Much was made last season, by the media, trying to build up the rivalry between the Angels and the Rangers. I always kind of shied away from that talk, recognizing that our real rivals are Oakland and Seattle in the division and Boston outside of the division. However, this season may see that pretend rivalry become real, especially after the way it has already started shaping up. The teams came into the game yesterday afternoon deadlocked for first place in the division, though going in different ways, and the Rangers stepped it up with a 7-1 win.
Getting dominated by Texas when we're all tied atop the AL West kind of made the hate grow within me, and if this battle keeps up for the division title all season, I can see this rivalry picking up a lot of steam.
I found it comical driving back to work from lunch today when 710 ESPN's Max Kellerman (who I find stupid for pretending he's a LA guy when he clearly isn't...though he sure tries to make listeners think he is) made a comment about how he was dumbfounded to see Ervin Santana struggling. "He used to be as good as Dan Haren (by the way, pointing to Dan Haren as a 'he used to be as good as Dan Haren' guy shows how Kellerman can't look to further back than the previous couple of weeks when trying to make historical comparisons. I love Dan Haren, and he's doing really well, but is he already the guy who you wish your pitchers were like? No, not really), and what's wrong with him now? It must be because he got injured." If you read the blog, you know how I feel about Ervin's career, and I think it's stupid that the real media doesn't notice it. Ervin has always been an every-other-season kind of pitcher, for whatever reason, and this is scheduled to be his down year. Again, if you don't know, now you'll know:
2006: 16-8, 4.28
2007: 7-14, 5.76
2008: 16-7, 3.49
2009: 8-8, 5.03
2010: 17-10, 3.92
2011: 0-2, 5.26
Is it that hard to see this? Is it really that shocking that he was only able to manage 4 innings of 6 run ball against these guys, giving up a 3 run bomb to Adrian Beltre? Not really, it's actually humming along right on schedule. I wish I could have been sitting with some "real" Angel fans, who surely made some comment about how Beltre should have been on our team, and this never would have happened. Man, those fans are so classic.
As I've been telling you, Rich Thompson looked great on the mound, with 2 shutout innings and 4 Ks, and Bulger looked iffy in his two innings, allowing a meaningless yard shot. Even though Jason has a better ERA than our beloved Aussie so far this season, I still feel more comfortable when Thompson is hucking the ball. There, I said it.
While Ervin has kind of become the big story, I think the offense should be the bigger story. 1 run? A single run in a huge game, the opening game of a series with two teams battling for the division lead? That's what is unacceptable. Maicer Izturis, Howie Kendrick, Peter Bourjos, and Vernon Wells (of all people) each had 2 for 4 games. So, what happened? Well, the Halos left 8 runners on base. The problems were Bobby Abreu (0'fer) and Torii Hunter (a meaningless hit on a 1 for 4 night). We went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. We had the guys setting the table, and didn't have the guys there to drive them in.
We weren't running either, which drives me crazy. I was hoping that the Halos would be working hard on the base paths this season, and it doesn't seem to be there. Zero stolen bases, two GIDPs, and just two extra base hits (both doubles). However, even if we had all that running I have been missing, would we have been able to drive them in? Torii Hunter is hitting a sad .217, a lowly mark for a #4 guy. Despite getting 2 hits, Vernon is still way down at .169, a really tough average for a #5 hitter. The Angels lineup seems rather top heavy. Maicer is hitting .391, Howie is gripping and ripping at .318. Callaspo is hitting .321 at the six spot, but are we going to be relying on AC/DV in the six hole to be the guy bringing them in? I'm not sure how long we'll be able to rely on that plan.
Time for some lineup shuffling. Move Howie Kendrick down from the two spot, at least switching him with Abreu. Move Trumbo up to fifth, while dropping Vernon to 7th. We have to move things around a little bit, get who is hitting in the right spot, because I'm not going to enjoy seeing Ma$e and Howie get on, only to have Abreu, Torii, and The Contract politely bow out one-two-three.
At 10-6 and now 1 game back, the Halos are still looking great as of late, 7-3 over their last 10 games. Oakland is 3 back at 8-8, and Seattle is 6.5 back at 5-12. We're in a good spot, and we're hot, but what happens when Matt Palmer comes out and tries to help be the stopper after yesterday's loss? Makes me glad there are hockey playoffs on tonight so I can avoid this one.
The Rangers bring Colby "I Hate Colby" Lewis (1-1, 5.25) to face Palm Tree (0-0, 7.71). Palmer gave up 10 hits and 4 runs in 4.67 innings against an underrated Toronto squad in his season debut, but we've all been watching his fall from grace as of late. Well, maybe it's not a fall from grace as much as it is proof that his single "good" season was a fluke. I love the guy, but it was a fluke, let's be honest. Lewis took his last start off for the birth of his second child, and looks to rebound from a bad start against Baltimore his last time out. He's 3-2 with a 4.68 ERA in his career against the Halos, but he's got to have at least a slight advantage over Palmer.
Just a fun note for long time readers of the blog. I'm sure most of you are all too well aware of the old stories about how amazing Vlad Guerrero was against the Rangers. We heard it every time he came to the plate, and I think even Brandon made reference to it at one point on the blog. Well, the Angels official website is now giving us this little tidbit,
"Angels outfielder Vernon Wells went 2 for 4 on Monday and he is batting .321 with four home runs and 12 RBI in 13 games at Rangers Ballpark since the beginning of the 2008 season."
Finally something positive about when it comes to The Contract. So, the next time you are sitting at your local pub, watching the Halos, be sure to make some remark about how great Vernon is against the Rangers. It'll be great.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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