Are you starting to pick out the invitations for your Angels "Yes We Did" party? When I laid out the plans for the Angels to finish 13-0 and the Rangers to finish 0-13, I never imagined that we would even get this close! But, we're 2 for 2 on our little trek, and we have no signs of slowing down. Last night's complete game shutout by Ervin Santana powered the Angels to a 2-0 victory against the division leading Rangers, and you have to admit that even you are starting to wonder...
The pluses from last night's win:
+Ervin Santana was nails. Call him El Rosario, Black Magic, Hooters Hubby, or whatever you want, this guy is a stud. Erv Daddy went the full 9 innings of shutout work, scattering 5 hits and a walk while picking up 8 saves in the big win over Texas last night. One word: Dominant. More words: His 17 wins on the campaign are a career high. He is now 8th on the Angels all-time strikeout list. So you can run and tell that, homeboy.
+Hankie Pankie was great behind the dish and added a RBI triple. Conger has caught two shutouts in his four starts, and holds a Bobby Wilson-esque 1.50 CERA.
+Franny also got a RBI on a groundout, starting over Callaspo at the hot corner.
+Hideki Matsui was on base twice, with a double and a walk, and was the only Angel to make more than one appearance on the base paths.
+That's nine wins in our previous twelve games.
+Kendry Morales was back in the dugout last night, and told reporters he'd be back to 100% by the 2011 season. Thank God.
Yeah, we only won because of the pitching of Erv Gotti, as you can see by the bare minimum of offensive pluses.
The minuses:
-HK, Big Game, Frandsen, Woody, and Speedy Pete went a combined 0 for 16. Oof.
-Howie, El Comedulce, Torii, Brandon Wood, and Saint Peter all got punched in the face TWICE!
-We got no-hit by Darren Oliver for an inning! You used to be one of us!!
-Borbon swipped a bag off of King Conger.
-Ervin faced the minimum batters through 4.3 IP, but Vlad went and messed that up with a garbage single.
Don't look now, but we're 75-76 and 8.5 back of the magic number chasing Rangers. With 11 games to go, we're now just 1 game away from .500 (goal #1) and now just 1 game back of the hated Oakland A's (goal #2). With our eyes set on an 11-0 finish, we move forward tonight as we try and complete the sweep of the division leading Rangers. Mr. Hard Luck, Dan Haren (10-12, 4.08), goes up against CJ Wilson (14-7, 3.21). CJ is 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA in the month of September, and lost to the Mariners last time out despite an impressive complete game. He has a 4.50 ERA and an 1-1 record against the Angels this season. Meanwhile, Danny Boy is finally rolling. He's 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA in his last five starts, including punching out 10 in a solid no decision against the Rays last time out. Have you heard that Vladdy kills the Angels? What a role reversal, as he's hitting .375/4/13 against us since joining the Rangers.
Before I finish, I'd just like to poke fun at ADC (AngelsBaseball Dot Com) for running a story with the headline, "Angels' Wood Coming Around." Okay, once you stop laughing, you can comeback and read.....I'll be here waiting......still waiting.....okay, you're back. So, I mean, this isn't true, right? Wood is hitting a stellar .157 this season (with a .187 OBP...1-8-7 on a motha' effin' Wood), with just 6 extra base hits in 74 games. But wait, ADC readers exclaim, that's overall, surely he's coming around now as the website suggests. Okay, here's the splits, in case your interested:
Last 7 Days- .143 BA
Last 14 Days- .120 BA
Last 28 Days- .107 BA
So, ADC, please show me exactly when he started to turn it around.
Let's get that sweep, babies.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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