Random Notes 

Posted 9:05 AM by Sean
Here's an interesting and generally accurate history of the Angels in the Disney years from savedisney.com. Worth a read, for those of you who want to relive it.

(Update: both Chronicles and 6-4-2 have reasoned critiques of the article that are definitely worth reading)

Also, apropos of nothing: the Kansas City Royals have been eliminated from wild-card contention. Because of head-to-head matchups, they can no longer catch all of the teams ahead of them (no link; I had some time to kill and figured it out myself). This means that the Royals are free to focus on the division race, where they are about two days from being mathematically eliminated.

AK=ALPOTW 

Posted 4:50 PM by Sean
Adam Kennedy has been named A.L. Player of the Week for the week ending August 29 (the day before yesterday's walk-off shot). During that period, he hit .619/.640/.952 in six games.

Blah blah blah trade me blah blah blah no respect blah blah blah... 

Posted 10:04 AM by Sean
Ramon Ortiz is once again unhappy with being demoted to the bullpen, a move the Angels are making to accommodate Jarrod Washburn's return (scheduled for Saturday). "I don't understand," Ortiz is reported as saying, "I do everything. I throw the ball very well. They don't respect me. I don't want to stay here."

Eh. Ortiz's latest stint as a starter, which has lasted just about a month now, would have to be classified as a qualified success. During that time, he made seven starts, going 2-2. He surrendered 25 earned runs in 46.1 innings pitched, a 4.85 ERA. He struck out 20, walked 10, and surrendered 9 home runs. Of those seven starts, he had one excellent performance (eight innings of shut-out ball against the Yankees), three I'd consider good (two against the Mariners, one against the Royals), and three that were rotten (against the Twins, Tigers, and Royals, that last one being the 21-6 game in which Ortiz appeared to lose his concentration after being staked to a 10-run lead; if you want to be generous, you could call that a so-so start). Ortiz did pitch well enough to keep the Angels in most of the games he started, but, as always, a lack of consistency bedeviled him.

Sele, meanwhile, has consistency but no potential. Over his last seven starts, he's gone 3-1, giving up 17 earned runs in 37.2 innings pitched, a 4.11 ERA, striking out 10, walking 16, and allowing 5 home runs. He's had one very good outing (Detroit), three I'd call pretty decent (Seattle, Minnesota twice), two stinkburgers (Seattle and Baltimore), and one incomplete (New York, in which he left the game after giving up one run in three innings because of a lengthy rain delay).

The advantage Sele has over Ortiz is that, while he's not going to dominate anyone, he will usually get the game to the bullpen before it gets completely out of hand. Since the 'pen is the best in the league, the Angels would rather be able to depend on their fifth starter to get the game to the sixth inning or so, rather than take the chance that Ortiz will blow up as often as he dominates. There's no reason to save the bullpen when your fifth starter goes - that's what Colon is for. Nor does Ortiz's argument that, in the past, he's won 15 or 16 games a year avail him; aside from the usual problems with measuring a starter by his wins, this year Sele has 8 wins in 19 starts, while Ortiz has 4 wins in 14 starts. Sele's ERA as a starter is 4.27; Ortiz's is 5.47.

That said, it's being reported that there will be five more starts for the fifth spot in the rotation. Looking at the schedule, it would appear that those five starts will be:

9/1 - at Boston
9/11 - vs. Chicago
9/16 - @ Seattle
9/21 - vs. Seattle
9/? - @ Texas (the exact date is sketchy, but it will very likely be in this series if a playoff spot is still not clinched)

Adjusting for the fact that Seattle is in there twice, Ortiz's 2004 ERA against those opponents is 5.50 in 52.1 innings, while Sele's is 5.40 in 43.2 innings (Sele has not pitched against Boston this year).

Update: I also buy Richard's argument that Ortiz will contribute more in the bullpen than Sele would. With Gregg looking shaky, Ortiz should prove an effective middle- to long-relief guy, allowing Shields to step into more of a set-up role and giving Gregg the mop-up/"stupid situation" relief job that Matt Hensley had before being sent back to Salt Lake.

Just slightly off-topic 

Posted 4:36 PM by Sean
Major props to Kellie Wilkerson, my wife's cousin, who was named player of the game after the New York/New Jersey Juggernaut's 10-1 victory over the New England Riptide in the inaugural championship game of the National Pro Fastpitch softball league. Kellie went two-for-three with a three-run homer. She was also one of only two hitters to bat over .300 during the season, posting a .333/.438/.407 line.

The league currently has teams in the Houston, New York, Boston, Sacramento, Akron, and Tucson areas. If you live in one of those cities, check it out when next season comes around.

It's hard to type with your jaw on the floor 

Posted 3:15 PM by Sean
Troy Glaus is DHing today. For the Angels.

At-bat #1: Bottom of the second, Anderson on first, two outs - Glaus lines to left, the ball hanging up just long enough to be caught on the run. Good contact. Salmon is reported as being sent to the DL.

At-bat #2: Bottom of the fourth, nobody on, one out - Glaus grounds to third after taking two strikes. Scioscia has been ejected for arguing a tag at second; he may or may not have been right - impossible to tell from the replays.

At-bat #3: Bottom of the sixth, Guillen on second, two outs - Glaus is intentionally walked to set up the lefty-lefty matchup against Adam Kennedy. Adam Kennedy hits lefties about as effectively as Jackie Kennedy, and pops up to end the inning.

At-bat #4: Bottom of the ninth, tie game, nobody on, one out - Glaus is pitched around and walks. The Twins announcers pronounce this move wise, since, in their words, Glaus is the only Angels hitter besides Guerrero and Guillen who is a threat to hit a home run. This is despite the fact that Adam Kennedy, hitting behind Glaus, hit three home runs against the Twins in game five of the 2002 ALCS. Juan Rincon, a right hander, throws a 3-2 breaking ball and, sure enough, Kennedy hits a walk-off two-run shot to right-center field. Glaus scores the winning run.

Why yes, now that you mention it, I DO seem to have a knife in my hands! 

Posted 9:50 AM by Sean
From today's Times:

Told that Steinbrenner probably views Moreno's deep pockets as a threat to the Yankee empire, Moreno chuckled and said, "We're not a threat. We're like the young whippersnappers on the West Coast."

In other words, "aw, shucks, George - don't pay us no mind. We're just havin' us some fun out here. We ain't got nothin' that could put any dents in that big ol' empire you built. Just keep worrying about those scary Red Sox, and we'll be over here, petting fluffy kitties and smelling pretty flowers. That's right...no need to worry...that was some other team that KICKED YOUR ASSES ALL OVER YANKEE STADIUM!"

The same article tells us that Scioscia has said that Glaus may rejoin the team for part or all of the Boston series, which begins on Tuesday.

Now that's some fancy analyzin' 

Posted 11:54 PM by Sean
The Angels beat the Twins tonight, 9-6, largely on the strength of a five-run sixth inning. The scoring began when, with Kennedy at second and Figgins at first, David Eckstein lifted a fly ball into deep right field. Shannon Stewart caught the ball and, thinking it was the third out, put his head down and began to jog in. Kennedy, meanwhile, had tagged, and when he saw that Stewart was out to lunch, rounded third and just kept on going. Figgins also was able to tag on the play, and ended up on second.

To listen to Hudler and Physioc, you'd think that everything that happened thereafter was Stewart's fault. In fact, however, none of the runs the Angels scored that inning turned out to be anything but Radke's responsibility. This is because Stewart didn't cost his team an out. He allowed baserunners to advance, but consider the next three batters:

Erstad - line drive double down the first-base line
Guerrero - broken-bat single into center field
Anderson - home run

Assuming Stewart makes the correct play, Kennedy ends up on third and Figgins stays at first, but there are still only two outs. So Erstad's double scores Kennedy (and maybe Figgins), Guerrero's single scores Figgins and moves Erstad to third, and Anderson's shot scores three runs instead of two. Net runs scored because of Stewart's blunder: zero.

Anderson, incidentally, is getting his power stroke back. After hitting no home runs from July 8 to August 19, he's hit three in the last week. He's also had at least one hit in 14 of the Angels' last 15 games, and is 11 for his last 30. With Anderson rounding into form and Glaus set to return after September 1, the Angels are suddenly looking like the club that had so much potential last April.

Unfortunately, Jeff DaVanon was removed with a sprained ankle tonight, which will probably cost him at least a few games.

Late word is that Colon will start for the Angels tomorrow afternoon instead of Escobar, who will get an extra day to rest his blistered finger. Colon v. Santana - should be a good one.

Thank you, sir! May I have another? 

Posted 1:28 PM by Sean
So I'm pretty disappointed that Troy Glaus wasn't in the lineup last night. You know, to provide some punch to the DH slot.

Kee-rist in a sidecar, what a laugher. Although I wasn't laughing when Ramon Ortiz coughed up five runs in the top of the fourth, and the Angels had to protect that 11-1 lead by scoring ten more times. Indications appear to be that the Angels will be using Ortiz and Sele as sparingly as possible, going to a four-man rotation where days off allow, which is starting to sound like a pretty good idea to me. After dominating the Yankees and then completely losing his concentration against the Royals, Ortiz is even more of a riddle wrapped inside a question mark covered in a Scooby-Doo mystery sauce than ever.

Anyway, Jeff DaVanon hit for the cycle, a statistical oddity notable mostly for its rarity, and Maya wasn't even awake to watch it. Fortunately, the game's available for download from MLB. Jose Molina hit a grand slam and, maybe even more impressively, played a couple of innings at first base, where he made a fine play to stop a line drive and feed Matt Hensley for the final out of the eighth inning. J-Mo was grinning from ear to ear trotting back to the dugout, and I hope he gave Ersty an earful about it. "Hey, man, that's easy!"

I feel for Tony Pena though. I really do. How horrible must it be to watch that kind of defensive butchery every single night? Every time the Royals have made one of their seemingly inexhaustible supply of botched plays, the cameras have caught Pena with a look on his face that says "maybe I can just leave - you know, walk on out the tunnel, catch the first bus I see. Who's gonna stop me?"

No more Royals for the Angels, though. Sad as it seems, we must bid adieu, and turn to face the Minnesota Twins on Friday. Meanwhile, the A's won a pretty stirring victory last night against Baltimore, and go for a four-game sweep this afternoon, while the Red Sox start a series with Detroit. So the Angels are off today, but that pesky half-game will be transferred from the A.L. West race to the wildcard race, one way or another.

Glaus to start rehab assignment at Rancho Cucamonga 

Posted 9:56 PM by Sean
You know what's wrong with that sentence?

The tense.

Glaus was examined by Doc Yocum earlier today, and pronounced ready to begin a rehab assignment. So he started one tonight, in the lineup at Rancho at designated hitter.

Holy crap!

Playing like they mean it 

Posted 1:09 PM by Sean
According to Rex Hudler's comments last night, that je ne sais quoi I referred to yesterday is apparently better known as "consistency." Whatever, man. You know, I'm almost positive Rex used to be a better announcer back when he was still getting high.

Anyway, the Angels put quite a few of the pieces together against the Royals last night. Colon continued his second-half surge, bases were run intelligently, and the bats came gloriously alive. For whatever reason, over the last couple of weeks the Angels have gone from a team that won games virtually by accident to one that is genuinely outplaying their opponents. And Jose Guillen promises more: "We're coming, and we're coming really hard. This is our time now."

Possibly the most curious thing about last night's win was the fact that the Angels started both Adam Kennedy and Tim Salmon against the left-handed Darrell May:

2004 v LHP
Kennedy - .213/.315/.298
Salmon - .147/.195/.173

I mean, good God. As noted previously, Kennedy's more or less inevitable at this point, but at least his defense mitigates. Salmon is a DH! And yes, I know he had what was very generously called a hit last night.

The Angels face one of the best lefties around on Saturday, when Johan Santana starts for the Twins in Anaheim. I'm not sure why Salmon is going against his historical trend and hitting lefties so poorly these days, but how sad is it that I'm rooting for Josh Paul or Curtis Pride to DH?

Third is the Word 

Posted 1:57 PM by Sean
The Angels swept the Yankees in New York over the weekend, which is pretty freaking sweet. Even sweeter was the fact that they finally looked like a team that could reasonably be compared to the 2002 squad. For most of this year, they've been in contention, but there's been little of that je ne sais quoi the championship club had. In 2002, it was pretty clear that the Angels, Yankees, and A's were the class of the A.L., with the Mariners, Red Sox, and Twins a little bit behind. In 2004, so far, the Angels have been in that second tier, but their wins over Tampa and New York have been very encouraging, showcasing starting pitching and offense in addition to an already-stellar relief corps.

Somewhat lost in the overall warm glow of Yankee-mauling, however, was the fact that Chone Figgins played third like a man possessed yesterday, making a couple of really exceptional plays (one of which was even a "Web Gem" on Baseball Tonight). I've long thought that third was Figgins's worst position, but yesterday he handled some very challenging plays with aplomb. One game doesn't mean much, but if Figgins can handle third base defensively, it will mean a great deal down the stretch.

Word on Washburn 

Posted 11:35 AM by Sean
Jarrod Washburn will pitch in a simulated game on Tuesday, and possibly start for Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday.

Don't toy with our emotions like this... 

Posted 9:19 AM by Sean
Updating the previous item, this story in the Times puts a significantly more optimistic spin on the "Glaus may return" story, calling it "more imminent than doubtful."

With Glaus back as a full-time DH, we'd see still less playing time for Salmon and DaVanon. I'd expect to see some rumors in the near future that DaVanon could be traded before the waiver deadline next week, but I strongly suspect that nothing will come of it, given that Glaus will be a free agent after this year and the Angels have proven the critics (including me) wrong before by keeping "extra" players as hedges against injury and performance issues (see: Ramon Ortiz).

Also included in that article is a wry bit of sass from Troy Percival, who threw a four-pitch ninth yesterday for the save:

Asked if he could recall a save in which he threw 10 pitches or fewer, Percival said, "Yeah, back in the day, when I used to be good."

You gotta love the guy...

Wouldn't it be nice? 

Posted 4:42 PM by Sean
If this is true, then Troy Glaus is a lot closer to being ready than I thought:

Scioscia wouldn't rule out Glaus getting some rehab starts with Class A Rancho Cucamonga, but said that above all else, Glaus's health will come first.

Rancho's season ends September 6.

Fuseblown 

Posted 9:37 AM by Sean
I can't be sure, but my suspicion is that the power shut down in Yankee Stadium last night because that vererable old ballpark simply couldn't operate in world in which Ramon Ortiz shut down the Yankees. It just didn't seem possible to the old girl, I'm sure, and so she did the only thing she could - reboot.

Well, maybe she's right. As of Saturday morning, however, the rest of the world appears to have shared this delusion. Ramon Ortiz shut out the Yankees on four hits over eight innings in New York. He needed just 102 pitches to do so, and, though he did give up a couple of hard-hit balls that found gloves, actually looked like something resembling a top-of-the-rotation guy. Of course, we've seen that before - remember when he out-Pedroed Pedro? - but at this point I'm really not interested in looking gift horses in the mouth. Ortiz rocked last night, and that's all there is to it.

It was especially nice to see (hear, anyway) Garret Anderson go yard in the top of the ninth to give the Angels a couple of insurance runs. Anderson's power has been severely lacking lately, and it seems to be an open secret that he's just not right physically. There's been no discussion of surgery for him in the press that I've seen, so the troubling question is whether he'll be right in 2005. In terms of last night's game, although the runs turned out to be unneeded, 5-0 was a much more comfortable margin than 3-0, given the way the bullpen had nearly blown each of the previous two games.

Meanwhile, a few interesting tidbits in the Register this morning:

• The Shea Hillenbrand deal appears to be going nowhere, since Arizona is asking for players who did not clear waivers. This strikes me as fairly odd - wouldn't they know the waiver status of anyone they were asking for?
  
• Andres Galarraga says he's ready to join the big club. Galarraga is batting just under .300 in Salt Lake, and his power seems to have fallen off from his first few games, but it seems likely he'll join the club on September 1.
• Bengie Molina is scheduled to start today's game against the Yankees.
• Kelvim Escobar reports that he's throwing without pain from the blister he developed in his last start, and expects to make his scheduled start tomorrow afternoon.
  

30-day Yankee 

Posted 11:36 AM by Sean
The Rangers are trying to trade for Esteban Loaiza. According to the New York Times, "...one official from an American League team described the Rangers as desperate to add a starter."

Desperate to add Loaiza? Loaiza, whose ERAs in June, July, and August have been 5.35, 6.89, and 6.75, respectively?

Loaiza is scheduled to pitch against Aaron Sele tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, the Angels will give the Yankees reason to consider the Rangers' offer. The Angels have hit Loaiza at a .337/.361/.547 pace; it'd be nice to see him a few more times this year in September.

Hillenbrand at Third 

Posted 10:51 AM by Sean
Okay, so word is the Angels are seriously considering trading for Arizona's Shea Hillenbrand, who has cleared waivers and would plug the hole at third now that Quinlan is done for the year. Though there's an outside chance that Glaus could return to the team in September, it would be strictly as a DH, and so the Angels' current options at third for the stretch run are Chone Figgins, whose bat is needed in the lineup but who plays an iffy third, and Alfredo Amezaga, who is defensively stellar but can't hit for beans.

Rob is critical of the Hillenbrand possibility, but to me it makes a lot of sense. Desperate times, etc. Anyway, here are Hillenbrand's splits:

v. LHP - 116 AB, .293/.341/.517
v. RHP - 298 AB, .309/.349/.443

Either of those lines actually looks pretty good. Hillenbrand is an average defender, and won't have the pop of Glaus, but he's certainly a better option than Amezaga, or the other waiver-clearers I've seen mentioned (namely Joe Randa and Jolbert Cabrera).

Equally as important, obtaining Hillenbrand to play third accomplishes another pretty important goal, which is to get Adam Kennedy the hell out of the lineup versus lefties. If Figgins plays third full-time, Kennedy more or less has to be the full-time second-baseman, and he's just not getting it done versus the southpaws.

Against righties, things would get a little complicated. Scioscia's not going to bench Kennedy entirely, so to get Figgins into the lineup - and Scioscia will get Figgins into the lineup - he'll need to make full use of his "superutility" status and plug him in at third, short, center, left, and right on various days, giving Hillenbrand and Eckstein occasional days off. On days when Figgins plays outfield, Scioscia would decide whether to give Guillen, Anderson, or Guerrero a day off, or plug them into the DH slot instead of Tim Salmon (who's actually hitting righties okay). And then there's Jeff DaVanon, who could play any outfield slot. There's no question a little juggling would be required, but I think it looks like a situation much preferable to the one we've got now.

The one concern I do have about Hillenbrand is his home/road splits:

Home: .340/.377/.532
Road: .270/.317/.398

Considering that Bank One Ballpark is generally regarded as a hitter's park, and Angel Stadium as a pitcher's park, that makes me nervous. Sometimes, though, you've just gotta risk it.

Cut the damn thing off and get an extra from Antonio Alfonseca 

Posted 10:08 AM by Sean
Escobar's subpar performance last night is apparently due in part to a blister on his finger. Okay.

Update: Escobar may miss his next start. Not okay.

Good news! No, wait - the other one - We're screwed! 

Posted 10:04 AM by Sean
Robb Quinlan's injury is nowbeing reported as being of the season-ending variety.

Fantastic.

Return of the Walkin' Dude 

Posted 3:35 PM by Sean
Jeff DaVanon has returned to the lineup today, batting second and playing right field. He's drawn a walk in his first plate appearance, which is fortunate, since the Angels don't appear to have Good Bartolo on the mound today.

Behold, the power of blogs 

Posted 11:20 AM by Sean
I notice that Scioscia benched Adam Kennedy in favor of Chone Figgins against a left-handed starter last night. Has he been reading Chronicles of the Lads?

This is, for Kennedy, a rememberance of the bad old days when he was regularly platooned with Benji Gil at second, a situation of which Kennedy was not at all fond. Nevertheless, the 2004 numbers:

vs. RHP: 266 AB, .271 AVG, .336 OBP, .387 SLG, .451 Bases Obtained
vs. LHP: 92 AB, .217 AVG, .301 OBP, .304 SLG, .320 Bases Obtained

Wowsers. Those numbers against righties aren't exactly stellar, but they're certainly forgivable in a second-baseman with Kennedy's defensive skills. The lefty numbers, though, are just putrid. I have yet to see anything that indicates that this is a long-term platoon situation, but the Angels will likely face Detroit's Nate Robertson on Saturday, so we should hear more about this around then.

Here, kitty kitty... 

Posted 10:32 AM by Sean
Andres Galarraga went three-for-four yesterday to raise his average to .357 for Salt Lake. This is looking like a pretty good signing, all things considered; his performance so far as indicated that the Angels may have a serious threat as a right-handed hitter off the bench come September.

Into the Sunset 

Posted 9:59 AM by Sean
Tim Salmon will have surgery after the season is over, which may require up to 10 months to recover from. Apparently his injuries are somewhat more serious than have been thought:

The Angels announced after the All-Star break that Salmon underwent an MRI test that showed some irritation and wear and tear in the shoulder, but the 35-year-old veteran revealed Wednesday that the exam actually showed tears in three of the four muscles that make up the rotator cuff, as well as a tear in the biceps tendon.

Depending on the type of surgery involved, he may miss anywhere from a few weeks to several months of the 2005 season.

Salmon stands to make $10 million in 2005, an amount that would be awfully hard to pass up, but at this point one has to wonder if this isn't a blessing in disguise for him. It's an opportunity to retire gracefully - and maybe with a buyout, so as not to lose the full $10 million - and live forever as they guy who we'd like to remember: 1993 Rookie of the Year, impact player, and lifetime Angel who helped reverse decades of trauma in 2002.

Thank God it's only three games 

Posted 1:49 PM by Sean
Last night's evisceration of the Angels did little to quell any fears one might have had that the Angels' offense is stuck on "putter." What initially looked like a close, hard-fought game turned into a runaway rout when Scioscia returned Sele to the mound to start the fifth; I rarely question Scioscia's judgment, but in this case I'm prepared to make an exception. It seemed obvious that Sele was in trouble, putting men on base every inning, running his pitch count up. It actually looked as if he was headed to the showers after the top of the fourth, when the score was still just 4-2 (and, in fact, it was 4-3 after the home half of the fourth). No such luck. Five innings pitched is the magic number for starters, and so Sele was allowed to cough up two more. Following which were many innings of frustration for the Angels, who seem to be following the Chinese menu theory of hitting in any given inning: choose any combination of two singles or walks, or one double.

Bleah. No more discussion of this; I'm tired from having stayed up an extra half-hour so we could see people heap praise on Percival before the game. Man, that Chuck Finley is one wacky character, huh?

Armageddon? 

Posted 12:24 PM by Sean
Last night, the Angels won yet another game against the Royals that could easily have gone against them. Down 3-1 in the top of the 9th, they were the beneficiaries of a series of defensive implosions, including wild pitches, throwing errors, and mental mistakes, and ended up with a 5-3 victory. It was hardly a shining moment for the offense; although there was some timely hitting, and it's a little unfair to say they wouldn't have won without the Kansas City errors (we'll never know), the fact is that the Angels put a total of 16 earned runs on the board in four games against a team that is:

• Dead last in the league in ERA
• Last in the Majors in K/9
• 13th in the league in WHIP (28th in the Majors)
• Last in the league in BAA (29th in the Majors)

Not a single Royals starter entered the series with an ERA under 5.00; two had ERAs over 6.00.

So it's a mite disconcerting to think that, in some bizarro world in which the Royals were as good as, say, the Detroit Tigers or the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Angels might have dropped a couple of those games, and not sit atop the wild-card standings today. At the same time, however, let me offer the following riposte: screw bizarro world. Because we're about to find out exactly what the Angels are made of, courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles.

The Orioles come in to Anaheim riding a seven game win streak, compiled against Texas and Seattle (thanks, guys!). Let's consider their key offensive and defensive statistics so far in 2004:

• Runs: 573 (7th in the American League)
• HR: 117 (9th)
• BA: .280 (3rd)
• OPS: .776 (8th)
• Runs Created per 27 Outs: 5.27 (6th)

• ERA: 4.90 (11th)
• WHIP: 1.54 (14th)
• K/9: 6.71 (5th)
• BAA: .270 (11th)
• OPSA: .763 (8th)

"Um, yeah?" I hear you saying. "Mediocre offense, bad pitching. What's the problem?" And, looking at those numbers, you'd be right.

But wait! Look at those same numbers after the All-Star Break:

• Runs: 138 (2nd in the American League)
• HR: 32 (7th)
• BA: .281 (3rd)
• OPS: .807 (2nd)
• Runs Created per 27 Outs: 5.61 (2nd)

• ERA: 4.23 (5th)
• WHIP: 1.48 (12th)
• K/9: 6.70 (6th)
• BAA: .270 (8th)
• OPSA: .764 (6th)

A little bit better, pitching-wise - light-years beyond Kansas City - but the offense has absolutely caught fire. The Angels are in the midst of some pretty good pitching performances, so I don't expect the Orioles to manhandle them the way they did Texas, but they will score runs. And that means that the Angels' offense is going to have to keep pace; they can't expect to go meekly for eight and still have a chance at the end of the game.

Now, the good news: I've seen some discussion of how the Angels are in a bad way, schedule-wise, particularly vis-a-vis Oakland and Boston. Such analysis is based on the premise that the "good" teams in the AL are Oakland, Texas, Anaheim, New York, Boston, Minnesota, and Chicago. In reality, however, the teams that are currently hot are Baltimore and Cleveland - a fact that works to mitigate some of the schedule for the Angels. Through the rest of the season, we see the following:

• Angels - 3 games with Baltimore, 3 games with Cleveland
• A's - 7 games with Baltimore, 3 games with Cleveland
• Rangers - 3 games with Baltimore, 3 games with Cleveland
• Boston - 7 games with Baltimore, 0 games with Cleveland

The real advantage here is obviously in the division race. Including Chicago, Cleveland, and Baltimore, the Angels play 31 more games against the so-called "good teams." Oakland plays 29. Texas plays 37. Boston plays 28. The Rangers are clearly toast. We'll start to find out about the Angels tonight.

Mixed results 

Posted 3:33 PM by Sean
Update #1: Baltimore 7, Texas 3. Mike Bacsik (apologies for calling him "Joe" earlier; I've fixed it in the previous post) pitched 4 and 2/3rds, gave up 5 earned runs on 5 hits and a walk, and surrendered two home runs.

And Oakland 8, Minnesota 2. The A's have 2 games on the Angels and 2.5 on the Rangers, pending tonight's Anaheim-Kansas City contest.

Is this guy for real? 

Posted 1:28 PM by Sean
Everybody's been surprised by the sudden emergence of Robb Quinlan as an offensive force at third base. After a couple of years of riding the Salt-Lake-to-Anaheim shuttle, Quinlan seems determined to stay up with the big club. So far, his 2004 numbers with the Angels:

.336 BA, .391 OBP, .518 SLG, 137 AB, 46 H, 13 2B, 0 3B, 4 HR, 22 K, 3 SB, 1 CS.

That's some pretty fair hitting, albeit in just 137 at-bats. Quinlan is a right-handed hitter who simply murders lefties (.380/.448/.620 in 50 AB), but is pretty good against righties, too (.310/.355/.460 in 87 AB). His contributions have taken some (but not nearly all) of the sting out of Glaus's season-ending injury. Among regular AL third basemen (which he isn't, really, but never mind that for right now), Quinlan ranks second in batting average (to Melvin Mora), is tied with Kevin Youkilis for third in OBP (behind Mora and Eric Chavez), and is fourth in SLG (behind Mora, Chavez, and Alex Rodriguez). In the first two statistics, Quinlan is actually performing better than Glaus did before he went down (Glaus was .296/.387/.694 in 108 AB).

The obvious question, of course, is "how long can he keep this up?"

Well, let's see. Quinlan is 27 years old, and won't be 28 until March. Statistically, he's about to enter the most productive phase of his career. He also has a history of progressing through the Angels' farm system at a remarkably stable pace:

1999 - Boise (Northwest League - Rookie) - .322/.394/.488
2000 - Lake Elsinore (California League - High-A) - .317/.401/.442
2001 - Arkansas (Texas League - AA) - .295/.363/.476
2002 - Salt Lake (PCL - AAA) - .333/.381/.555
2003 - Salt Lake (PCL - AAA) - .310/.328/.445
2003 - Anaheim (AL) - .287/.330/.372

Looking at those numbers, it's hard to say that Quinlan's performance thus far isn't a little out of line with what one would expect. Not way, way out of line, you understand, but some.

Interestingly, however, Quinlan's numbers over his career compare fairly well with Dallas McPherson's, with the exception of the phenomenal slugging stats McPherson is posting in Salt Lake this year. McPherson, of course, just turned 24 a month or so ago, and so is rightly considered a better prospect than Quinlan - but certainly the Angels do not seem to be in a situation in which they have to rush McPherson up in a desperate bid to stay in the pennant race. And, while McPherson continues to improve in the minors, Quinlan can be given a chance to show that he's having a breakthrough season, instead of just having an unusually productive stretch.

Get to the "workin' overtime" part! 

Posted 10:41 AM by Sean
Three games with Kansas City, three nail-biters, three wins. They may not be winning "with authority" (a statistic that is not yet a tiebreaker in MLB), but they're takin' care of business. And now it's all tied up at the top of the wild-card race:

Boston: 60-49
Texas: 60-49
Anaheim: 61-50

Hoo, baby.

Some interesting stuff going on in the other games of note this weekend:

The A's and Twins have been clawing each others' eyes out. Yesterday they went 18 innings, and the game was only decided when the Minnesotas were forced to run Old Man Mulholland out to the mound, who promptly surrendered three runs. Word is that Mulholland wanted to tell his grandchildren he'd pitched in an 18-inning game, and was worried because they were supposed to be driving back to college that night.

But wait! Even so, the Twins were able to make a game of it, since the A's plopped Octavio "Quote, Closer, Unquote" Dotel onto the mound for the bottom half of the eighth. Minnesota got two of those runs back, but ultimately dropped the ball game. This was triply-bad news for Mulholland, who (1) lost the game, (2) missed his grandkids, and (3) was too late for the 4:30 seating at Old Country Buffet.

Speaking of those fleeing the flinty-eyed spectre of Death, Andres Galarragagagaga had another good day at Salt Lake, going 1 for 2 with three walks. Thus far, his lines have looked like this:

8/5 - 0-4
8/6 - 3-4, HR
8/7 - 2-5, 2B
8/8 - 1-2, 3 BB

Small sample size? No way! Bring his lymphoma-beating ass up! Hell, make that the undercard at Tuesday's game! "The Angels take on Miguel Tejada and the Baltimore Orioles...but first, it's Andres Galarraga versus cancer on the pitcher's mound!"

Sorry, sorry. Don't know what's come over me.

Anyway, the other event of note this weekend was Texas getting absolutely, mercilessly pounded by those selfsame Orioles on Friday and Sunday, and dropping a 3-1 contest on Saturday. This is bad freakin' news for the Rangers, who continue to have one decent starter in the bunch. If the Braves used to have "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain," and the Diamondbacks had "Johnson and Schilling and take a drilling," the Rangers currently sport a rotation along the lines of "Drese and...oh, we are so fucked."

The Angels, A's, and Rangers all complete wraparound series today, while the Red Sox return to Boston.

Right about now, in fact, the Orioles and Rangers are getting underway (Bacsik v. Borkowski). Some damn fool wrote last week that "...the Angels can't expect to gain too much ground whilst the division leaders are in Charm City...," but apparently the Orioles are a bit better than advertised. The exact same damn fool wrote, before Bacsik's last start, "You know your pitching staff is in trouble when your choices are (a) a guy with a 6.12 ERA in 19 Major League games and (b) Joaquin Benoit." Bacsik, of course, went on to shut out the Tigers for seven innings, giving up four hits. So let me merely say this: MIKE BACSIK! WOO! BEST PITCHER I EVER SAW! EVERYONE SHOULD SNAP UP MIKE BACSIK IN THEIR FANTASY LEAGUES! Thank you.

At 1:10 ET, it's the A's and Twins (Harden v. Lohse). Harden is in the process of supplanting Zito in the "big three" rotation, which is a pretty revoltin' development, as it were. The A's have already taken two of three in Minnesota; three of four looks like a pretty decent proposition.

At 7:05 ET, the Devil Rays visit Fenway for the next in a series of several painful (for Angels fans) opportunities for the Red Sox to mulch and spread lower-tier opponents between now and the end of the season. John Halama goes for the Rays, Curt Schilling for the Sox.

So the Angels have their work cut out for them at 8:10 ET. Ramon Ortiz, who has a little bit of security in the starting rotation now that it looks like Jarrod Washburn may not be back until September, will need to show that the six runs he gave up against Minnesota the last time out was a fluke, and not a return to the bad old days when he was scored upon more often than an assistant groupie after a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. The Royals' pin their sweep-avoidance hopes on former Angel Brian Anderson, who's actually having a nice little stretch of games - a 3.86 ERA in his last six starts, coinciding with the arrival of new KC pitching coach Mike Mason.

You hate me! You really, really hate me! 

Posted 11:27 AM by Sean
Absurdly low site traffic yesterday (as in, zero hits), so either SiteMeter was broken or Blogspot was. If you had trouble getting to the site yesterday, my apologies - please let me know about it if you have a spare second. Email to purgatoryonline at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

A Place Called Camelot 

Posted 10:05 AM by Sean
For one brief shining moment, the Angels' offense looked to be putting it all together. After three and two-thirds innings of lackluster performance, this happened:

• Jose Guillen singled to center. Runner on first with two out and Robb Quinlan due up.
• Robb Quinlan two-out, two-run Home Run (4) to left, scored Jose Guillen. Darin Erstad due up.
• Darin Erstad singled to left. Runner on first with two out and Tim Salmon due up.
• Tim Salmon doubled to left, scored Darin Erstad with two out. Runner on second and Josh Paul due up.

Four hitters, four hits, two for extra bases. 3-0, Angels.

And then Josh Paul grounded out, and it was back to looking at clouds and daisies. The Angels would get two more base hits in the game.

Of course, these were the Royals, so three runs were enough. And considering that Garret Anderson was out of the lineup with knee tendinitis (he should be back in the lineup today, and hitting behind Guerrero)...well, no. No excuses at this point in the season. Sure, injuries have hurt this team, but at this point the Angels need to be looking to catch fire, not shamble through the slack of the American League until being annihilated in September.

Around the league last night...

Waitaminit!

BREAKING NEWS! THIS JUST IN FROM THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER!

Guerrero brothers dine together in Kansas City

Omigod omigod omigod! The crack Purgatory Online Investigative Squadron has been deployed to Angel Berroa's mom's house to obtain complete details of this extremely important story! Stay tuned to your computer screens and hit "refresh" a minimum of thirty times a minute to be assured of being completely up to date!

Hurm. Anyway, around the league:

The Rangers finally got what was coming to them, running all those pitchers out there that were working at the Jiffy Lube last year. The bad news is that the Orioles, who start a three-game series in Anaheim on Tuesday, seem to have woken up to the fact that they've got some pretty good bats in their lineup; they're regularly scoring between 5 and 9 runs per game these days.

The Rangers' loss allowed the A's to regain first place, after Octavio Dotel blew a save in the ninth, then nearly coughed up a 3-1 lead in the 11th. Since coming to the A's from Houston in the Carlos Beltran deal, Dotel has compiled a 5.04 ERA, has eight saves, and has blown four. But his K/9 numbers are great, so Billy Beane must be a genius!

Meanwhile, the Red Sox dropped a one-run game in Detroit, allowing the Angels to catch them for second place in the wild-card standings. David Ortiz was out of the lineup, finishing the suspension he earned for throwing an on-field hissy fit in Anaheim a few weeks back. Unlike the Angels, the Sox have no shot at their division title (shut up, A's fans! We do too!), like the Angels, however, Boston seems to be groping after whatever magic formula will let them run off a few wins in a row and take charge of the wild card race.

Finally, the White Sox lost again, this time to Cleveland. I'm going to start using the Sox' annual collapse as a reminder to change the batteries in my smoke detector. In any event, Cleveland's now tied with Chicago for second in the AL Central, so I'm dropping the White Sox from the list of teams I'm keeping close tabs on here. If either the Sox or the Indians get within four games of the wild card lead, I'll pick them up again.

So, going into today's games, the A's lead the West by half a game over the Rangers, with the Angels at 2.5 back. The Rangers lead the wild card race by 2 over the Angels and Red Sox, with the White Sox and Indians 5.5 back.

The A's play early today (1:20 ET) - in a clash of aces, Tim Hudson takes on Johan Santana. Hudson has been on the DL since June 24; Santana was the AL Pitcher of the Month for July. This should be a good, good game.

As that game should be drawing to a close, the Rangers send newly-acquired Scott Erickson to the mound to take on Rodrigo Lopez (4:35 ET). Angels fans who think the recent signing of Andres Galarraga was a sign of desperation are advised to think about those words: "The Rangers end newly-acquired Scott Erickson to the mound."

At 7:05 ET, the Red Sox and Tigers get underway in Detroit, a game that features older and unimproved Pedro Martinez versus Jeremy Bonderman. Much is being made of Martinez' over-4.00 ERA this year, which is all very interesting, but utterly irrelevant tonight. Bonderman's ERA is worse this year than it was in 2003, when he lost 19 games. He's only lost 8 so far in 2004, which I suppose is a testament to the Tigers' improved offense, but a 6.06 ERA in Comerica National Park has to sting.

Five minutes later, at 7:10, you can forget all those undercard matchups and focus on what matters. Bartolo Colon goes for the Angels, and Colon has been studly as hell in this last five starts, all of them quality start wins. Best of all, three of those five were against good hitting teams (one versus Boston, two versus Texas). If Colon continues to challenge hitters like he's been doing recently, and not backslide into trying to get guys to swing at bad pitches, he'll be fine; the movement on his fastball is good enough to deal with the Royals' lineup.

Meanwhile, Kansas City starts Jimmy Serrano, whose nickname just has to be "Pepper." Serrano is making his Major League debut after performing pretty well at all levels of the minors. Serrano compiled a 2.39 ERA in 49 innings while striking out 47, walking 19, and giving up just two home runs in the first half of 2003 for Norfolk in the International League, then got traded to Kansas City and closed out his year in Omaha in the Pacific Coast League. His Omaha stats were pretty good too, considering the PCL is hitter-friendly: a 3.21 ERA in 28 IP, 28 Ks, 11 BBs, 2 HRs. Serrano had a rough time of it in the PCL at the beginning of 2004, however, posting a 5.01 ERA in 32 IP, and seeing his hit and walk rate rise sharply. Although his strikeout rate also improved (41 in 32.1 IP), the Royals sent him down to Double-A Wichita, where he utterly dominated. His Wichita numbers: 1.96 ERA, 64.1 IP, 42 H, 74 K, 18 BB, 6 HR. He comes to Kansas City tonight directly from Wichita. Given the fact that the Angels have made a few rookies look pretty good this year, I would not be surprised to see another low-scoring game tonight.

Work Interfering with Blogging 

Posted 3:28 PM by Sean
Busy busy today - tonight's games of interest:

Boston at Detroit (Lowe at Maroth)

Texas at Baltimore (Regilio at Bedard)

Cleveland at Chicago (Sabathia at Buehrle)

Anaheim at Kansas City (Escobar at May)

Oakland at Minnesota (Redman at Radke)

This will be the Angels' first game of the year against the Royals, the start of a four-game set in which the Royals will start three pitchers with ERAs of 5.00 or higher and one who will make his Major League debut. If the Angels can't score some runs this weekend, we'll start talking about 2005.

Junkyard Wars 

Posted 5:06 PM by Sean
So the Halos hopped all over old man Mulholland today, cranking out an 8-3 victory that wasn't in much doubt after the fourth inning or so. All in all, it's been a good few days to be a Rangers fan, with the Texas club taking care of business in a sweep of the Tigers while watching the Angels and A's both drop two out of three to...slightly better nines. The Rangers now trot off to Baltimore, and, while the Angels can't expect to gain too much ground whilst the division leaders are in Charm City, they do get a little bit of a breather in the form of a wraparound series in Kansas City. Three out of four at a minimum, guys, okay?

Meanwhile, the Angels have acquired Andres Galarraga and assigned him to Salt Lake, in addition to calling up catcher Wil Nieves. When I first heard this I could have sworn that the Angels had actually had Galarraga on their roster for a couple of months or so before, but I checked and discovered my understandable mistake: it was Cecil Fielder, in 1998.

Both Rob and Chronicles mention the possibility that Galarraga's signing may herald the return of Darin Erstad to center field. Gentlemen, I am skeptical. Scioscia's shown no propensity to even entertain the notion so far; I expect that if Galarraga looks good in Salt Lake he'll be promoted to get time at DH, not first base.

Day at the Races - August 4, 2004 

Posted 3:21 PM by Sean
Today's look at games of relevance to the Angels:

Red Sox at Devil Rays (Arroyo at Halama), 7:05 ET - The Red Sox look to sweep the Rays, an accomplishment that would leave them feeling pretty good, considering these two teams play each other ten more times after tonight.

A's at Yankees (Harden at Loaiza), 7:05 ET - Jose Contreras, whom the Yankees traded to Chicago for Loaiza, had a pretty good game for the White Sox last night. It would almost be worth seeing the A's win a second game against New York just to get Steinbrenner's reaction to a Loaiza meltdown.

Rangers at Tigers (Bacsik at Johnson), 7:05 ET - You know your pitching staff is in trouble when your choices are (a) a guy with a 6.12 ERA in 19 Major League games and (b) Joaquin Benoit. Showalter's going with (a).

Angels at Twins (Ortiz at Lohse), 8:10 ET - Scioscia flipped Ortiz and Sele this time through the rotation, so Ramon "I Swear to God, This Time Will Be Different" Ortiz continues his quest to woo his way back into the rotation against Kyle Lohse. Good news for the Angels: Lohse gives up lots of tasty hits. Even better news for the Angels: he's a flyball pitcher.

White Sox at Royals (Schoeneweis at Anderson), 8:10 ET - A clash of former Angels. I was stunned to discover that this is Brian Anderson's twelfth season in the Majors. I seem to recall a time when he was about a year away from being the next great pitching superstar; I guess that lasted awhile, huh? His career year in 2003 is being followed by an abysmal 2004 in which he's 1-9 with a 6.94 ERA. Schoeneweis has been adequate for the Sox, and adequate's about all they should need tonight.

Mr. Angel 

Posted 12:45 PM by Sean
I had the Twins' feed on last night, so I don't know if Hudler and Physioc mentioned this, but I don't see any coverage of it in the papers today: last night, Garret Anderson got his 5695th at-bat as an Angel, giving him one more than Tim Salmon. Salmon does not figure to pass Anderson ever again, meaning he came within 161 at-bats of breaking Brian Downing's record for ABs with the Angels and earning the title, however briefly, of "Mr. Angel." Assuming Salmon plays out his contract and returns in 2005, he'll certainly pass Downing - but Anderson will do it sooner.

B.D. had 5854 at-bats for the Angels; Anderson should get there in late September.

Update: It came to me that one might reasonably argue that "Mr. Angel" is a title that should belong to the player with the most games played, rather than the most at-bats. In that case, Brian Downing is still the current champeen, with 1661, but he will likely be dethroned by Salmon next year, who will be overtaken by Anderson a year or two thereafter. The current top four:

1. Downing - 1661
2. Salmon - 1586
3. Jim Fregosi - 1429
4. Anderson - 1425

Game? What game? 

Posted 12:11 PM by Sean
Well, that sure was disgusting, wasn't it?

For something like the second time all season, I actually turned last night's game off well before its end. Four double plays in the first four innings? Eleven hits and no runs, while giving up ten runs on eleven hits? You have got to be kidding me.

I thought Lackey looked a little ragged. He's been working quickly over his last few starts, which is a good thing, but his pace seemed to be bordering on frantic last night. Silva, in contrast, has to be the luckiest bastard on two feet. Wishful puffery from Batgirl aside, I sincerely doubt that Silva's "put 'em on to get 'em out" strategy is going to win a whole lot of ballgames in the future.

Still, while the fact that luck and bad timing played a major part in this one may make getting thwacked 10-0 slightly easier to swallow, it does nothing to ameliorate the damage done in the standings. Every one of the teams competing with the Angels for a playoff spot won last night:

Oakland pummeled the Yankees, 13-4
Texas slipped past Detroit, 5-4
Boston took care of business against Tampa, 5-2
Chicago redefined pain for Kansas City, 12-4

...all of which leaves the Angels 3.5 games out of first in the West, and two games out of the wild card. Ow. It hurts so much I'm reduced to cliches.

And now, to quote Richard, "let us never speak of this again."

Quinlan named AL ROTM 

Posted 12:47 PM by Sean
Robb Quinlan is the American League Rookie of the Month for July.

Day at the Races - August 3, 2004 

Posted 11:41 AM by Sean
The Red Sox beat Tampa 6-3 last night, moving out of a tie with the Angels and closing to within a half-game of Texas in the wild-card race.

Tonight's relevant games for the Angels:

A's at Yankees, 7:05 ET. Mulder (3.43 ERA, 6.21 K/9, 2.28 K/BB, .241 BAA, .661 OPSA) at Lieber (4.75 ERA, 4.49 K/9, 5.67 K/BB, .308 BAA, .767 OPSA). The A's have never seen Lieber, a circumstance that ordinarily favors the pitcher. Lieber might also have an advantage in that he rarely surrenders walks, so the A's will need to rely more on their contact skills than they're used to. He'll need all the advantages he can get against Mulder.

Rangers at Tigers, 7:05 ET. Rogers (4.20 ERA, 5.19 K/9, 2.32 K/BB, .280 BAA, .766 OPSA) at Robertson (4.18 ERA, 7.42 K/9, 2.02 K/BB, .246 BAA, .693 OPSA). The resurgent Rogers of May is a distant memory; one or two more dismal starts from him and the Rangers can kiss October goodbye.

Red Sox at Devil Rays, 7:05 ET. Schilling (3.46 ERA, 8.03 K/9, 5.65 K/BB, .257 BAA, .687 OPSA) at Bell (4.59 ERA, 4.73 K/9, 1.46 K/BB, .244 BAA, .743 OPSA). Welcome to the bigs, B.J. Upton. Hope you like losing.

Angels at Twins, 8:10 ET. Lackey (4.52 ERA, 5.30 K/9, 2.42 K/BB, .267 BAA, .730 OPSA) at Silva (4.52 ERA, 3.43 K/9, 2.38 K/BB, .314 BAA, .814 OPSA). The Angels have to be gunning for two from the Twins, and winning tonight will be important since - despite some superficial similarities in their season-long ERAs, wins, and innings pitched - the Angels have the better pitcher on the mound tonight. Lackey's last several starts have been very encouraging - he had a 3.06 ERA in July, and a 3.50 ERA in June. Silva's ERA in June was 3.76, but this appears to be misleading; his WHIP in that month was 1.38 and his BAA was .296. Those peripheral numbers just got worse in July - his WHIP went to nearly 1.50, and his BAA was .313 - and his ERA for that month was 5.46.

White Sox at Royals, 8:10 ET. Contreras (5.64 ERA, 7.71 K/9, 1.95 K/BB, .250 BAA, .794 OPSA) at Wood (4.08 ERA, 4.59 K/9, 1.80 K/BB, .302 BAA, .819 OPSA). The Sox get their first look at what they traded Esteban Loaiza for. Wood is a groundball pitcher who gives up hits but induces double plays (5 in 35.1 innings pitched this year), while the Sox hit more fly balls than any team in the majors except Texas.

The manager protests too much, methinks 

Posted 9:20 AM by Sean
Okay, how many articles have I seen recently in which Mike Scioscia denies that Jose Molina is Bartolo Colon's "personal catcher?" Let's say three or four, shall we? Jose's caught all five of Colon's wins in his current streak, and eight of his ten wins for the season. After a few days of flat-out denial that J-Mo is the man on Colon's days, Scioscia is quoted as follows today:

"With our catching situation, all three guys are terrific, so [a personal catcher] shouldn't be an issue," Scioscia said. "But at the same time, some guys feel more comfortable with some catchers. The bottom line is production. If a pitcher is executing his pitches better with some catchers, it's going to reflect in performance, and you have to look at that."

My question would be something along the lines of "what's the big damn deal, anyway?" Let us consult Bull Durham:

Crash Davis: I never told him to stay out of your bed.
Annie Savoy: You most certainly did.
Crash Davis: I never told him to stay out of your bed.
Annie Savoy: Yes you did.
Crash Davis: I told him that a player on a streak has to respect the streak.
Annie Savoy: Oh fine.
Crash Davis: You know why? Because they don't---they don't happen very often.
Annie Savoy: Right.
Crash Davis: If you believe you're playing well because you're getting laid, or because you're not getting laid, or because you wear women's underwear, then you ARE! And you should know that!

At this point, after all the yapping about personal catchers, I'd be surprised if Colon didn't screw up throwing to anyone else from the sheer psychological effect it would have on him. So let's just keep writing Jose's name in the lineup card on those days until - inevitably - Colon gets knocked around and can go back to throwing to anyone.

Oh, and let's hang on to the red glove for awhile, too.

Funny, ESPN doesn't show this under "Probables." 

Posted 2:55 PM by Sean
I suppose this is a compliment:

The A's have set their rotation for the season's final series Oct. 1-3 at the Coliseum against the Anaheim Angels. Barring injury or other unforeseen circumstances, Hudson will start the first game, followed by Rich Harden and Mark Mulder.

Memo to the Baseball Gods: sounds like hubris, doesn't it?

Ready for the Stretch Run 

Posted 1:14 PM by Sean
Just got back from Birmingham, where the wife and I went to her cousin's wedding. So I missed all four Seattle games, though I was able to keep up pretty well thanks to cellular Web access (and yes, I did manage to keep from checking the score of Saturday's game during the ceremony itself).

While I sympathize with the view that one-run victories over a team like the Mariners aren't inspiring, precisely, let us note that these were preferable to losses, okay? Let us further note that, having played seven of their last ten against Seattle, the Angels went 5-2, winning those five by margins of 6, 4, 1, 1, and 1. Oakland, meanwhile, took on Seattle from July 21-22 and July 26-28, and compiled a 3-2 record, with margins of victory of 9, 2, and 1. Which of those two experiences would you prefer?

There seems little question that each of the teams currently in the hunt for the A.L. West and/or the wild card have their flaws. But the Angels seem to be in a decent position compared to at least Texas, which isn't going to play better than they have to this point (and in fact is in the middle of a starting pitching implosion), or Chicago, which has lost both Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez for the season. I think the principal competition down the stretch will come from the A's and the Red Sox, neither of which is a dominant team this year.

And the Seattle series was encouraging anyway. Four straight comebacks? Before the All-Star break, this team almost never came back; if they didn't score early they were pretty routinely out of it. Another good outing for Colon? A walk-off dinger in extra innings? Hey, you can tell how little that's happened; the Angels went out for one o' them pogo-bounce group hugs at home plate and most of them looked like they were trying to follow printed instructions.

And now comes August, that blistering anvil on which so many seasons have been hammered thin. Except for Boston, all of the contenders for a playoff spot that the Angels might grab have the day off (sorry, Indians fans - maybe next year); herewith a look at their next opponents:

Oakland (59-45, 1st in A.L. West) is at the New York Yankees for three games beginning tomorrow night. Mark Mulder will start the first game, opposed by Jon Leiber. These should be three tight games - the A's with an advantage in game 1, the Yankees with an advantage in game three (Zito vs. Brown), and a scrum in game 2 (Harden vs. Loaiza).

Texas (57-46, 1.5 games out in A.L. West, 1st in wildcard) is at Detroit for three games beginning tomorrow night. The Rangers picked up Scott Erickson at the trading deadline, a move that should help them approximately not at all. Kenny Rogers has regressed nicely over his last few starts, posting a 7.52 ERA in July even after holding the Angels to one run over seven innings in his last start. Ryan Drese is pitching well, but that's about it for the Texas rotation. Rogers and Drese will start against Detroit on Tuesday and Thursday; the Rangers haven't announced a Wednesday starter.

Anaheim (57-48, 2.5 games out in A.L. West, 1 game out in wildcard) visits Minnesota for three games beginning tomorrow night. John Lackey takes on Carlos Silva in game 1 - these two are virtual twins, statistically, but Lackey's been stronger recently. It's Aaron Sele vs. Kyle Lohse in game 2, in which Sele may be pitching for his spot in the rotation, and Ramon Ortiz vs. Brad Radke in game 3.

Boston (56-47, 1 game out of the wildcard) is in Tampa Bay for three games beginning tonight. The Red Sox were 29-17 after the games of May 26. Since then, the Sox have actually played sub-.500 baseball, going from wildcard front-runner to pack-thickener. They'll need to lunch on Tampa to get some momentum going for the stretch run, or risk the same late-season fade that happened to them the last time the Angels were in contention, in 2002. Tonight it's Wakefield vs. Hendrickson.

Chicago (53-49, 3.5 games out of the wildcard) is at Kansas City for three games beginning tomorrow night, meaning that all of the contenders here are on the road. Odd. Anyway, the wheels have more or less fallen off the White Sox; with Thomas and Ordonez gone, the Sox just don't have the punch to make up for their pitching, which ranks 21st in the majors in ERA - behind every other contender except Texas. Swapping Loaiza for Jose Contreras, whose ERA is close to 6.00, won't help. Contreras pitches tomorrow, followed by former Angel Scott Shoeneweis on Wednesday and Jon Garland on Thursday.

From here on in, it's series-to-series, game-to-game, inning-to-inning fun.

Owie update 

Posted 11:11 AM by Sean
Jarrod Washburn will miss at least one more start as a result of an inflamed tendon near his sternum. Ramon Ortiz will continue to start in his place, meaning Thursday's game will feature Ortiz vs. Brad Radke in the Metrodome.

The over-under on home runs for that game is currently being tabulated by NASA.