I predicted, boldly, that the Angels would take three this weekend and pull within three games of Nolan Ryan's club. In reality, the Rangers took three in a terribly low scoring series, and we're seven off the lead (with the A's spitting on our necks at 7.5). Let's examine what went wrong, and what should have gone right.
Thursday- This was the premier pitching duel. Our #1 against their new #1. How bad did we all want Weaver to outpitch Lee? I guess we should have been focused more on hoping our offense could have shown up. Jered Weaver pitching 6 innings of 3 run ball, but admittedly didn't have his best stuff (just 5 Ks and 2 BBs). But, he pitched well enough to win...if that other guy wasn't on the mound. Former Indian/Philly/Mariner Cliff Lee went 8.3 innings of 2 run ball, walking none, and getting 4 on the ol' K. His manager was booed for taking him out in the 9th after 9 pitches, but it worked out for them. Francisco Rodriguez (whose t-shirt jersey I wore on Friday; actually it was the old Frankie Rodriguez, in all honesty) kept the Halos in the game with 2 shutout innings, but the offense couldn't get that extra run. We only left 3 on base, Napoli was the only multi-hit Halo (2 for 4), and Kendrick/Abreu/Hunter went a noticeable 0'fer. 2-3. Brutal.
Friday- If you think losing 2-3 was tough, how about 0-1? That's right. Our soon to depart Va Tech alumni gave up a solo bomb to former Gaucho Michael Young, and that was enough to win for Texas. Saundo said after the game, "I made on mistake in the first inning...I didn't realize it would cost us the whole game." No joke. At least Joey wasn't crying...yet (stay tuned). Saunders went 7 innings of 1 run ball with 6 Ks, despite allowing 6 hits. Talk about pitching well enough to win. Sadly, CJ Wilson pitched better, getting 8 shutout innings. Vlad was a noticeable 0'fer, which is great, but so was Kendrick, Abreu, Hunter, and Napoli. No Halo had more than one hit, and newbie (and former oldie) Alberto Callaspo was the highlight of the game, going 1 for 3 with some fancy glove work. We left 3 on base, and we were hurting pretty bad.
Saturday- Praying for a split, we got the Rangers worst pitcher for game three, and it showed. As I predicted, the Angels got to Feldman, and won the game 6-2 on Saturday night. Ervin pitched well enough to win, getting himself an impressive 8 innings of 2 run ball with an even more impressive 8 punchouts. He was on fire in the game, turning away Texas like it was his job. His Hooters wife is proud. The Halos put this win together despite leaving 10 stranded on the bases, getting a huge 3 for 4 night from Aybar to lead off (with a walk). Jeff Mathis thrilled with a sweet homerun off the top of the wall, and was joined by Hunter (finally) and Willits on the multi-hit list. Callaspo got himself another hit and chipped in 2 RBI to slowly convince Angel fans he's worth it (I knew that when he was in our MiLB system). The win gave us hope, and we headed into Sunday's game seeking the split to stay even.
Sunday- I said in my predictions that Sean O'Sullivan against Tommy Hunter was an underrated pitching matchup. Well, with Sully off to the Royals, we never got to find out (SOS got beat by the Yanks yesterday, but still kept Rodriguez away from #600). Bozo Bell filled in, and it didn't go well. 3.3 innings of 4 run ball isn't going to help out very much, but it was a good thing the bullpen was rested. Texas' Tommy Hunter did what he does, going 6.3 innings of 3 run ball, leading the Rangers to the 6-4 win, making himself 8-0. Francisco Rodrgiuez and Scot Shields each got tagged for a run in relief, and despite surging back, the Halos just couldn't do it. Torii's second inning jack was all we had until Matsui stepped up, down 1-6. He launched a two run jack that gave us some hope, but the Angels could only muster a ninth inning Callaspo fielder's choice to score Torii, and we were sent off down 4-6. Aybar, Izzy, and Abreu were the 1-2-3 hitters, and combined for a 0 for 10 evening, cancelling out the 2 hit efforts of Big Game and Godzilla. Just four days after my last post, we're 7 off the lead. By the way, despite what the "real" media is saying, the "beat LA" chants weren't that impressive.
So, with 61 games to go, we're 52-49, trailing the Texas Rangers (58-41) by a hefty 7 games. Oakland is now just 0.5 back of us, and the 2009 & 2010 ESPN AL West Champion Seattle Mariners are 19 back and I guess dealing with a Figgins/Wakamatsu fist fight. Let me be clear: I do not think this is over. We have a three game series at home against Texas this weekend, and a solid series against them combined with a good three against Boston starting tonight will have us right back in the mix. Stick with me here, Angel fans. Tonight we have to make some noise against Boston. We get Clay Buchholz (10-5, 2.81) against Dan Haren (7-8, 4.60). I know we haven't covered it yet, but we'll get there. Buchholz lost to the A's in his last outing, which was his first back from injury, and hopefully the bad times will continue. Meanwhile, new Angel Dan Haren went 6 innings of 3 run ball in his last outing against the Mets. He's punched out 8 in his last two outings, and hopes to make an immediate impact on his first day with the team, unlike when Cliff Lee started right after being traded to Texas. The highlight of the series, if the pitching probables hold up, is clearly Tueday night's battle between John Lackey and Jered Weaver. I can't think of a better person to be on the mound for Lackey's return to Anaheim. I simply can't wait for this battle of 9 game winners. But, for now we'll focus on Haren's first start with the team.
Alright, let's give the people what they want: Roster movement!
Thursday- This was a little bit of a shocker, but I was still proud LSF made mention of the move before ESPN.com! I knew the Angels were interested in bringing Callaspo back, but who knew it would happen. So, was it worth it? We picked up Callaspo (.275/8/43 before the trade) for LSF favorite Sean "Silky" O'Sullivan (1-0, 2.08) and recent LSF MiLB mention Will "Fresh Prince" Smith (5-8, 5.53 at all levels this year). There are a couple of things about this trade. 1. I kind of liked Will Smith, especially after he got bounced back to AA. 2. I really liked Sean O'Sullivan and think he has the makeup to be a solid #3 guy on most rotations in baseball. 3. We already had Callaspo! He was developing nicely in our minor league system until we traded him to Arizona for Jason Bulger back in 2006. With the rise of Bulger, prior to his injury, it was a good move, but now losing two pitchers to bring him back feels kind of funny. I guess, I think this: We really don't know what Sean O'Sullivan or Will Smith are going to be like come 3 years from now, and we know Callaspo is at least a second Erick Aybar on the left side of the infield. Of course, this spells the end for Brandon Wood, and perhaps the Halos may have one more trick up their sleves wit Woody now sitting 4th on the 3B depth chart, behing Callaspo-Franden-Izzy. Man, we have a crowded infield. Welcome back, Alberto, despite losing SOS, I'm okay with this one.
Sunday- The second move of the trade season seemed to catch everyone by surprise, including Joe Saunders. The Angels sent Joe Saunders (6-10, 4.62), reliever Raffy Rodriguez (5-3, 3.04 in AAA), Pat Corbin (8-0, 3.86 in low-A), and a player to be named later (Tyler Skaggs- 8-4, 3.61 in low-A) to the Diamondback for starter and former Oakland A Dan Haren (7-8, 4.60). Man, I've been thinking a lot about this one. First off, Joe Saunders was crying when he was interviewed about the trade. When he got called in to Scioscia's office, he thought they'd ask him to pitch on three days rest, and BAM! Saunders lives in Arizona, though, so hopefully that'll work out. Most Angel fans are always down on Raffy, who only pitched once this year, but I think he has tons of potential as a middle reliever. As for Corbin and Skaggs, if they do end up being good, we'll forget we ever had them by that time, and it'll be okay. Even I don't worry when kids still not to Rancho get dealt. Losing Joey was tough, though. I've always loved the guy, and I used to hate Dan Haren for like 3 years when he played for Oakland. Let's look at the numbers for Joe and Haren over the last five years to put it in perspective, as neither of their 2010 numbers tell the whole story.
Saunders:
6-10, 4.62
16-7, 4.60
17-7, 3.41
8-5, 4.44
7-3, 4.71
5 year total: 54-32, 4.36 (5.34 K/9)
Haren:
7-8, 4.60
14-10, 3.14
16-8, 3.33
15-9, 3.07
14-13, 4.12
5 year total: 66-48, 3.65 (8.26 K/9)
So, I mean, numers are open to interpretation obviously. Haren's win percentage was .579 over the last 5 seasons, while the Colonel was at .628. This is what I'll say. Lately, Haren and Saunders have ben similar pitchers, however, Haren has been able to show double digit winning 4 of the last 5 years, and will hopefully make it 5 for 5 over the next couple of months, while Joey is still kind of not sure what kind of pitcher he is going to be. He had two really great seasons, but this year has been so up and down. I think it remains to be seen who gets the better end of this one, but it seems like both teams will end up being happy.
Let's just quickly get to know our latest additions to the team. Dan Haren was born in Monterey Park here in So Cal, is half Irish and half Mexican (corned beef tacos?), attended Bishop Amat High and Pepperdine for college. His pitching style is referred to as a "chess match" by D-Backs announcers, and it's worked for 3 All Star nods. So, his three nickname choices are 1) The Chess Master, 2) CBT (Corned Beef Tacos), and 3) DH. Meanwhile, Callaspo's Wikipedia page highlights that he was arrested for domestic violence in 2007, but he and his wife are still together after the charges were dropped. So, his three nickname choices are 1) Aybar Jr., 2) DV (Domestic Violence), and 3) AC/DC (Alberto Callaspo/Doesn't Choke). Vote in the comments.
Now, let's finish off with an update from the minors:
Bees- Hank Conger is off to the DL, which certainly isn't great news. Yesterday, a 15-7 win over Colorado Springs sure was nice. SLC had a nine run third inning, making Halo fans hope for a callup to infuse that offense into our lineup up here. LF Peter Bourjos continued to make himself known, going 4 for 5 with 4 RBI, including 2 homeruns and 11 total bases. The Burro is now hitting .316/11/47 and has 27 steals. Matsui/Abreu who? Paul McAnulty also chipped in with 3 hits and 2 RBI, and CF Terry Evans had 3 RBI and his 11th jack of the year. Let's call some fools up! The Bees also got 2 innings of shutout work from Matt Palmer, and an inning clean from Mike Kohn (5-4, 2.15, 11 saves in relief).
Travs- Arkansas squeaked out a 7-6 11 inning win yesterday, and a former AAA star made some noise. LF Nick Gorneault went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI, including the game winning 11th inning jack. I'm not sure what happened to the UMass alumn, but he got sent to AA after hitting .186 over 60 games with the Bees, and now he's smashing at a .450 level at AA. Hopefully he can rise back up. The Travs got a nice 7 innings of 3 run ball with 6 Ks from starter Ryan Brasier (5-8, 5.74).
Quakes- RC lost 4-7 yesterday to the Inland Empire. Mike Trout got punched out 4 times, a rare bad game for him. A 2 run bomb from LF Clay Fuller highlighted the game for the Quakes. Fuller, demoted from AA, is hitting .340/4/19 over 29 games in the 909. Kyle Hurst provided 2.67 shutout innings in relief and is 5-3 with a 5.71 ERA across low and high A this year.
Best of luck to Dan Haren tonight. And thanks for getting through this long non-proofread post.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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