Weren't we supposed to put a nice run together in this final 10 game stretch? Well, it started off with a sweep at the hands of the hated Chicago White Sox. Two of the three losses were one run affairs that clearly showed just how bad this offense has been this season. Some way to kick off the 50th Anniversary party, eh? Now it's just three against Oakland and four out in Arlington that stands in between me and hockey season.
Friday- This was the day where we were mathematically eliminated from the 2010 postseason, our first playoff-less campaign since 2006. After a masterful outing from Joel Piñero, Fernando Rodney took the mound in a tie game in the ninth. Walk, single, RBI double, game over. Fraud-ney has now allowed 7 earned runs in his last 11.3 innings, sitting on 3 blown saves and 2 losses in September alone. That erased 8 innings of 1 run, 4 hit ball, where Piñero got 16 groundout outs. The cutter is obviously back, and Joel is showing that he is still ready to help out next year. The offense couldn't get the runs home, per usual, but a bright spot was that Peter Bourjos was finally put in the leadoff spot. He got on base three times, twice by error (caused by his speed, no doubt), and stole two bases off Pierzynski (Haha!). HK-47 went 3 for 4, and Torii Hunter had the lone RBI hit. Of note, Mike Scioscia is finally playing the youth. Bourjos, Trumbo, Conger, Woody, and even SS prospect and frequently mentioned on LSF Andrew Romine (who needs some kind of lettuce nickname) all got the start (and went a combined 1 for 17...and I loved every minute of it). But, in the end, if you go 2 for 12 with RISP and leave 7 on base, you aren't going to win.
Saturday- The second game of the series was the blowout game, as Scottie 2 Hottie took the mound for us. Despite being handed an early lead, Kazberries couldn't even get through his usual 5 innings, bowing out after 3+ innings of 5 run ball, with 0 Ks and a walk. "It's almost like you're swimming underwater," Kaz said of his tough outing. That's funny; that's how I feel watching him pitch. Look, I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he just hasn't panned out for us since we got him last year. A 6.03 ERA? Only finishing 7 innings twice in 27 starts this year? Come on Halos, let's do the right thing. And please stop pretending that winter conditioning in Arizona under Mike Butcher's eye is going to help this guy. Come on! The Halos started off hot offensively, with Peter Bourjos scoring on a Howie double after reaching as the leadoff dude, and HK scoring on a T-Hunt single. But those two runs would be all we'd get. The Angels finished the game an even-worse-than-Friday 1 for 11 with RISP, and they stranded 8. All of this on a night where Bobby Wilson went a career best 3 for 3? Nooooooo! By the way, how's that CERA after working with Kazberries? At least I can give props to Mattie Palmer, Richie Thompson, Jasie Bulger, and Frankie Rodriguez for going 6 innings and only allowing 1 run (cough cough, Aussie, cough), but that's all I can give props for.
Sunday- With Weaver on the mound, I thought the Angels had a good chance to get at least one win from a series where I predicted we'd take two. Boy, have I been watching at all this year? The game was pretty status quo for Weaver, as the Cave Man went 6.67 innings of 3 earned run ball, while punching out a gigantic 9. He may have retaken the K lead from Queen Felix, but he surely didn't get anything to show for it in the win column. The offense went 2 for 9 with RISP, left 7 runners on base, and handed Big Baby his 12th loss in an "amazing" season. 13-12 when you have a near 3-even ERA is tough to take. This game saw Bobby Abreu completely suck in the field, Peter Bourjos prove he's the 2011 leadoff man, and that's about it. Hank Conger went 2 for 2 with a walk and a RBI, Andrew Romine got his first big league hit (and his first TWO big league errors), Big Game went 2 for 4, and none of it mattered because we lost again. No excuses, only apologies are in order. I'm sorry you play for such a horrible offensive team, Jered. As some perspective, Big Baby went 16 for 16 as far as delivering quality starts at home this year. The fans recognized that fact by cheering him off the field for the final time this year. Weaver, being the angry little Dirtbag he is, refused to tip his hat. But, he did make a pretty insane catch with his eyes closed, and I'll consider that his way of tipping his cap to us. Jered now has a chance to make some history if he has a solid final start next time out. He can claim the K title for the entire MLB, and he has a chance to lower his ERA sub-3 and become the first Halo starter to finish a season sub-3 since the living legend Jim Abbott in 1992. Good luck!
At 75-80, the Angels are not only eliminated from the 2010 playoff picture, but also are pretty darn close to being eliminated from finishing .500 or better. With 7 games to go, the Halos would need to finish 6-1 just to finish 81-81. Finishing perfect is their only chance to be +.500. No chance, I guess. That leaves us with the hopes of catching Oakland. We are 2 back of our most hated rivals with 7 to go, and tonight we start our final 3 against the A's. A sweep, and we leapfrog them into second place in the AL West. Anything less, and we'll need a little help from Seattle while we try to steal some last series of the year wins from Texas.
Speaking of end of season goals that are coming to be not be reached, our dreams of Torii Hunter winning the Halo triple crown are all but over. While he leads in BA (+.006 on HK) and in RBI (+6 on Godzilla), he still sits 5 back of Mike Napoli in the HR chase. With 7 games remaining, it looks hopeless.
Tonight, we start up our final three game set against the extremely hated Oakland Athletics. Ervin Santana (17-9, 3.77) goes for his super-impressive 18th win this season against Brett Anderson (6-6, 2.73). Anderson has pitched well since returning from injury, bolstering a young stud Oakland rotation, but Erv couldn't have had a more underrated season on the hill. In his career, El Rosario is 12-3 with a 1.80 ERA against Oakland, and he pitched a complete game shutout the last time out. Not only has he won his last 4 outings, but he has also worked 6+ in 15 of his last 17 starts. Not a single hitter in the planned A's lineup has ever hit a jack off of Ervin. I think we all really want to see Erv Gotti go out and get this win.
So, now that we're elminated, Mike Scioscia is finally giving the youth a fair shot. Four rookies were in the lineup a couple of times over the weekend, and that is what I'm all about. So, with examining the brief sample size we have, are the kids alright? Let's compare and contrast the Baby Halos' MiLB stats from this year with their brief performance with the big club, cup of coffee in hand, and then make some wild predictions.
Peter Bourjos:
Minors (AAA)- .314/13/52 and 27 SB in 102 games.
Bigs- .199/4/12 and 9 SB in 44 games.
Mark Trumbo:
Minors (AAA)- .301/36/122 and a .577 SLG in 139 games.
Bigs- 0 for 9 with 6 Ks in 4 games.
Hank Conger:
Minors (AAA)- .300/11/49 And a 55/58 BB/K ratio in 108 games.
Bigs- .238/0/4 with a .333 OBP in 9 games.
Andrew Romine:
Minors (AA)- .282/3/34 with 21 stolen bases and a .370 OBP in 106 games.
Bigs- 1 for 5 in 2 games, with 2 Ks.
Kevin Frandsen (if the SJ native can be considered a young stud):
Minors (AAA)- .271/3/16 with a .350 OBP in 53 games.
Bigs- .250/0/15 with just 10 Ks (and 9 walks) in 54 games.
Is there anything that one can gather from this small sample size for these guys? Probably not, but let's just interject our subjective opinions.
Bourjos- Saint Peter is a true stud. Amazingly, he leads the American League in outfield assists, which blows my mind. While he's only hitting .199, he's starting to find his groove now that he's hitting leadoff (batting first, he's hitting .286/.375), and I expect it to shoot up as we head toward the end of the year. Too bad the Angels didn't listen to me and sit Bourjos to keep him ROY eligible next season.
Trumbo- Will all you "Trumbo is the next Wood" people shut up? Jumbo Trumbo may be hitting .000 so far with the big club, but he's going to come around. I believe that he'll start hitting if he keeps starting for the last 7. He's the real deal, friends. Just you wait.
Conger- Speaking of the real deal. Man, I'm starting to sound like a serious homer, right?. If you look at King Conger's stats, you may not see it, but if you've watched the games, you know as well as I do that Conger has been solid. He's looked great on defense, and has really come through at times with some RBI hits. I, for one, wouldn't think it would be crazy if Hankie Pankie started next year (though, the Angels won't do it).
Romine- You just don't know with Andrew. While he has earned himself many mentions on TLSF with his AA play this year, he's just not far enough along in his development to decide if he's going to be a stud.
Frandsen- I like Franny. I like him a lot. He's a stud for a replacement player, and I like him to stick around as a Ma$e backup next year. While he'll never be a starter for us unless injuries or a completely sucking Brandon Wood comes up, I like him as a backup option for sure.
All in all, I'm proud of our September callups, but I'm surely expecting more over the next 7 games.
Now, let's go beat us some A's.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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