Sweep! Now, I know that the Padres aren't really a good team, but still: a sweep is a sweep. And, what better way to complete a sweep than to earn a thrilling complete game shutout 6-0 victory against the boys who play down south on the 5? Juan Rivera was just one jack away from tying a record from Babe & Lou, and the fans of the Red Hats were mighty pleased with a gratifying 9 innings of work from their boys.
Consistency has been a big problem with the Angels this year. Most media critics and coaches have pointed out that the Angels have been so up and down this year, and that has led to the largest problems. However, if anyone has been consistent (on the pitching staff, of course) it has been Jered "Big Baby" Weaver. This afternoon, the Caveman finished 9 strong innings of 5 hit shutout ball. Weav punched out 5 Padres and allowed just 1 walk in the CG/SO, and is continuing to earn his place as the #1 supreme ace on this contender. The Angels have won in Weaver's last 5 starts, and he has only allowed 5 runs in those starts. Are you kidding me? He holds tight with his new record of 7-2 and a miniscule 2.08 ERA, and that is keeping in mind his amazing home BAA of .161. Again, are you kidding me? .161?! Can we all give Weaver some extra love? He's 5th in the AL in wins, 2nd in WHIP, and 2nd in ERA. This may his year to be the main man on this staff.
Meanwhile, the offense was Bronx Bomber-esque for the second straight day. Juan Rivera handled the majority of the jack damage, getting two over the fence to finish with a 2 for 4 afternoon (2 RBI). If JR would have hit a home run in his final at bats (to get to 3 on the day) he and Torii Hunter (who hit three jacks last night) would become the first teammates to hit three homers in consecutive games since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. How intense it that? Today's Angels VIP Club also features Chone Figgins (2 for 3 with 2 runs to raise his average to .326), and Torii Hunter 1 for 4 with 2 RBI to raise his average to .319). Maicer Izturis also gets love for walking with the bases loaded in the second to push a run home and earn quite the enjoyable RBI by BB. Notable turds to GMJ, who went 0 for 4 filling in for the extremely solid Bobby Abreu. When are we going to send GMJ down to AAA? Oh yeah, his contract is too hefty for a move like that.
Have you been on Twitter following my Angels cap strike until the call up of Howie Kendrick? I'm still wearing my SLC Bees hat, and I won't stop until HK-47 is back where he belongs. Another big issue facing the Angels is the new prognosis for Karen's favorite reliever, Scot Shields. Scot has been out with knee problems, and he now is opting for surgery on the knee. This knocks Scot out for the rest of the season. After making the decision, the 1-3/6.62 reliever said, "The way I was pitching this year wasn't fair to me and wasn't fair to the team and wasn't doing us any good. Hopefully I get back to 100% and pitch the way I know I can pitch and help this team." The surgery will be this Tuesday. If Escobar can avoid the DL again, he would be primed to take over the set up role for this squad. Also keep in mind that if Esco does go back to the DL, the Angels are looking at the following players in trade talks: Huston Street (yuck), Jose Valverde (5.40 ERA?), LaTroy Hawkins (old), and Chad Qualls (maybe the top choice out of the list).
What a relief that sweep was after difficulties with Tampa Bay. The Angels are 32-29, trailing the Rangers by just 2.5 games. Seattle continues to sit 5 back of the AL West lead and Oakland trails by 8 full games. This sweep also did another thing to improve our standing, as the Angels have got their run differential at just -2. If you read the July 12 post about "The State of the 29-29 Angels," you would know that at that point they held a -21 run differential. What a change in one weekend! The battle for the state continues tomorrow night as the Angels and Giants get a big rematch from the 2002 World Series. The opening game of the series features John Lackey (1-2, 6.61) and Barry Zito (3-6, 4.09) throwing down. Two "#1" starters who have not been performing that way match up. Hopefully the winner will be able to completely turn that whole season around. And, hopefully that winner will be Lackey. The Angels are 2-4 in starts by Lackey, and his road ERA of 6.75 (1-1) doesn't bode very well. However, Lackey allowed just 2 runs in a no decision against Toronto after 7 innings of pitching two starts ago (let's just all forget about the 5 inning 9 run debacle against the Rays last week), and hopefully is ready to bust out. Not that this helps, but Barry Zito has a 1-2 record with a minor 2.15 ERA against the Angels over the last 3 years. His BAA during that time against our boys is just .236, meaning that my Red Hats are going to need to overcome the zany left hander in addition to getting a solid Big John outing to keep the winning streak alive.
Down in the MiLB, the Salt Lake Stingers turned things around with a nice win against the Fresno Aces. CF Big Brad Coon earned the player of the game nod with a 2 for 4 night (2 doubles and 1 RBI) in the 5-3 win, and my boy Howie Kendrick went 1 for 3 with a double as well (that's a .333 AAA season average!). Starter and Antioch, CA native Dan Denham had a nice start, going 5.67 innings of 3 run ball, but the bullpen was even better. Jose "Did You Remember That I Also Got Demoted?" Arredondo went 1.3 innings of no hit/shutout ball (despite allowing 3 walks) and Raffy Rodriguez earned his second save of the year with 2 innings of 1 hit/shutout ball. Do you think 'Dondo will be brought back up quicker with Shields being out for the season? Meanwhile, the troubles for AA Arkansas continued with a 6-16 loss to rivals NW Arkansas. The Travs didn't have much going on, but player of the game nod goes to the future of our shortstop position, Hainley Statia. The Netherlands Antilles native had a 4 for 5 game with 2 runs scored to finally turn things around after a tough start to the season (.199 average). 3B Wilberto Ortiz also had a nice game with 2 RBI on a 1 for 5 effort. Pitching is not worth mentioning, as the starter Michael Anton (1-6, 4.30) gave up 7 runs and the bullpen did not do much better. Finally, Rancho suffered "just another Quakes loss," dropping a 3-4 decision to the Bakersfield Blaze. RC scored 1 run in the bottom of the ninth, but fell just short in the comeback effort. CF Clay Fuller earned player of the game with his 2 for 4 game, including a solo jack. The pitching was adequate, with 5.3 innings of 3 earned run ball from starter and Wazzu grad Jayson Miller (1-4, 5.01), but the bullpen was much better getting 3.67 innings of shutout ball from Jeremy Haynes and Pasadena native Eddie McKiernan. Low-A Cedar Rapids earned a 5-0 shutout win thanks to Manaurys Corra (what kind of first name is that?) and his five hit shutout. Who cares how you pronounce his name, the kid is 2-1 with a 1.75 ERA in his last six starts and is primed and ready to save Rancho someday soon.
Just two questions to ask on the way out: 1) Has New York changed the usually cool headed Frankie Rodriguez? 2) Can the Lakers win tonight's game, change the LSF sidebar, and give Brandon the top spot in the LSF Rankings?
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