The Angels got out on top early against the Indians in the series opener, and the pitching staff of Trevor Bell and the pen held on in the late innings to help power the Halos to a fourth straight victory at 5-4.
For Trevor "Bozo" Bell it must have been a thing of beauty. The Angels won in his first major league start, but this time around he was able to factor in the decision. Bell went 5.3 innings of 3 run work, despite allowing 9 hits and 2 walks. He wasn't as solid on the strikes/pitches ratio as he was in his first start, but he went long enough and good enough to make Angels Nation proud on the road against former fan heartthrob Fausto Carmona and the Tribe. After Bell's 5.3, the Angels got quality work from the bullpen of Bulger, Jepsen, and Fuentes. The trio went 3.67 innings of 1 run ball (Bulger) with Fuentes earning his 35th save in a 12 pitch effort to kind of bounce back. Of course, I say "bounced back" despite the fact that he continues to be have the most saves in the entire bigs. I sure wish fans would get off his back.
The offense was prolific, in the first three innings, and finished the game with 5 runs on 13 hits. Despite not getting any RBI in the game, Vlad Guerrero has to be considered the guy running the show with his 3 for 5 afternoon and 1 run scored. He just seems to be firing on all cylinders lately, and that has to make you wonder if they might bring him back for another ride at a DH level and a cheap price. Hm. Did I mention that everyone in the Angels starting lineup is hitting .300+? VAG was joined in the VIP club by Bobby Abreu (2 for 5, 1 RBI), Torii "Big Game Is Back" Hunter (2 for 5), Mike "Where's Mathis?" Napoli (2 for 4, 1 RBI, and 1 BB), and even EA Sports (2 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 run). Honorable mention goes to Chone Figgins for getting 2 walks and a run scored in the game to boost his OBP to a pretty .403. What if the Angels offer Chone and Vlad another year? I don't know, Figgy is going to want some big money. Let's focus on the recent resurgence of Vlad The Impaler. Our Big Boy is hitting .313/10/31 on his injury plagued season, and he has been turning up the heat lately. Would you believe that he's hitting .370/.431/1.192 here in the month of August? 10 RBI and 10 runs with 17 hits, including an amazing 6 jacks? This guy must finally be getting back on the juice. I love VAG.
The Cleaveland Rocks sized win has pushed the Angels forward to 72-45 on the year (just .007 back of the Yankees for the best record in baseball). The Halos +85 run differential is now second in the AL (just 16 back of..you guessed it...those fags). Would you believe that the Tigers are the AL Central leaders and only have a +16 run differential? Crazy. The Rangers are 5.5 back of the Angels, with Seattle trailing by 12, and the A's back by 19.5. In the middle brick of the series, the Angels will be sending Big Baby Weaver (12-4, 4.12) to the hill Jeremy Sowers Patch Kids (4-8, 4.88). The Indians have gone 4-6 in his last 10 starts, but he really hasn't pitched all that bad. His earned runs in his previous 5 are 4-2-2-0-4. Like I said, not too bad. One down side for Sowers is that he doesn't pitch deep into games. Meanwhile, JDW (Jered David Weaver) had a serious drop off in his last start after a wild run. Last week against the O's, the Caveman went 3.3 innings of 8 run ball. Bleck. Prior to that, the Angels went 8-1 in his previous 9 including 7 straight. If it wasn't for that Balty start, we'd be talking about how epic he's been lately. Time to swing things back in the right direction here against a reeling Indians team.
Who would have though a couple of years ago that our 2009 leaders would be as follows: Batting average - Erick Aybar (.313), home runs - Kendry Morales (26), and RBI - Bobby Abreu (80)? I'm loving it.
Let me just step away to focus on one of my favorite and most underrated sports on earth, track and field. The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics is happening in Berlin (from 8/15-8/23), and I hope you're watching because it has been fresh. The US is holding it down with 7 medals, tied with Russia for the lead, and we lead all countries with 3 golds so far. Usain Bolt obviously set the World Record for the 100 with a thrilling 9.58 times, but don't let it go unnoticed that Tyson Gay set our national record with a 9.71 time in second place. Bolt ran flat out, and I still just can't like this guy. In other coolness, Sanya Richards ran the 400 final in 49 flat. It was awesome to see her power past Shericka Williams. We also had the super stud Kerron Clement win the 400 hurdles, going at 47.91. That is a huge way to follow up on his silver medal from Beijing, eh? Coming up in Berlin, we have the men's 200 finals on Thursday (the heats are tomorrow) as well as the 110 hurdles, we have the men's 400 final on Friday (the semifinals are tomorrow with the hated Jeremy Wariner and the studly LaShawn Merritt) along with the women's 200 final, the men's and women's 4X100 relays on Saturday, and finally the men's and women's 4X400 relays on the final day.
I'm completely serious when I say that track & field is the ultimate sport. Try and challenge me the next time we meet.
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