The title, of course, is a joke. While the four game series that starts today is by no means "the season," it is a wildy huge four game set. By Sunday we could be anywhere from 1 game back of Texas, with giddy excitement boiling over, to 9 games back, with hope fading fast for most casual fans. I think building this series up is definitely worth a post.
Before I get into building it up, though, it's time for a glimpse inside the numbers here at LSF:
Total posts: 725.
Total LSF Tweets: 845.
Days since A/B/J post: 17.
Posts this month: 28.
Record for posts in a month: 30 (February 2008).
On this date (or close to this date) in LSF history...
July 21, 2009: "Royals as advertised, Angels win two."- The Halos won both games of a double header against KC after being rained out the night before. Ervin outpitched Fat Sidney in game 1, as Kendry Morales increased his hitting streak to 19 games. In game 2, Sean O'Sullivan pitched well in the starting role, and Erick Aybar led the 10 run Angel offense with a 4 for 5 game, getting a bases loaded triple as a part of a 7 run 7th inning.
July 22, 2008: "PFB, a new second place, and a double Chivas elimination."- The Halos left 9 runners on base in a game against Paul Byrd and the Indians, and dropped the test 2-5. Also, Chivas de Guadalajara and Chivas USA were eliminated from 2008 Super Liga play in the group stage (sound familiar?).
I hope you enjoyed that little backstage pass to see what we've been up to over here; now back to building up this upcoming series.
Texas Rangers: 55-40 (.579), 0 GB, 5-5 in last ten, 1 game losing streak, 31-19 at home.
Los Angeles Angels: 51-46 (.526), 5 GB, 5-5 in last ten, 1 game losing streak, 24-25 on the road.
Pitching Matchups:
+Today- Weaver (9-5, 3.16) v Lee (8-4, 2.59)
+Friday- Saunders (6-9, 4.83) v Wilson (8-5, 3.23)
+Saturday- Santana (8-7, 3.63) v Feldman (5-8, 5.48)
+Sunday- O'Sullivan (1-0, 2.08) v Hunter (7-0, 2.09)
5 Rangers we should be scared of:
1. Hamilton (3.6 WAR, .353/23/70)
2. Cruz (2.3 WAR, .320/12/52)
3. Kinsler (2.2 WAR, .305/6/38)
4. Young (2.2 WAR, .299/12/15)
5. All former Angels (Bengie, Vlad, Oliver, and O'Day)
5 Halos they should be scared of:
1. Hunter (2.2 WAR, .293/15/63)
2. Napoli (1.4 WAR, .257/17/43)
3. Aybar (1.3 WAR, .285/3/19)
4. Kendrick (1.0 WAR, .277/7/53)
5. Izturis (0.9 WAR, .250/3/18)
3 Things Ranger Fan Doesn't Know:
1. Hideki Matsui is heating up again- The larger Ranger blogs are trashing Godzilla, pointing out that he has a lower WAR than fourth string catcher Ryan Budde. Haha. Let's all have a nice chuckle, and then realize that #55 hit .318/3/19 in June, and crushed Yankees pitching over the last series. He has a .343 OBP with RISP, and that goes up to .353 with RISP and 2 outs. I know, I know. In all honesty, he's not having a good year. But, I'm just saying that an opposition fan can look quickly at numbers and decide that he sucks, even though he's been somewhat decent lately.
2. Maicer Izturis coming off the DL was a shot in the arm for us- We finally have our 3B back. Since coming back from injury, Izzy is hitting .600 with 3 RBI in 2 games against the MLB's best. He's hitting .323 with RISP this year and .636 with RISP and two outs. He's even hitting an impressive .296 when behind in the count and an even more impressive .300 on the road. Ma$e will become a household name around Texas by Sunday.
3. The offense is humming lately, and our Hollywood native may be the reason- Hollywood, FL, that is. Mike Napoli (aka, Napolini, Mr. Lasagna, Rotini, Linguini, etc) is hitting .400 over the last 7 days for the Halos, chipping in 3 jacks and 6 RBI over those 6 games. That has certainly helped the Angels attain their .329 average with nearly 6 runs per game since the All Star break. He's also hit .313 against Texas here in 2010, getting himself 4 RBI in 16 PAs. Talk about the big bat we've been looking for with Kendry on the DL.
The "Pasta-bilities" (another Napster reference):
+Split- Angels remain 5 back
+Angels take 3- We're 3 back
+Rangers take 3- We're 7 back
+Halo sweep- Just 1 back
+Texas sweep- A huge 9 back
LSF Keys to the Series:
+Neutralize Vlad and Hamilton: Our former RF killed us for 10 RBI last time around, and we just can't let that happen.
+Give Weaver and Santana some GD run support: I'm tired of seeing Big Baby lose games where he pitched his brains out, and same goes for El Rosario.
+Play as if the season depended on it: Look, I'm not willing to be that guy who says this July series is make or break, because it's not. But, it's as close as it gets. The Angels players need to step it up, and the Angels coaches need to call this game as if it was the playoffs.
Tonight's Betting Odds:
+Nobody can pick 'em like Vegas, and the Angels are -130 with the Rangers at +110 meaning Vegas is making us the favorite against Cliff Lee. If you bet $130 on us, and we won, you'd win $230 (your bet+$100). If you bet $100 on Texas, and they won, you'd win $220 (your bet+$110). Also, the over/under is 8 on this game. Can I go on record as saying the under is a lock to make some cash?
Bold Predictions:
Since I mostly blog at work, this is probably going to be the last post before Monday's recap of the whole 4 game series (but, follow the LSF Twitter Feed for weekend updates). So, it's time to make some bold predictions about this series that you can all hold me accountable to come Monday morning.
A sweep seems very unlikely for either team, but winning 3 out of 4 seems like a strong possibility.
Tonight: Weaver outpitches Lee, and the Angels win by 2 or less.
Friday: Saunders gets banged up and Wilson does well, as the Rangers win by 3+.
Saturday: The Halos crush Feldman, sending him to the brink of AAA relegation, and Erv does well enough, as the Angels win by at least 5.
Sunday: O'Sullivan and Hunter make Sunday the most exciting game of the series, and the Angels hand Hunter his first loss of the year in a 1 run squeaker.
There you have it. We'll be just 3 games back by the time my next post drops, and I'll be pretty darn happy with that.
Let's go Halos.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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