Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. The Angels are once again the American League West Champions after their thorough trouncing of the Texas Rangers tonight. Finally showing some killer instinct, the Halos made sure that there was no dispute to who the true best of the west was, dropping an 11-0 bomb on Texas’ head as the ultimate exclamation point to their title defense.
C’mon guys! You can celebrate a little better than that!
My favorite part of this victory was that the Angels never even gave the Rangers a glimmer of hope as they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back. There was no real sense of anxiousness from the Angel players even though they had been scuffling the last few weeks and had all the pressure on them to not choke. In other words, they were behaving the exact opposite of how they normally act during the post-season. Hmmmm, I think they might just be on to something here.
Now the Scioscia’s soldiers get a much deserved week to bask in the accomplishment and rest up for their impending post-season showdown with the Boston Red Sox. Let’s just hope that the layoff doesn’t result in them losing this new found killer instinct, because we all know they are going to need it when they set foot in Fenway Park.
Angelic Accomplishments:
- 11 runs on 12 hits and 3 walks? Where has that kind of situational hitting been for the last month? The Halo bats could be busting loose at the right time as they have now scored 28 runs in their last three games. Excellent, Smithers.
- It looked to me like Maicer Izturis is starting to take this Howie Kendrick threat personally. Izzy was a man possessed at the plate tonight. Nothing like a little competition to get a player focused.
- Another home run for Kendry Morales! The boy is heating up. Watch out now, Boston. Don’t say we didn’t warn ya.
Devilish Details:
- Dammit, Nap! Napoli got himself an extra start with Jeff Mathis out sick and went and spoiled his chance. Yes, he guided Ervin Santana to a shutout, but don’t think Scioscia is going to let that passed ball go unnoticed.
Halo Hero:
- Ervin Santana
No disrespect to Bobby Abreu of Maicer Izturis, but a complete game shutout is a complete game shutout. Ervin worked his magic in a big way tonight to put the Angels over the top. He still may not have done enough to earn a post-season start, but if I am Mike Scioscia, I am certainly going to consider giving him a bullpen audition before the end of the year to see if he can’t be used as a high leverage middle reliever in the post-season.