Posted 1:39 PM by Sean
The Angels fell to 2-5 last night, losing to Seattle 5-0. I didn't see the game, or any of the Oakland games other than the ESPN telecast on Sunday night, but apparently we're looking a little...sloppy might cover it.

But let's put some things in perspective. Leaving aside that the Angels started 6-14 last year and still won the World Series, we're looking at a 2-5 record here, which, last time I checked, totaled seven games. Seven games is just over four percent of the season. If it takes seven, or ten, or fifteen games, the Angels will shake themselves out of this - they did it last year, and they'll do it again. Of course, it means they're in a little bit of a hole so far, but 96% of the season remains for them to climb out of it. Let's not go pushing the panic button just yet.

Tonight, the game's on ESPN again - Kevin Appier v. Joel Pineiro. Ape got smacked around by Oakland last Friday night, and I can't be the only one thinking that he has a lot to prove in his next few starts. Pineiro, by contrast, pitched reasonably well against the A's the night before Appier's start, giving up three earned runs in six innings. Pineiro is also more than ten years younger than Appier. Objectively, the Mariners should probably be considered the favorites tonight, so an Angels victory would go a fair way towards stemming the undercurrent of pessimism that I'm seeing from the writers. Not that I'm blame-free in that regard; despite what I wrote above you don't follow this team without a well-honed sense of disaster. But I still believe that this team will be a good, fun team to follow in 2003.