Man, we are straight dominating the Snakes. One day after a 12-3 smashing that included an eight run second inning with a Torii Hunter jack, the Angels stepped it up to win a nail biting 2-1 victory against the hated team from the state to the East. It ended up being quite the pitching duel, but it was a lovely game winning home run in the ninth that will have most of Angels Nation talking.
Big John Lackey was able to keep his recent solid starting going with 7 innings of 1 run ball (0 earned!) while punching out 9 D-Bags in the match. This was easily Lack's best start of the year, but he ended up taking the no decision, as Sacramento native Doug Davis (3-8, 3.28) pitched the game of his life to keep the game tight. John was followed by another solid effort by our usually lackluster bullpen, as the Halos got 1 shutout inning from Darren Oliver (2-0, 3.00) and another shutout inning (with 2 Ks) from AL save leader and Merced, CA native Brian "My BFF" Fuentes. BFF leads the league with 21 saves (Joe Nathan and former Angel prospect Bobby Jenks are in second with 18; and former Angel save specialist Frankie Rodriguez trails Fuentes for the MLB save lead with 20), and hasn't blown a save since a rough outing against the Mariners back on May 30. His 21 saves come in 24 chances, and I think he's gone well underrated in this year of the down bullpen.
The Halo offense got 2 runs on 6 hits in the game, and really got some help from some awful D-Bags defense. After falling down 0-1 on a Tony Clark sac fly in the fourth inning, the Angels got a sweet gift from Arizona. Erick Aybar laid down a bunt single, only to have Doug Davis air ball the throw. Aybar ran for second, only to have "All-Star" Jason Upton air mail his ball, which sent Aybar all the way around to home. The play seemed to crush the spirits of the 'Backs, and we would be all tied up from there on out. Then, in the top of the ninth inning, the Angels got a gift from their amazing home run hitting backstop Mike "IROC" Napoli. Craps went mega-yard on an 0-1 pitch, ripping the ball 428 feet over the center field wall. Kaboom! Now, I don't like to admit that Napoli helps the Angels in any way, but I'll step out and give him some props for the giant and well timed jack. Napoli was all alone in the VIP club for the Angels this afternoon, going a thrilling 3 for 4 with that 1 RBI in the game (his 28th of the year), and Robb "The Extra 'B' is for Boo" Quinlan earned the not-VIP award for his 0 for 4 afternoon with 3 strikeouts. It should be noted that Sean "HR-Rod" Rodriguez and Bobby Abreu also went multi-K in the game with 2 a piece. What was with Doug Davis?
A win is a win, and this may end up being a big one. The Rangers are yet to play today, so as we sit right now my boys are 40-32 and dead tied with Texas for first place in the division. We'll either be 0.5 up or 0.5 back when Saturday is all said and done. Meanwhile, the M's trail by 3.5 and the A's trail by a big 9 spot. Tomorrow afternoon the Angels will go for the LSF predicted sweep as Matt "Palm Tree" Palmer (6-1, 4.70) tried to get back to his winning ways against Max "The Kaiser" Scherzer (5-4, 3.53). The Palm Reader may have been off in his last game, allowing 6 runs in 4.67 innings, but he has been mostly solid in the starting role for the Angels this year, only allowing 7 earned runs in his 20.3 innings prior to that loss (3-3-0-1, in order). A graduate of Missouri University, our adversary Max Scherzer (somehow 92.1% owned in ESPN fantasy leagues) has watched Arizona win in his last three starts. He has allowed just 4 earned runs in his last 24.67 innings, which has been a nice little comeback streak after allowing 8 runs in 3.67 innings to the Braves back on May 31. We may be hitting Max at the wrong time, but then again, how long can he possibly keep this streak up? Can Palmer get back to his amazingly winning ways? I sure hope so. Sweep!
How about an update on my baby Halos? SLC dropped a 5-8 decision to Fresno in their last game, despite a three run ninth. The player of the game award from the game goes to DH Terry "Traded Straight Up for Jeff Weaver" Evans, who bopped a 3 run jack in his 1 AB and added a walk to top off a solid evening. Evans is now hitting .281 with 15 bombs this year in AAA. Unfortunately, starter David "P.S. This Is" Austen went just 1 inning of 6 run ball to drop to 2-5 with an inflated 8.12 ERA. His rough start allows us to focus on reliever Fernando Rodriguez and his 2.67 innings of shutout ball with 4 Ks. Nice stuff. HK-47 went 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts, as he continues to work toward being recalled. AA Arkansas finally impressed with a 7-4 win against NW Arkansas thanks to a three run 10th inning. Player of the game RF Val "Venis" Majewski (.243/4/13) had a 2 for 5 game with 5 RBI on 2 homers led the offense with a jack in the first and the game winning jack in the tenth. That is the kind of game dreams are made of. Starter Jordan Walden (1-4, 3.91) had a really nice start for the Travs, going 7 innings of 2 run ball with 3 punch outs. Robert "The Moose" Mosebach had a nice piece of work with 2 innings of shutout ball to earn the win, after being demoted from AAA. Let's keep up the good news, as the RC Quakes won a 7-1 game against Lancaster. Player of the game DH Hector Estrella (who, by the way, plays the game with the size sticker under the bill of his hat) went 4 for 5 with 2 home runs and 3 RBI. The USC grad (bleck!) is hitting .268/3/22 since getting brought up to high-A. Starter and Wazzu grad Jayson Miller (3-4, 4.35) is bringing some love too, going 7 innings of 1 run ball with 3 strikeouts to really set the pace. Low-A Cedar Rapids also proved well with a 10-2 win in their last outing.
Real quick, I hope you are all getting set to root for Chivas USA to fix their recent misfortune in their Super Liga match tonight against Mexican side San Luis. The HDC will be rocking with fans of the Red & White as they try and earn their first Super Liga 2009 win. The Goats had lost just once in their first 11 MLS games before turning the page to problems and dropping five of their last six games. A couple of clutch players (Kljestan and Bornstein) have been off with Team USA on their amazing FIFA run, but Chivas are better than their play has indicated recently. To move on in the Super Liga, Chivas will need to win by 2 goals or more tonight. If B-More native Zach "The Beast" Thorton can keep the balls out and Maykel "El Cubano" Galindo can send the balls in, we'll be in good shape. Chivas es mi vida!
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