Please don't think I'm ready to hand over the AL West title just yet, but I sure am ready to express some disappointment in my Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim after last night's 2-4 loss to John Lackey and the Red Sox.
First off, tons of love to Angel fans for excessively booing John Lackey throughout the game. While the "real" media and players alike were baffled by the fans' actions, I think it's more than fair to give hell to the guy who fained loyalty only to go to the East Coast for a couple of extra bucks. Lackey was shocked but still found time to talk a little shite, "Nobody wants to get booed like that. The scoreboard talks the loudest...That won't be forgotten, for sure." Yeah, point at the scoreboard. Why don't you just acknowledge that you understand Angel fans are mad because you called us a passionless fan base after you fled to Mass with your money hungry trophy wife? You're a knob end, Lack. You turned on us, and we will forever be turned on you.
That being said, the battle of the two big shot pitchers (actually, Lackey isn't much of a big shot in the Boston rotation) lived up to the hype created on this very blog. Dream Weaver went a strong 7 innings of 2 run ball in the loss, racking up 8 Ks in the process. His rival on this occasion, Tiny John went 7.2 innings of 2 run ball with 4 Ks. Despite one getting the win, it's tough to say who really had the better night. You'd have to believe that if Juan Rivera put a little more effort into a fly ball just over his head, we'd be talking about an 8 inning shutout effort for Weaver, with Fuentes in for the save in a narrow 1-0 win (more on that later). The bullpens couldn't really compare, with Bard and Papelbon no hitting the Halos for the final 1.67, while Jepsen and Fuentes allowed the Sox to get 2 more as Tito was especially awful out there (1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). Even my wife said, "Now they have the bases loaded? Geez!" Despite our shady bullpen, pitching, as you know, is far from our biggest problem (trading 6 pitchers in the last week, though, may make it our biggest problem come 2012ish).
Before we get to the offense, however, just a couple of quick things about the three hurlers we ushered out there tonight. First, the way this team is playing (and I've said this on the blog before), I don't see any way Weaver will come back after his 1 year contract expires come October. No way. Jepsen (despite the fact that I like the guy), as I've stated before is seriously overrated by Halo fans. We're talking about a career 8-7, 4.73 reliever with a 1.455 WHIP, 8.3 H/9, and a lowly 2.48 K/BB . His career WAR is 0.1, so the fact that we treat Jeps as anything other than a AAA level MLB replacement reliever is an overstatement. I guess me nicknaming him "Big Country" doesn't help. I mean, he can be solid in spurts, but overall he's just not that special. Finally, if you read the blog, you know how much I try and support Brian "BFF" Fuentes. Last night was a non-save situation, and really a meaningless 9th, because we weren't going to come back on Pap (save your, "but we did it in the playoffs" garbage, please). Keep in mind that Fuentes has still managed 18 saves on this team during this season, and in comparison Frankie Rodriguez is just +3. Maybe that doesn't make you feel better about Tito's performance, but it helps me put it in perspective. Would Frankie be doing any better on this team? I don't really have any reason to think so. I do still miss him, though, in all honesty.
Okay, at the end of my last post, I implored the offense to show up and help Weaver out. Did they? No. Bobby Abreu hit a RBI double in the third when the Halos finally strung 3 hits together, and Abreu came through again in the 8th with a solo job that pulled us within one at the time. So it was a good night for El Comedulce (2 for 4 with 2 RBI), but that's about it. Izturis, Hunter, Matsui, and Napoli all went doughnut. Even when we caught breaks, we couldn't pull through. Hideki got to second base on a pop up that was completely blown by a sliding Hermida in left (I would have given Godzilla the hit, but I'm not a scoring expert). Even Victor and Goobie said, "This is the kind of thing that can ignite a struggling offense." Even John Lackey did his usual "God D-mnit" scream in anger at his fielder's mistake. And yet, we came away with nothing. Even after getting the first run in the third, and Jered Weaver coming out the next inning and striking out the side to quickly hand it back to the offense, nothing came. Where is the fire? Where is the passion? Where is the desire to win? 7 left on base, including 4 with runners in scoring position with 2 outs (Torii being the biggest offender) doesn't show me the passion or desire. Torii Hunter holding up on a stupid check swing and then arguing balls and strikes doesn't show me the passion or desire. Jeff Mathis getting his only hit in a meaningless spot like a sub-par JD Drew doesn't show me the passion or desire.
The event last night that seemed to reek of not efforting the most was the two run double by Lowry off of Weaver. That would be the only two runs allowed by our ace, and at least on TV it seemed like the ball could have been caught. First off, Juan Rivera was playing way too far in, which is a coaching problem. But second, he seemed like he had a beat on the ball, and that with a tad more effort it could have been caught rather easily. Ah, what could have been. Weaver looked crushed on the mound when JR missed that ball, and that was the turning point for the Sox. At least Torii Hunter was still slamming himself against the outfield wall to make an amazing catch despite his overall bad play last night. Come on Juan! I hope you get the pine today.
So much for Scioscia's closed door team meeting prior to the game. You know, we came into this 12 game stretch (3 against NY, 4 against TX, 3 against BOS, and 3 more against TX) knowing that it would make or break our season. Thus far, we've played at a 2-6 level with 4 remaining. If we get out at 6-6, I guess that would show we did what we could against the best, but that's not looking very likely at this point. If we did, and Oakland can beat Texas today and tomorrow, we'd escape with only a 4.5 game deficit. I can dream, right?
Despite all of the negativity, I'm still feeling like we're in this (if you can believe it after reading the post). The Halos are 52-51 (yeah, in danger of sliding back to .500 and below) and are tied with the A's at 8.5 back of the Rangers (no help from Oakland last night). Now we're left to hope that the novelty of a day game can snap us out of this funk before we get swept by the third best team in the AL East. We may have a chance. J-Balls Piñata (10-7, 4.18) looks to continue his dubious success as being the winningest Halo pitcher this year, and he'll be balling against Josh Beckett (1-1, Satan's ERA). Recently off a long DL stint, Beckett allowed just one run over 5.67 against Seattle in his last outing. Boston fan was pumped, but it was Seattle. I love how blowing everything out of proportion equals "a fan base with passion." Luckily for us, Yo-El is 7-2 at home this season with a 2.37 ERA in 11 tests, including going 6-0 with a 1.75 ERA over the last 8. He's nails at the stadium, and he'll need to be to help us avoid the sweep.
Let me just say this to Angel fans desperate for some hope. After this NY/TX/BOS/TX 12 game period ends, we get Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, and Toronto over the next 12. Meanwhile, the Rangers will face Seattle and Oakland for 3 each before spending their next 8 going head to head with New York, Boston, and Tampa Bay. Our best chance to gain may still be coming up. Of couse, we still need to win.
Maybe a trip to our recently semi-depleted minor league system will cheer me up!
Bees- SLC came away with a 5-4 win over Portland last night, with a nifty game winning run in the 8th. Bobby Moosebach got the win despite 2 innings of 2 run ball in relief, and Matt Palmer got the save with a perfect ninth (1 K). DH Paul McAnulty led the way with 2 RBI, but it was really UCSB graduate 3B Nate Sutton that was on fire with the bat. Sutton went 3 for 3 with a run scored to improve to .291/.377/.415 over his 80 games with the Bees this year.
Travs- Arkansas got blanked 0-4 despite a solid effort by starter Trevor Reckling. The Reck went 6 innings of 1 run ball, and is now 1-2 despite a 2.91 ERA in AA. 31 Ks in 34 IP is pretty nifty. 2B Alexi Amarista had the best game offensively, going 2 for 3 with a walk, and is now hitting .312/4/52 over A, AA, and AAA this season (97 games). He's hitting .326 since settling in with the Travs.
Quakes- Finally, it was RC topping the San Jose Giants last night 4-3 thanks to 2 runs for the 909'ers in the 8th. Starter Manaurys Correa went 6 innings of 2 run ball, and punched out 4, but the hurling hero (and winning pitcher) was reliever and Tacoma native Chris Scholl. Scholl went 2 no hit innings with 5 big Ks and has a 3.47 ERA in relief so far with 48 Ks in 46.67 IP. As far as the bats, it was a 2 for 3/2 RBI game for DH Dillon Baird that got Quake fans excited. Baird is now hitting .283/.346/.533 since getting called up from rookie ball 48 games ago. A 3 for 3/1 RBI night from 3B Luis Jimenez should be highlighted as well. LJ is now hitting .280/8/59 over low-A and high-A this season (91 games).
Ah, touring the minors always makes me feel better. Now, let's beat those Sox! T-minues 1 hour to first pitch.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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