Jeff Mathis, Angels earn the walk off.

First off, the Magic bested the C's in game 7 to send the series back to Austin for a decisive final game. Exciting stuff. 

Meanwhile, the Angels took to the field for a day game, looking to earn a series win against the Boston Red Sox. I wish I could have blogged last night after Matt Palmer performed well enough to make my Facebook status. The Angels 30 year old rookie earned his fourth win in just twenty one days with a complete game against the Red Sox. Things were shaky early on, giving up four runs in the first two innings, but he more than came around by retiring 19 straight batters to end the game with nine innings of amazingness (word?). You know how much I love quotes, and Matt "Arnold" Palmer really showed how down to earth he is, "It's amazing. The story writes itself. But I don't have a chance to pinch myself. I don't have a chance to sit here and relax. I've got to pitch hard every game. If I don't, then I'm out. That's just the way it is. So I'll keep going hard as long as I can and try to impress and try to keep my team where they need to be." The Memphis, TN native is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP, and is totally getting some love from the LSF. Today it was a fantastic extra inning battle that ended with a 5-4 Halo win, and my man Jeff Mathis was the hero. 

Ervin "Black Magic" Santana made his first appearance back from injury, and the first thing I think is "work in progress." The Big E went just 5 innings of work, giving up 7 hits and three runs. He did punch out 5 with his 92 pitches, but you'd have to hope he'll be moving along a little better here in the next couple of days. With that type of starting outing, you'd have to imagine that the bullpen would have blown this one. But, you'd be wrong, ESPN. The combo of Darren Oliver, Scot Shields, Brian Fuentes (who pitched well in a tie game!), Jose Arredondo, and Jason Bulger only allowed one run (Shields, of course) and did well enough to hold down the fort to await the Angels comeback. Jason Bulger was the winning pitcher out of the bullpen (the third win of the season for the late inning homies!), and it was Bulger's first win since 2005. Atlanta is so proud. It gets better for the hurlers, with John Lackey scheduled to make his season debut on Saturday. Poor Loux, Ortega, and Palmer. You've got to keep Palmer, though, right? Maybe move Esco into the pen when he returns in June? Decisions, decisions. 

With five runs on eleven hits, you know that the bats were in motion in this late inning win. Torii "As Usual" Hunter led the squad with a thrilling 3 for 5 afternoon, knocking in three runs for a bang up day. T-Hunt laced a triple in the opening frame, and followed that up with a two run double in the third. He's hitting freaking .325 right now man. Jeff Mathis went 2 for 4 with two really clutch RBI. The Mathematician nailed down a thrilling sac fly in the seventh, and come away with a huge gapper to score Reggie Willits in inning number twelve. I love when my favs blow up. Speaking of that, good ol' JR also earned the pancake at 2 for 5 along with Bobby A's 2 for 5 game as well. Notable sucka? Mike Napoli wins that award today, going 0 for 5 in series deciding game. Somehow he's still hitting .300, so I'll lay off if...for now (Ma$e and Kendry went 0'fer as well, but I like them...so...). 

The "Otha' Sucka'" (my award for the largest moron from the opposing team) of today's game has to be David Ortiz. Ortiz went 0 for 7, leaving 12 runners on base. Read that again, it's incredible. Take a hike, Ortiz. 

At 18-15 (+2 run differential), the Angels continue to hold 1.5 games back of Texas, with a 3 game lead on Seattle and 4 on Oakland. This brings us to a big time battle for first place weekend series with the Texas Rangers. With four following against Seattle, this is a gigantic next seven days for the Red Hats. At 5-1 (2.66), Joe Saunders will take the ball to try and toss gain some more ground on the Rangers, who counter with Kevin Millwood (3-3, 2.92). Joey has been dominant on the road here in '09, going 3-0 with a 2.29 ERA, and he doesn't take shit from the Rangers. 7 of the 9 Texas players who have faced him have under a .250 average (Blalock hits .143, Saltamacchia hits .167, and Byrd hits .091). Meanwhile, some of the Halos just love to mash up on Millie. Torii Hunter goes big game with his .433 mark, with HK-47 going .400, GMJ going .318, and Mike Ravioli ripping at .444. I'm feeling good about taking over first place within the next 3 days.