Mr. Kendrick's walk off bunt.

Howie went out of his way to prove why he has what is takes to be my favorite Angel last night. Tied at 3 in the bottom of the ninth, Torii Hunter led off with a double to right. He was actually tagged out, but the call went our way. Shhh. After Godzilla was intentionally walked, Kendry grounded into a double play, putting Big Game on 3rd with 2 outs. Juan Rivera also earned a free pass, bringing HK-47 to the plate. With the infield back, Howie bunted a perfect shot toward second base, surprising everyone in the park. Kendrick legged it out, Torii scored the game winning run, and Robb Quinlan assumed his position on the outside of the dog pile. It was a thing of beauty, After the game, HK said he had a call to swing away, and that it was all his own decision. He pulls it off and he's a hero, you know what would have happened if the bunt rolled back to the pitcher. It was awesome, simply awesome. However, there were a couple of other really solid things that happened last night, being overshadowed by the bunt, and it's time to point them out.

-- Ervin pitched even better than the numbers suggest. 6.67 innings of 3 run ball with 8 punchouts. He was humming along for most of the game, striking out 5 in a row at one point. It was a solid no decision.

-- The call on Hideki Matsui that got Mike Scioscia tossed out of the game in the second inning was insane. Mats get the ball thrown at his head and drops to the ground while letting go of his bat. The bat goes forward on the drop, and gets called a strike for being a swing! Scioscia blows up and gets tossed out of the game, stating that he's never seen a call like that in 35 years of baseball. It was a bad call.

-- Torii Hunter not only scored the winning run, but also hit a game tying three run bomb on Westbrook earlier in the game, and finished the game 3 for 4, factoring into every Angel run scored. Talk about responding to all that "getting old" talk.

-- The Angels only left 4 runners on base in the game, which may be some kind of record for this year.

-- Brian Fuentes got brought in for the ninth inning in a tie game. I immediately thought, "Don't bring your closer in for a non-save situation." He almost proved me right, giving up two hits on 17 pitches, and letting the potential winning run for the Indians get 90 feet away. He was, however, able to squeeze his way out of it, and it should be noted. He earned the win.

-- Fernando Rodney pitched another scoreless inning. He's been alright, eh? 

Of course, it should be noted that despite all the celebrating, we're still just 12-11. But, we're only 0.5 back of the first place A's (12-10). So maybe I should have celebrated more! After an off day today, the Angels meet Detroit in Michigan on Friday for a quick rematch of their recent series. Joel Piñero (2-2, 3.42) will try to get back into his groove against Ricky Porcello (1-2, 7.91). A good first game of the series will be crucial, so hopefully La Piñata and the boys will come through.

P.S. The Clark W. Griswald Rally Monkey video in the game last nigt was on point.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē