I don't know what it is about this return from the All-Star break, but it felt as fun and exciting as the first day of the season. I was gasping, however, with Ervin Santana headed to the mound destined to destroy yet another win opportunity. Contrary to what everyone thought would happen, Erv was large on the mound, the offense pounded out a grip against the hated ones, and we put more distance between us and the Walker Texas Rangers.
El Rosario didn't have a very good first half of the season, I'm pretty sure we can all attest to that. With the start he put fourth tonight, are we destined for an amazing jog to the finish line? The Magic One was insane against the last place Oakland A's (and I say that, because I don't want people to get too excited), with 8 innings of 1 run ball, punching out 4, and allowing just 5 to reach (3 hits and 2 walks). The long start with barely any allowed across the plate drops his ERA to a tiny little 6.70! How exciting. Don't forget, though, this was against the A's. Just because they are our rivals, don't pretend that they're good. The A's are 12th out of 14 teams in team batting average (.246). Despite that, it was fun to see Erv going good. The bullpen was ying and yang. Justin Speier came in for the ninth, being that the lead was up to 5, and promptly gave up three singles to load the bases. Brian "Tito" Fuentes came in for the save situation, going 1 inning of perfect ball with one strikeout (perfect, only because the sac fly for the first out got charged to the mighty Speier). BFF now leads the MLB with 27 saves. Priceless.
Luckily, Dallas Brade (7-8, 3.45) was not on point. The Angels scored 6 runs on 13 hits in the game, with a home run from Kendry Morales (his first from the right side!), and some frenzied hitting in the fourth. The Angels VIP Club featured Chone Figgins (2 for 5 with 2 RBI), Erick Aybar (3 for 5 with 1 RBI), and Mike Napoli (3 for 4 with 1 run). Figgins continued to show why he should have played in St. Louis. Tonight's spotlight should probably be transfixed on Erick Aybar, of all people. After a 3 for 5 game, he is kind of rolling, even if he's getting on base with bunts and speed. EA is helping to solidify his starting spot over Ma$e with a .299/3/28 line, and believe it or not, he has been hitting .556/.556/1.222 over the last 7 days. Are you kidding me? This Dominican is coming on hard. The last time Aybar was held hitless was July 3 against the O's. Since then he has gone 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, and 3. Who is this guy? Hopefully he keeps it up, because we need someone in our middle infield to produce (hint, hint, Howie).
The win moves the red hot Angels up to 50-37, pushing us 2 games clear of the idle Rangers. Seattle is 5 back of the Red Hats, with Oakland now trailing by 13. Texas will be starting a three gamer against the Twins tomorrow, and we have to hope that the Homer Hankies can pull off a big series. By the way, we're now sitting on a +36 run differential. Watch out Dodgers (+105)! Tomorrow night, our four game series continues against the Choke-land A's, as Joe Saunders (8-5, 4.65) goes toe to toe with Trevor Cahill (5-8, 4.67). Bizarre. Cahill, an Oceanside native, ranks 4th in the AL in losses and 10th in the AL in walks. The A's have gone 0-3 over his last three starts, as he has allowed 16 runs in just 12.67 innings. That's bad for them, but good for us. Big Joe Saundo, meanwhile, has bounced back with the Angels going 5-1 over his last 6 starts. He hasn't necessarily been awesome during that span, but the Angels have really stepped it up to support him. Keep in mind that despite all his troubles this year, Joey still ranks 10th in the AL in wins, and hopefully he can add to that total on Friday night.
Rumor on the street is that Sean O'Sullivan is going to get the call as the fifth starter here in the second half. I would prefer Palmer, but maybe the Palm Tree can help out in the bullpen, and that'll be alright.
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