This is exactly how we needed to start this huge AL West series. This is a three game set that could really set us apart as we work toward the end of the first half of the regular season. Today it was a combination of another solid Sully start and some timely come from behind offense that earned the Angels the 5-2 win against the Texas Rangers.
Good ol' SOS. San Diego boy Sean O'Sullivan continued his dream call up season, chasing the magic of Matt Palmer, with another nice outing. The rook went up against the second best team that the AL West had to offer, and walked off the hill with 6 innings of 2 run ball, punching out 5, and allowing just 8 to reach base (6 hits and 2 walks). He nailed down 53 strikes on his 90 pitches, showing pretty nice command against the beloved Texas offense, and improved his record to 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA. The Angels have now won in all three of Sully's starts here in 2009. Who says we have a pitching problem? Well, I guess starting pitching has never been the problem. But, with Ervin Santana saying he's ready to come back, will we see SOS bolster the recently successful Halo bullpen? We'll have to wait and see. Speaking of the bullpen, the Red Hats sent Darren Oliver, Justin Speier, and Brian Fuentes out to the bump to maintain the lead, and did they even. The three relievers blanked Texas, with Fuentes earning his MLB best 22 saves. This guy has filled into the closer role pretty nicely, eh?
The LAA offense put up nice numbers with 5 runs on 12 hits, and it was all about the gigantic four run sixth inning against Vincente Padilla. Juan Rivera (with Vlad on base) and Kendry Morales (solo job) hit back to back home runs to hand the Angels the lead after the Rangers got back to back jacks earlier in the game. The inning also featured a timely Chone Figgins sac fly, that helped push the lead even further along. The Angels VIP club was pretty packed today, with Bobby "Chupame" Abreu (2 for 4 and a walk), VAG (2 for 5 with 2 runs), "Magic Juan-D" Rivera (2 for 5 with 2 RBI), and Kendry "Cuban Cleanup" Morales (2 for 4 with 2 RBI) leading the way. Honorable mention goes out to Mike Napoli (1 for 3 with a walk) and Erick Aybar (1 for 2 with a walk). On the down side, it was an unusually tough night for All-Star hopeful Torii Hunter (1 for 5 with 3 punch outs). Hopefully this game will be a memorable one for all the Angel fans who think that we can't string hits together, hit the long ball, or come back against quality teams. Ya'll be idiots. Let's put today's spotlight on my main man Kendry Morales. K-Mo has been smacking at a .333/.429/.667 clip over the last 7 days, with 6 RBI and 5 extra base hits. He is continuing to pick up the pace, and it is nice to see it coming on the road, were he is hitting -.072 compared to at the friendly confines.
The win is the Angels sixth in a row and they have won 13 out of their last 16. We're rolling along at a sweet 42-32 mark with a nice little +21 run differential. The big news, of course, is that we have increased our lead in the AL West to 2.5 games over the Rangers. Meanwhile, the M's are 3.5 back and Oakland are a comfortable 11 away. Isn't is nice to be back in control? We can become much more in control if the right Joe Saunders (8-4, 3.66) comes to the mound in Texas tomorrow afternoon. He'll be facing off against Hawaiian Scott Feldman (5-2, 4.06). Felds has looked pretty good this year, but he hasn't earned a win since June 3 (that's 4 times out without a win). In fact, the Rangers have only won once in the last four outings for Feldman. Are we hitting him at the right time? Man, I hope so. Add in the fact that Big Joe Saundo has found his groove recently, and we may have a guaranteed win situation. The Angels have won the last three Saunders outings, with Joe giving up just a single run in two of those outings. However, it has been well documented on the LSF that he has been inconsistent this year. Can he continue to bring the right stuff and hopefully improve on his #6 ranking in the AL wins category? I think so.
You know I love my MiLB, so here is today's little trip. SLC grabbed a big win against Fresno last night, 3-2. CF Terry Evans seems to earn a lot of player of the game nods lately, and he kept it up with a 2 for 5 night that included a jack. Evans is now hitting .292/17/54 and is somehow begging for a call up in the Angels busy outfield. HK-47 went 1 for 2 with 2 walks and a run in his continued efforts to get called up. Are you still following the HK hat strike on the LSF Twitter page? Despite the dominating hitting from Terry, the spotlight needs to be shared in this one. Shane Loux has a nice game as the short starter. He's literally listed as on a rehab assignment, with the Angels looking forward to him swapping into the bullpen. Loux Dawg picthed 4.3 innings of 1 run ball, allowing just 3 hits in his outing. Big Moose, Robert Mosebach, was also huge with 2 shutout innings and save artist Jeremy Dee Hill earned his 16th save of the year with a good enough ninth. Despite the win, the Bees still trail division leading Colorado Springs by 4.5. AA Arkansas didn't have it as easy. The Travs dropped their game with NW Arkansas 3-7 despite the best efforts of player of the game Hank Conger. Big Hank has a sweet game, going 2 for 5 with a 2-run jack. He's hitting .286/5/32 in 65 games with the Travs, and I'm wondering if the Angels are interested in bringing him up fast with the lack of studliness from Naps or Mathis? Someone has to stand up for Barret Browning, who didn't have as bad as a start as most might think. He may be 0-7 with a 4.03 ERA this year, but he really only gave up 2 earned runs over 5 innings in the game. As we start the second half of the AA Season, the Travs are just 2.5 games back from first with their start-over 2-4 record in the second half. Single-A Rancho didn't have much better of a time against the Inland Empire, dropping the game 1-4. Player of the game Jeremy Moore had a nice outing, going 3 for 4 with a single, double, and triple. The LF is hitting .306/4/28 with the Quakes this year. Cal Poly Pomona graduate Taylor Wilding ("Wildwing?") looked good in relief, with 2.3 innings of shutout ball, punching out a big 3. Despite all the positives, it was still a loss, and the Quakes are just 1-3 since the records got reset at halftime, trailing first place Lake Elsinore by 2 games already. Low-A Cedar Rapids also dropped their game, 2-3, making SLC the only bright spot this time around.
In hockey news: Huge ups to the Canucks for signing Rick Rypien and Stevie Bernier to 2 year extensions so far this offseason. Nice moves, boys.
0 comments:
Post a Comment