Aybar wins the game Kaz should have won.

Another Scott Kazmir start, another game where he pitched well enough to win and got no decision. It was another duel against King Felix Hernandez, and it lived up to the first one in every way, in the end requiring a walk off Aybar hit after BFF blew the save (and game for Kaz). In the end, the Halos walked away with a 10th inning 3-2 win over the Mariners, that somewhat lessened the blow of another Rangers double header sweep.

Just another Scott Kazmir tough luck start. Why is it that we can't hook this guy up with a couple of runs? At least he didn't get the loss! The Kazmanian Devil went out in his first Halo start and tossed 6.3 innings of 1 earned run ball against the M's, only to lose. This time around he pitched even better, going 7 innings of 1 run ball (again, just allowing 3 hits, and now only 3 walks over both games). This cat is crazy. I mean, most around Angels Nation are going to look at his results and say that he isn't paying off, but it doesn't take a very deep dive into the stats (or by just watching his starts) to realize that this guy has found a new home. In the first start, it was a lack of offense and a strong Felix outing that did Kaz wrong, this time around it was a combination of very little offense and a Tito Fuentes blown save that factored him out of the decision. By the way, I really like calling BFF Tito Fuentes. So, after Jepsen continued his recent success (1 perfect inning), Fuentes came in and gave up a lead off jack in the ninth to erase the possibility of the Angels leaving the field with an easy finish. Fuentes then walked two, and was lifted in favor of Jason Bulger. After things were settled down, Mattie Palmer came in and shut the M's down in the 10th to set up the big win. Bottom line: I want you to all believe that Kazmir is legit, even if I am sad about losing Sean Rodriguez.

King Felix did it to the Angels yet again, though. The Halos grabbed 3 runs on 6 hits, including that thrilling Aybar walk off single. Despite that exciting moment, Bobby Abreu was the main man with the bat, going 2 for 4 with 1 RBI. El Comedulce was the lone Halo with a multi-hit game, but honorable mention has to go to Figgy (2 walks), Ma$e (1 walk/1 hit), and GMJ (2 walks). The Halo three runs were scored on a BA sac fly for a run, a BA fielder's choice for a run, and that thrilling Aybar single (which scored Abreu, in fact). Watching Aybar get that hit makes me think that he really should have swung away in the Red Sox game in the playoffs, rather than bricking that attempted suicide squeeze. Eh, Scioscia? Tool. I want to touch on the callups that the Angels made when the rosters expanded, and let you know my opinion (like you really want it): Sean O'Sullivan (Mr. Near Perfect deserves to be here), Brandon Wood (Will we see anything from his this trip up to set up his next year as our starting 3B?), Reggie Willits (It's almost weird that he hasn't been here the whole time), Bobby Wilson (I think Bobby should stay up and have Napoli walk away), Rich Thompson (This is one bad ass Aussie, who really deserves to be up), Ryan Budde (Okay, I spoke too soon, I actually like Budde better than Wilson), Freddy Sandoval (With .300/6/46 numbers, he is one of our corner IFs who is severely underrated thanks to Wood- see the former Halo Sean Rodriguez and Bellevue, WA native Matt Brown), Raffy Rodriguez (He really hasn't show that much in his time up, so I wonder what he has), Terry Evans (Honestly, Terry Evans is so legit, and if he gets his fair shot he'll be considered one of the best trades in Angels history- straight up for Jeff Weaver; .291/26/90/28 bags), Chris Pettit (Just another LSF favorite who has been held back because of our star studded MLB outfield; .321/8/58 and graduated from Loyola Marymount). I love having the young studs called up.

Thanks to another Rangers win (10-0 over the Tribe), the 82-55 Angels are now just 4 games up. Again, why won't these guys go away? I guess my only hope would be that they knock the Red Sox off of the Wild Card to spare us having to play Bean Town in the second season. The M's are now 11 back after the loss, and Oak Town sits 20.5 away from my boys. The series with the Mariners continues tonight (actually in 11 minutes) with our Boy Wonder Jered Weaver (14-5, 3.79) going against former P-Rats Golden Boy Ian Snell (6-9, 5.21). In general, I would say that Snell sucks (although I used to be high on him), but he has won his last 4 starts, and is 4-3 since coming over from Pitt. Keep in mind, though, that he hasn't gone longer than 6 innings since coming over, and his recent success can't last much longer. Meanwhile, Big Baby Caveman came out and beat the lights out of KC in his last start (7 innings of 1 run ball, despite allowing 9 hits). The Angels are 7-3 in Weav's last 10 starts, and that includes a loss to Oakland where he pitched 6 innings of 4 hit shutout ball, only to earn the loss. Weaver should be able to rock and roll over Settle tonight, and set us up for a seriously important sweep, with the Rangers breathing down our necks.

Let's keep Texas 4.5 back, boys.