Yesterday's final Halo home game of the 2010 season had everything an Angel fan could ever ask for! Great all around pitching, horrible choking with the bases loaded, and a sweet extra inning win thanks to three beautiful singles in the 11th. Hey, I'm not like most Angel fans. I'm not going to sit here and say that yesterday's 2-1 win against the A's sucked bcause we jus proved our offense still can't pound when it matters. I'm just proud that we got the win, completed the sweep over our most hated rivals, took over sole possession of second place, and took another step toward finishing at least at .500. I thought it was a great afternoon.
The pluses:
+We swept those jokers from Choke-land!
+Howie Kendrick led the way with a really nice 3 for 6 game and the 1st RBI of the contest for the Angels, all while hitting in the two spot.
+Torii Hunter got the game winning hit! Big Game's single sent fireworks screaming into the air from the rock pile, as the remaining fans celebrated the walk off win to end the season at home. Torii was 2 for 6.
+Matsui, Maicer, Aybar, Trumbo, Abreu, Willits, and Conger all worked walks in the game.
+Andrew Romine came through with a clutch sac bunt in the 11th.
+Mark "Freaking" Trumbo started in RF and got an outfield assist by punking Kouzmanoff, forcing him out at 2nd base on a routine single.
+Erick Aybar stole his 21st base, making Suzuki look stupid in front of his family and friends.
+J. Balls Piñata went 7 innings of 1 run ball with 3 Ks, even though he got most of his outs unusually through the air (13 pop outs vs 5 ground outs). He's been seriously underrated, even by me, this year.
+Kohn, Jepsen, and Cassevah shut the A's out over 4 innings, with 2 hits, and 3 Ks. Our bullpen has turned it up lately, eh?
+Nobody threw any batteries at Doug Eddings. Or is that a minus?
The minuses:
-We had those bases loaded in the 9th and the 10th, and did nothing!
-We left FOURTEEN runners on base in this game. That's hard to do.
-We had THREE errors, thanks to Aybar, Conger, and Jumbo Trumbo.
-It was his last start of the year, and Joel Piñero was only allowed to throw 101 pitches, even when he's nailing the bad guys like crazy? Weak! Let him keep going!
-Leading the order off, Saint Peter went 0 for 5. He's an interesting case, isn't he?
-Napoli and Rivera were also kind of bums, going a combined 0 for 8 with 2 Ks.
Well folks, we're 78-80, 10 games back of the AL West Champion Rangers, and 1 game UP on the hated Green and Yellow East Bay Stompers with 4 games to go. The Halos will need to finish with a three wins out of four games series against the Texas Rangers to finish with a .500 record at 81-81. Hopefully the Rangers will be resting their best, and we'll be able to steam roll 'em on our way to finishing strong and sending the Rangers limping into the playoffs.
The series starts today, as the Angels fly into Arlington ready to jump all over these guys. It looks like game one may be our one loss in the series, however, as we send Scott "Kazberries" Kazmir (9-15, 6.03) to the mound to suck it up against Cliff Lee (12-9, 3.29). While Lee has a near 1-even WHIP this season, he pitched in a tough to watch 0-5 loss to the A's his last time out. The Rangers' ace is 4-6 with a 4.25 ERA since being acquired by Texas. OVERRATED! I'll be the guy laughing when the Yankees give this guy billions of dollars in th offseason. Meanwhile, over his last 14 starts, our mighty Scottie Boy is 2-10 with a 7.00 ERA. He gave up 5 runs in three innings his last time out, and has allowed 9 runs in 11.67 innings in his two starts against the Rangers this year. Yes, he's just that bad. Just really, really bad.
There is now more news in the Angels 2011 MiLB high-A story. You all read in a previous post where I lamented about the Doyers stealing my Rancho Cucamonga Quakes from the Halos, leaving us without a high-A club. As was speculated, the Angels have signed up with the Inland Empire 66'ers, the Dodgers former club. The Angels and 66'ers have inked up for a two year deal, and hopefully the San Bernardino squad can serve us well. They were previously the Mariners single-A club, and raised up such players as Ken Griffey Jr. and Felix Hernandez. Other notable players from the 66'ers history are Adrian Beltre, Paul Konerko, and Mike Hampton. Obviously, this organization knows how to handle it's players. They have been to the California League playoffs in 8 of the last 10 seasons. The 66'ers will actually start their 2011 season against Rancho Cucamonga on April 7th, and the impending rivalry is palpable.
Speaking of a rivalry being palpable, the Angels and Rangers start the final series of the season in 60 minutes.
Let's finish strong, boys.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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