Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (32-29) @ San Franciso Giants (34-28)
Starters: LAA – John Lackey (1-2, 6.61 ERA) SF – Barry Zito (3-6, 4.09 ERA)
Game Info: 7:15 PM PT TV-Fox Sports West, Radio-KLAA 830 AM, KFWB, KWKW 1330 AM
The Angels are up in the Bay Area for their interleague match-up with the San Francisco Giants which of course means that they won’t have the luxury of a designated hitter. Whatever shall the Angels do without Vlad Guerrero flailing at breaking ball two feet off the plate in a desperate effort to dump a flare into right field?
For most American League teams losing the designated hitter means weakening their team by either benching a talented hitter or forcing that potent bat onto the field where he becomes a defensive liability. Good thing the Angels current designated hitter is performing so poorly that the team is better off with him on the bench.
THREE Questions:
- Wait, what? Since when does Barry Zito not suck? I mean he won’t be winning the Cy Young again or anything, but I thought he had turned into a total train wreck, how very disappointing.
- Is Sean Rodriguez going to get the start? Sosh is riding the hot bat of Maicer Izturis, but maybe he can find it in his heart to throw S-Rod a bone and have Izzy play short and give Aybar the day off so Rodriguez can play.
- Can Brandon Wood play catcher? Neither Mike Napoli nor Jeff Mathis are hitting worth a lick right now, perhaps this is the solution to finally get Woody some ABs?
TWO Predictions:
- Lackey will sense the urgency of needing to turn in a quality start now that Ervin Santana is hurting again and bounce back from his disappointing last start to go seven innings and allow just three earned runs.
- I will try to use my mind to make Robb Quinlan, starting in place of Kendry Morales, burst into flames after he strikes out twice against Barry Zito.
ONE Wish:
- I wish that having Vlad out of the line-up is something that made me upset instead of relieved.
ZERO Tolerance for… The Wonder Dog. If my memory serves me correctly this is a Hudler and Physioc announcing week which means I will have to watch the games in mute to protect myself from Rex’s myopic enthusiasm.
Leave your own questions, answers, predictions or wishes as a comment or just hang out with us during the game.