Now please don't think that I'm only posting when the Angels win in the playoffs. I've just been kind of busy, and haven't been able to throw up posts after the losses to the Yankees in the first two games in New York. But, after the amazing 11 inning 5-4 win on the heels of a Jeff Mathis walk off double, I'm back and ready to give you the run down.
Game 1 thought: Yes, the Angels made big mistakes. However, it was a tough transition after sweeping the Sox. It was cold, the Angels hadn't practiced, and they weren't ready. That, and the fact that CC was completely nuts on the mound.
Game 2 thought: This was a game that could have gone either way, and it just so happened to go the bad guy's way. Mistakes? Sure. Brian Fuentes never should have thrown a high fastball to A-Rod when he had an 0-2 count. That was probably the biggest mistake. I don't really see why everyone was giving Ma$e such a hard time for throwing to second base. In the heat of the moment, he was trying his best, and it made a mistake. No biggie. Even with the BFF mistake, the fact remains that the Angels should have been way ahead. The Angels left 16 on base, and why should you win when you do that?
Now, game 3 was obviously a little more exciting in a "we win" kind of way. Thanks to my DVR and my patient wife and I got to enjoy the whole thing after work. The amazing walk off win had some positives and some negatives that we need to address heading into game 4. First, the positives:
1) Jeff Mathis is the wonderful stud. All we hear about throughout the playoffs (and throughout the season, from uneducated Angels fans) is what a waste Mathis is with the bat when we have Napoli sitting on the bench. Well, guess what the defensive substitution was able to do! Mathis ripped a game winning double to drive home Howie Kendrick, just one inning after ripping a double that could have easily led to him scoring the game winning run. Mathis is officially the player with the lowest regular season batting average to come through with a walk off playoff hit in the history of baseball. Write it down. I know Napoli will start game 4 behind the plate, but hopefully the fans will come around on my favorite catcher.
2) Howie Kendrick almost went for the cylce! Just another Halo platoon player that the idiot fans give no vote of confidence to. Of course, I should divulge that HK 47 is my favorite player on the squad, and damned if he didn't deliver when it mattered last night. Howard went 3 for 5 with 1 RBI and 3 runs, ripping a jack to get us on the board, a single, and a triple that put us ahead temporarily. Look for him to earn some respect, and Ma$e to continue to sit on the bench after that overrated game 2 error.
3) Jered Weaver did just enough. 5 innings of 3 run ball, allowing 5 hits, giving up 3 solo jobs to the Bronx Bombers. Weaver was busy, though, going 95 pitches in his 5 innings, getting kind of outpitched by Pettitte. However, giving up 3 solo jacks is a lot better than giving up some crazy rallies or multi-run bombs. Weavaer may not have earned the win in the comeback victory, but he certainly did a good enough job to keep us in the game.
4) This freaking bullpen. Say what you will about the pen allowing the Yanks to win the game in extra innings on Saturday, but you hve to admit that the bullpen has been so much better than the FOX announcers want to give them credit for. In this version of the series, Darren Oliver, Kevin Jepsen, Brian Fuentes, Jason Bulger, and Ervin "Extra Innings" Santana combined for 6 innings of 1 run baseball, allowing just 3 hits (Jepsen is accountable for one run and two hits, just so you know). This bullpen has been solid over the playoffs, I don't care what you or the media thinks, and they have been the key to some of our big wins.
5) This team never gives up. If it is game 3 of the ALDS, game 2 of this series, or the game last night, these guys are always giving us hope for a "double-you." I love this team for that, but like Torii Hunter said in a post game interview, "These games are making me lose my hair!"
Of course, we are still trailing 1-2, so don't be too jubilent Angels Nation. There were some things we need to improve on after last night:
1) JR/Kendry combined for an awful night. Together, two of our biggest bangers went 0 for 10 in the game. They never came up with a chance to knock anyone in, but these two guys are going to have to step it up. Kendry has done well earlier in the playoffs, but he'll need to continue, along with production from JR, to help push the middle of the offense forward.
2) Even the worst pitcher on the Yankees, Pettitte, isn't really that bad. With CC and AJ going the next two games, we're up against a tough task. Enough with all these comebacks, the Angels need to get to these gray shirted hurlers early and often.
3) Stop hitting into double plays at important times! The Angels did plenty of that in Game 2, and last night Hunter and Morales did it again. We need to stay out of the 6-4-3 if we have any hopes of keeping this series alive past Thursday.
Alright, game four features CC Sabathia (2-0, 1.13 in the playoffs) against Scott "Is This..." Kazmir (0-0, 7.50 in these playoffs). We know what CC brings to the table, since he punked us in game one. Hopefully a) CC will be weak on less rest and b) Kazmir will bring a little more to the table than he did in his game against the Red Sox.
Come on boys, we need this one.
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