Sluggers? We don’t need no stinking sluggers. No Hunter, no Guerrero, no Rivera… no problem.
The Angels dug down deep into their bag of tricks to sweep yet another series from a formerly red-hot Yankee squad. Despite missing pretty much the entire heart of their order, the Halos scored a staggering 29 runs against the Yanks thanks to highly unexpected contributions from the likes of Erick Aybar, Gary Matthews and Howie Kendrick. Note to Yankee fans: when you leave a series saying, “that Gary Matthews guy is killing us,” then you have a major problem.
For the Angels the only problem was that they felt it necessary to spot the Yankees early leads, apparently just to show off how good they have gotten at coming from behind. While I never get tired of seeing the Halos punk the Bronx Bombers, maybe they shouldn’t be so cavalier about assuming they can continue to score runs by the dozen with the middle of the order on the disabled list for the next few weeks.
Good News:
- BRANDON WOOD!!!!! Woody busted his first homer of the season and even earned himself a start at first base. That dinger might very well cause Scioscia to give Wood a legitimate look for the next three to four weeks (the timeline for when both Hunter and Guerrero are expected back). I still doubt he plays everyday, but he should hopefully get three to four starts a week.
- Howie Kendrick is alive. Three hits on Saturday, a double and two walks on Sunday, maybe that little hiatus in Salt Lake did the trick after all.
- I can’t think of a better way to go into the break for John Lackey. After getting victimized by just a few bad innings recently, controlling a very dangerous Yankee line-up has to feel good for Big John who really needed that confident boost.
Bad News:
- So, Tony Reagins, you still think the Halos don’t need bullpen help? Jason Bulger did his best to cough up a four-run lead on Saturday and the Darren Oliver had to bail out Justin Speier on Sunday. I want Chad Qualls in an Angel uniform by the end of the week. Get it done.
- Poor Joe Saunders, he just can’t get it going. He at least tried to go inside against right-handed batters, but he still doesn’t trust his fastball and is going to continue to get banged around until he does.
- Gack, two errors from Kendry Morales in one series. Just when I was starting to trust his glove over there too.
Halo Hero:
- Bobby Abreu
Abreu’s continued his RBI tear, driving at least on run in every game of the series, with six RBIs total. I bet the Yankees feel real good about letting him walk away now.