I told someone at work today, "If the Angels and the Red Sox play in this year's playoffs, I don't think I'm going to be able to watch." I'm watching here as the regular season winds down, and I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be able to take another divisional series bow out against the boys from Bean Town. The latest precursor is tonight's 8-9 loss to Boston after a ninth inning blow out.
Come on Saunders? The Colonel was solid in the opening frames of his work day, going through over 5 innings of shutout work before letting Boston get to him. It was looking like his best outing of the year until the wheels kind of fell off, leading to Big Joe Saundo finishing with 5.67 innings of 5 run ball (2 earned!) with 5 punch outs and 3 walks. I guess his shutout was looking a lot better than it actually was, but it was really frustrating to see our beloved starter come in and let those bastards get to him, leading to them completely controlling the game. Of course, the offense was able to make a march back to the lead, only to have Brian Fuentes blow his 7th save of the year (which, I know, really isn't that bad) by allowing two runs in the ninth to lead the Angels to a loss. To be fair, Jason Bulger (0.3 innings of perfect work) and Darren Oliver (0.67 innings of shutout ball) were on, while Kevin Jepsen (1.3 innings of 2 run ball) and Fuentes (0.67 innings of 2 run ball) were completely off. In the end, the Red Sox were too much for our pitching staff, and most around Angels Nation feel a little concerned about the obvious eventual playoff matchup. We can't go down like this again!
The offense was prolific in the loss, with 8 runs on 17 hits, but it just was enough. The top of the order was on, with Figgins (2 for 6), EA (4 for 6, 1 RBI), and Bobby Abreu (3 for 5, 2 RBI) setting things up, with Big Game (2 for 4, HR), Howie (2 for 5, 1 RBI), and Good Ol' JR (3 for 5, 2 RBI) bringing them home. I mean, the "O" was clicking, ripping former Halo favorite Paul Byrd (5.3 innings of 3 run ball), and Ramon Ramirez (0.3 innings of 3 run ball), but when the hurlers can't hold various leads supplied by the bats, you're doomed as a team. I think it's pretty obvious that if we want to beat these pricks in the playoffs, we are going to need Torii Hunter to just be crazy. T Hunt did his best, going 2 for 4, but he never came up with runners in scoring position, and thus really couldn't deliver outside of his jack. In the playoffs, not only is the top half of the order going to need to get on base for Big Game, but he is really going to need to deliver. He is the heart and soul of our bats, and he has to completely lead us onward to victory. This year, despite some injury time, the Pine Bluff, AR native is hitting .313/22/83 with a .383 on base percentage. That is no joke. He's 100% owned in ESPN Fantasy leagues. In Hunter's postseason exploits, he holds a .316/.352/.510 stat line with 3 jacks and 13 RBI in 25 games (98 ABs). The RBI are definitely going to need to rise if the Angels have any hope against the Red Sox, and Hunter is going to need to play good enough to earn MVP of the series. Man, I'm already starting the prayers for my boys to pull this series out come October, if need be.
With consecutive loss #3, the Angels are sputtering at the wrong time. Luckily, the Rangers aren't doing much either. At 86-59, Los Halos are still 6 up on Texas, 12 up on Seattle, and 19 up on Oakland. Despite our recent problems, the Rangers aren't making a move, and that makes me feel pretty nice. Boston is leading the Wild Card by 6.5 over Texas as well, which is why it is looking like our fate may be sealed when it comes to the divisional series. Can you hear me screaming in anguish? Luckily, the final game of this series comes tomorrow evening. Unluckily, we seem to be overmatched on the mound. Ervin "El Rosario" Santana (7-8, 5.52) will try and be the stopper against Josh Beckett (15-6, 3.82). Beckett hasn't been out of control good lately, which is really nice, as the Sox have gone 2-3 over his last 5 starts, and he had back to back starts where he gave up 7 and then 8 runs (to the Jays and Spankees. So, Becks is beatable. The bad news, though, is that when he's on, he's on, and there is nothing you can do. The Angels are countering with Erv Daddy, who has been flat out spanked lately thanks to a lack of offense. The Angels have lost Santana's last 4 starts (despite allowing 3, 4, 1, and 2 earned runs in those games), after winning with him in his 5 starts prior to that. He's been hot and cold, like a shower with people flushing toilets like crazy all over the house. Come on Ervin, pull one out for your son!
After tomorrow's Sox game, we head to Texas to go for a huge 3 game series that could either make things really interesting, or put them away for good. I'll be hitting up San Jose for the weekend, so keep an eye on the LSF Twitter page for updates while I'm gone.
Suckers.
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