Pitiful. Just plain pitiful. The Angels dropped the final game of their series against the Dodgers 3-5, leaving 12 runners on base (including two times with the bases loaded), and dropping the series as a whole. John Lackey did well enough, in my opinion, but the Angels offense just wasn't interested in scoring runs.
With John Lackey on the mound, coming off of a really nice outing against the Giants last week, most of Angels Nation thought that we were headed to a nice and easy series win. Not so much. John Lackey went 8 innings of 4 run ball, allowing 9 hits despite punching out 5. He also, however, gave up 4 walks, and was a little off with his big pitches. Juan Pierre got to him twice, after he went 4+ shutout innings to start the game, again making me wonder why Dodger fans hate JP so much (.337 with 24 RBI), and Loney balled a two run jack in the eighth. Anaheim native Kevin Jepsen took over in the ninth, and there wasn't really any big deal for his shotty inning of work (1 earned run after allowing 3 hits) at that point. Outside of that nice game against the Giants, the work of John Lackey just hasn't been that awesome this year. He's sitting at 2-3 with a 5.83 ERA and an 1.58 WHIP here in 2009, and one great start doesn't mean you're back to being the #1, you need consistency. Come on, baby.
The Angels earned 3 runs on 8 hits in their 3-5 loss this afternoon. I must admit that I don't really get the Clayton Kershaw thing. Who cares about this Dallas, TX native? Is he really good? It didn't seem that way. The 21 year old may have shut the Angels out, but he went 7 innings of 4 hit ball with 4 walks. He was able to get out of some sticky situations (bases loaded twice), and Brandon has emphasized that when it could have easily been much worse, we shouldn't get so excited or worried. Right? Something like that. The Angels VIP club featured my boy Juan "Magic Juand" Rivera (2 for 4 with 1 RBI) and Mike "It Pains Me To Recognize Him" Napoli (3 for 5 for a whole lot of nothing- JD Drew style). From this game, I'd like to ask if anyone cares about Vladdy anymore. Is Reagins working on a trade to get something for this guy yet? I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved Vlad. I still do love him. However, when it comes down to business, you have to act fast and make moves. After an 0 for 5 night, VAG (Vladimir Alvino Guerrero) is hitting .288/1/10 since coming off the DL. He's 98.4% held in ESPN Fantasy Leagues, so hopefully GMs in the MLB are as dumb as ESPN Fantasy players (and I think they are). Vlad's contract is up after the season, and if the Angels let it just expire without making a move for something to help the pitching (ie, the bullpen), it would just be dumb. The Angels left 12 runners on base. 12. Oh, brother.
T.G.I. Texas losing again. The Rangers helped the Angels out in a big way by keeping pace with the losses over the weekend. After dropping 2 out of 3 at home to the evil Blue Nation, the Angels continue to hold at just 0.5 games back with their 36-31 record. Seattle has been climbing, though, now trailing my boys by just 2, with Oakland back 6.5 of the Red Hats. There is no rest for the wary. The Angels welcome another NL West franchise, the Colorado Rockies, into the stadium starting tomorrow. The three games starts with Matt "Palm Tree" Palmer (6-0, 4.13) is getting at it against 7-year veteran Aaron Cook (6-3, 4.23). Cook, like Palmer, has been getting run support in less-than-perfect games, but only the Palm Tree is undefeated thus far in 2009. The Angels have won in 8 of Palmer's 10 starts this year, and every time he takes the mound I'm expecting victory.
Please take note: I'm not turning my back on my high praise of the Angels as of late just because of this two game losing streak. Listen: The Angels are the #1 team in the American League in terms of batting average (.281), the #2 team in stolen bases (70), and the #7 team in OPS (.772). The offense is on point. We're also 8th in quality starts with 34. Keep your pants on through the rough patches here, folks. We will win the AL West.
Down in the MiLB, it was a so so day. Our Mighty Bees dropped a 5-8 decision to rival Sacramento. Despite scoring early and often, the Bees were outplayed down the stretch of the game. Player of the game CF Bradley Coon (.282/4/20) had a 2 for 4 night with 2 runs. Meanwhile, HK-47 went 0 for 4 with a strikeout in his continuing efforts to get called back up. Starter David Austin (2-4, 6.87) had a rough 6 innings of 6 run ball, but Jose Arredondo went 1.3 innings of shutout ball in his attempt to get back with the big club. SLC are now 38-33, trailing division leading Colorado Springs by 2.5 games. The Arkansas Travs got a rare win against Tulsa, with a 6-4 victory (scoring all 6 runs in the bottom of the eighth). Player of the game LF Brandon Florence (.280/0/1) had a big 2 for 3 game with 1 run, and starter Tim Kiely (1-0, 3.38) did enough to keep his boys in the game with 7 innings of 4 run ball. Bryan Rembisz got the win with a perfect inning of relief. What would a MiLB recap be without a Rancho loss? The Quakes dropped a 1-10 decision to Lake Elsinore, and it was as bad as it sounds. Player of the game RF Rian Kiniry (.269/0/4) went 2 for 4 in the game, and the pitching was nothing to talk about. I'll talk about it anyways, though, as reliever Steven Geltz (4-0, 3.33) was the small bright spot with his 1.67 innings of shutout ball with 5 gigantic punch outs. The ailin' Quakes are now 30-40 with a 13 game deficit. Low-A Cedar Rapids also lost 0-6.
Am I upset about dropping the series with the Dodgers? No. It's just another series. Right, Brandon? Besides, they finished the season 3-3 against the lesser LA squad. Let's move on.
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