three starts this season, with the Rangers going 2-1 in games where he opens up on the hill. However, this guy has only given up 1 run (last game against TB), 2 runs (against San Diego), and 3 runs (against Oakland). So, following a pattern I learned in first grade, it looks like Hunter is going to pitch a shutout against our boys. 3-2-1-0? Yikes. Wait, Tommy Hunter's real first name is Raymond? Feck him. Meanwhile, Erv Daddy has been straight awful lately. El Rosario has dropped his last two games (allowing 6 runs to Baltimore and 6 runs to Tampa Bay) and the Angels are just 3-4 in games he's started this year. To be fair, he has shined at times, but his shitty outing have well overwhelmed the good ones. June 5 against Detroit was our boy's last good outing, going 8.67 innings of 1 run ball with 7 Ks, and he's hoping he can put something together like that against Texas tomorrow night.
Quickly through the MiLB, as I need to go to bed soon! The SLC Bees put together a nice 5-4 win against Tacoma last night, and DH (and UCSB native) Nate Sutton was off the chain. Sutton, who also graduated from Bellerman High School in San Jose ("a school for the gay boys," as Karen puts it), went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI to power the offense. Brad Salmon was glad that the offense bailed him out, after only going 3.67 innings of 4 run ball, and the bullpen really stepped up to nail things down as well. Raffy Rodriguez went 2 innings of 1 hit shutout ball with 4 Ks, so I hope all you idiot Angel fans are ready for his impending return to the big squad. The Travs had a double header against Frisco yesterday and lost both games (4-5 and 0-10). Terrible. Despite that, I'll still shine the spotlight on the Travs player of the double header RF Val Majewski. Everyone's favorite Jew from Rutgers went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 1 RBI in the first game to raise his average to .221 with 4 jacks and 14 RBI. Still, the Travs are not putting things together. The Quakes dropped their last game as well, 3-4 to Lake Elsinore (not really a big surprise). Player of the game Tulsa, OK native C Brian Walker went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI. He was the main man for the Q's last night... if only he could have driven in a couple more. Jayson Miller, a Washington State Cougar, didn't have a great time on the mound (5.3 innings of 3 run/7 hit ball), but he's still a work in progress. Finally, Cedar Rapids (the Low-A studs) won their game against Quad Cities with a 5-4 11 inning victory. Fun stuff.
Two things on my way out: 1) I really suck at Streak For The Ca$h and 2) I'm always so proud to get this post up before any of the "real" sports websites!





