Wow. Welcome to another "in game post," which I only do because I'll probably go to bed right after the game ends. We are standing up and stretching prior to the bottom of the seventh, and my Halos are busting the pretty gay little face of the San Francisco Giants 8-1 (be sure to pay attention to the italicized updates as the game roles along). A combination of an impressive outing for John Lackey, and a stellar fourth inning of offense (including Lackey's first MLB hit and RBI) was enough to push the Angels out in front in this rematch of the 2002 World Series. (Note: a pinch hit home run for the Giants just made it 8-3 Angels).
It has been well documented on this blog and elsewhere that Angels Nation has been waiting for Enormous John Lackey to have his big breakout game. His best game of the year was a 7 inning 2 run game against the Blue Jays that ended in a no decision, and outside of that he's been a mess leading to a 1-2/5.79 record. Tonight in the cold crisp air of our state's greatest port city, Lackey was "off the chain." John had his curve ball working like most of us have never seen. His line is currently 7 innings of 3 run ball with 0 walks and 10 strikeouts. Count 'em, 10. When he punched out the side in the bottom of the fifth, it was a thing of beauty, and outside of a Rich Aurilia RBI single and a pinch hit two run jack by Andres Torres he was Cy Young quality once again. Of course, let's not blow this out of proportion. He was good. He was the best he's been all season. But, he is supposed to be our #1, and this is what he should be doing. Hopefully his bullpen won't let him down.
To all those who disagreed with my assessment of the Angels offense a few posts ago where I said there was no problem, take that! The last four games have been more than proof that this Red Hats offense has the potential to blow the rest of the league out of the water. You want jacks? How about Juan Rivera's second inning bomb? It was his third in the last two games, and his ninth of the young year. You want rally hitting? How about the Angels seven run fourth that did more than chase the once mighty Barry Zito from the game? By the way, I predicted that one of these former #1s would have an amazing game and turn their season around. I hope I'm right. With 8 runs on 13 hits through 7 innings, you'd have to imagine that the VIP club is going to be pretty packed, and it is: Erick "Just So Ugly" Aybar (2 for 4 with a 2 run jack), Bobby El Chupacabra" Abreu (1 for 4 with his solo bomb), Juan "Good ol' JR"Rivera (2 for 4 with 1 RBI and 2 runs), Robb "The Extra B Is For Interleague Balla'" Quinlan (an amazing 3 for 4 with 2 RBI), Mike "The Beard" Napoli (2 for 3 with 1 RBI), and even John "I'm Trying To Learn To Breathe Through My Nose" Lackey (1 for 3 with 1 RBI and a run, earning his first ever major league hit). That's the biggest party the VIP club has seen the entire year. Notably abscent was HK-47's replacement for the time being, Sean "HR Rod" Rodriguez. He seems to have changed his swing since the last time he was up, and maybe it wasn't a great idea (0 for 3 with a K). Despite that, there isn't much bad we can say about the offense up north tonight. (Note: Sean Rodriguez just hit a home run into the left center seats to make it 9-3. Stud.)
One area of concern was another wild fielding move by Torii Hunter. Big Game went crashing wildly into the wall trying to flag down a gapper by Bengie Molina. It may have been some sick revenge plot by B-Mo because he still wishes he wore the red, but Torii had to be helped off the field and is currently getting x-rays under the stadium. If he's gone, you know that means GMJ, and as of now, that is not adequate. Get well quick Hunter. In other, pregame news, Kelv Escobar was placed on the DL and is expected to be ready to return to the bullpen in one week. Anyone else have the feeling that this may be the beginning of the end for Esco? In addition to that, the Angels called up Sean "SOS" O'Sullivan (always a blog favorite) to make his major league debut in place of Ervin Santana, who has been scratched from tomorrow night's game against the Giants. Erv is said to have "discomfort in his right elbow," and SOS will get the game ball in game 2 against SF. O'Sullivan was going at 5-2 with a 6.02 ERA at Salt Lake this year, but we have seen plenty of potential with this guy over the Spring. Ervin said, "I'll be okay, nothing too bad." He didn't drop a F-bomb, so hopefully he's being honest and he'll be ready for his next time up because SOS will head back down once Kelv returns next Monday. It'll be fun to watch SOS get his major league debut. (Note: The Angels just brought in Justin Speier for the 8th and he promptly gave up a first pitch jack to Sandoval, 9-4. So predictable).
Even with the bullpen working hard to blow this one, we are going to presuppose the Angels return to their San Fran hotel with a win tonight. At 33-29, the Angels will pull within 2 games of the idle first place Rangers, and will increase their lead to 6 over the M's and 8.5 over the A's. Very nice. As we said, the Angels will toss Sean O'Sullivan to the sharks tomorrow night in Nor Cal (0-0, 0.00) to take on Puerto Rican Jonathan Sanchez (2-6, 4.84). Sanchez has dropped two straight decisions, including a heart breaker against Arizona in his last outing where he gave up just 1 run in 5.67 innings. However, he has only made it further than 5.67 innings in one start this year (a 6 inning 2 run loss to the Padres). I can't really think of a better situation for Sully to make his MLB debut. The offense is red hot, and he'll be matching up with kind of a subpar third year player. Can you smell a perfect career mark starting to develop?
Down in AAA, it was a tough night last night as SLC dropped a big one to the Reno Aces, 6-14. It was a rough loss that saw Terry Evans earn the player of the game with a 1 for 4 night, including a 2 run home run. Also notable was Howie Kendrick, boosting his BA to .375 since getting relegated with a 2 for 5 evening in addition to 1 RBI. The pitching, though, was the problem, with starter and Camden, ME native Mike MacDonald (4-6, 5.59) allowing 6 runs in his 5 innings, and the bullpen combo of Daniel Davidson, Fernando Rodriguez, and Buddy "Best Name Ever" Boshers allowing 8 more in their 3 innings. Salt Lake still holds onto their division lead by 0.5 games over Colorado Springs. Meanwhile, the Arkansas Travs actually won a game! The "Greatest Game On Dirt" triumphed against Springfield with a 7-3 decision. Player of the game honors go to LF Branden Florence (2 for 2 with 2 runs and a walk to improve to .298). The pitching was solid for the Travs as well, with starter Tommy Mendoza (4-2, 3.21) keeping up the good work with 7 innings of 3 run ball (6 punch outs) and the relievers Bobby Cassevah and Robert "The Moose" Mosebach holding tight for the final two innings. The Travs remain deeply in last place, nine games back at 25-37. Out off the 91, Rancho smoked the Blaze for a large 2-0 shutout win. For the first time ever, a starting pitcher became player of the game. Venezuelan Alexander Torres (4-2, 3.03) went 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 8 to lead the way. Add in a timely RBI by CF and Hollywood, FL native (friend of Napoli?) Rian Kiniry. That is not a cool way to spell Ryan. The Tremors still have a long way to go, sitting 15 back of the division lead at 26-37. Finally, low-A Cedar Rapids got blanked by Kane County 2-0.
Hold onto your hats, folks. Anaheim native Kevin Jepsen just allowed a 2 out 3 run bomb to Sandoval to allow the Giants back in the game, 9-7. Brian Fuentes is ready to come in for the save. Was this all a set up to pad BFF's stats? Fuentes got Aurillia to pop out, and 9-7 Angels will be our final. Big up yourselves, Red Hats.
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