I know, I know. It's a dumb, played out joke. But I love it. Kendry Morales, Hideki Matsui, and Jeff Mathis are also all on pace for 162 home runs this year. Move over Barry Bonds! Last night, the Halos fought off the Twins with a combination of 2 out RBIs, long bombs, and pretty quality pitching. It was a nice way to start out the 2010 season, a 6-3 win over the '09 Central Champs, an it's time to start out our coverage.
The Heavenly Choir:
-- Jered "Big Baby" Weaver went 6 innings of 3 run ball in the opener, punching out 6 and allowing just 5 hits (and 2 walks). He recovered nicely from misteps, had a 7-5 ground ball-fly ball ratio, and shined as our staff ace tonight.
-- The bullpen was solid, as a whole. Let's lump all three relievers into the heavenly choir after last night's game. Kevin Jepsen got himself into a jam (loading the bases, hitting O. Hud), but came out unscathed. Fernando Rodney shined in his Halo debut with 1 shutout inning. Brian "Tito" Fuentes earned his first of many saves with a perfect ninth. Inspiring stuff.
-- Erick Aybar quickly made us forget whats-his-name who wore #9. EA Sports went 2 for 3 with a walk and 2 runs scored, and was pesky all night long for Baker and the Twinkies. Good stuff, EA!
-- Hideki Matsui comes through with a huge opening day. Godzilla didn't disappoint as out new DH, going 2 for 4 with a 2 out RBI and a huge jack late to push us ahead for good. He didn't leave any runners on base, and made us all forget about his previous tenure with the Empire.
-- ...other jacks and such. The Halo offense was on point. Jeff Mathis-matician hit a bomb in the seoncd, Kendry "Bam Bam" Morales completed the second half of the back to back homers with Godzilla, and Juan Rivera even shined with a 2 out RBI knock. Ah, goodol' JR.
Let us pray for the souls in Purgatory:
-- What can we say about Brandon Wood that hasn't already been said about Dallas McPherson? Just kidding. I'm not ready to jump ship on our mighty third baseman finally getting a shot, but if he keeps up the 0 for 4 with 3 Ks nights, Scioscia may be ready to.
-- Bobby Abreu has a rough outing at the 2 hole. BA went 0 for 4, which was really disappointing based on how hot Aybar was swinging the bat. Luckily for BA, Torii was a mad walking food, and the Matsui/K-Mo/JR combo was there to knock 'em in.
At 1-0, the Angels are locked in a three way tie for first place with Vladdy's Texas Rangers and Chone and Casey's Seattle Mariners. This is already so exciting!! Poor, poor Oakland.
Tonight, the Halos continue their four game season opening series against Minnesota, looking to keep the streak alive. Tonight it's Nick Blackburn of the Twins going against Colonel Joe Saunders at the Stadium. The Twins haven't lost back to back games to open a season for the last 16 years, but Joe Joe is ready to break that curse. Meanwhile, the Halos are trying to open a season with consecutive wins for the first time since '07.
To get you pumped up, enjoy this stat of Saunders': Joe Joe's 33 wins over the last 2 seasons ranks second in the American League. That's right. Only Roy Halladay (37) has more AL victories over that time period.
Go Angels Go.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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