An Angel win over the Indians in which Bobby Abreu earned a well-deserved attaboy.
Los Angeles Angels of AWESOMENESS
- Clearly, I must have inspired Erick Aybar by questioning his ability to stay in the lead-off spot. Him hitting a lead-off homer and making a nice sac bunt were all exactly part of my master plan. You can all thank me later.
- Stop the presses! A three-hit game for Brandon Wood? We finally got some good Wood, I almost don’t believe my eyes. I think maybe he should just go ahead and retire right now because this might be the climax of his pro career.
- Yet another sign that Jered Weaver is becoming a frontline starter is that he was able to hold down the Indians line-up and still rack up a number of strike outs despite the fact that his fastball was not up to its usual standards. Pitchers can’t have have their best stuff every time out but the best pitchers find a way to succeed regardless. Weaver is definitely moving in the right direction.
- Congratulations to Hideki Matsui on career hit #1,000. It is actually hard to believe that he only has 1,000 hits. I know he spent most of his career in Japan, but it still feels like he has been playing in America for 15 years and should be collecting hit #2,000 by now.
- Now that is how Scioscia should be using the bullpen. Bulger started the seventh inning as he should. Now, he did get in trouble, but Sosh did the right thing to bring in Jepsen to save the day. Scioscia had been doing it the other way around previously and if he had done that again, I don’t think the day would have been saved.
Los Angeles Angels of FAIL
- Bobby Abreu is a wonderful hitter and a real master of working the strike zone, but he is also a stubborn son of a bitch. After taking a strike that looked well off the plate, Abreu voiced his displeasure to the home plate umpire. Two pitches later, instead of adjusting to the obviously wider zone of Paul Schrieber (seriously, way to wide of a zone for a no-name kid like David Huff), Abreu takes another strike looking on the outer edge. I am sure Bobby thinks he made his point, but I would really prefer if he didn’t strike out just to stick to his principles. Swing the bat, Bob.
- OK, seriously, I thought we talked about not pitching to Choo? He didn’t really hurt the Angels but he did get two base hits and work a base on balls. If they aren’t more careful with him the next two games, he actually could start doing some damage.
- Napoli still has a lot of work to on defense. His game-calling has been solid since he regained the starting job by default, but Mike Scioscia is going to get real tired of watching him bounce throws down to second base, especially when a good throw would catch the runner stealing by a pretty good margin.
- Well, I guess Brian Stokes probably isn’t going to be the new set-up man. If he had given up a homer to Austin Kearns back in 2006, I would understand, but not 2010’s version of Austin Kearns. Stokes’ failure only underscores the need for the rest of the pen to step up their game because Scioscia ended up having to fetch Fernando Rodney to bail him out. I don’t think Sosh had any intention of using him or Jepsen tonight but ended up having to and now they are both getting overworked very early in the year.
Halo Hero of the Game
Attaboy, Bobby, attaboy.
Talk about a big night for Bobby Abreu. Not only did he hit a titanic two-run homer to give the Angels a much-needed cushion, he also made the play of the game when he chased down a flyball to end the eighth inning that would have scored multiple runs. Granted, a younger rangier outfielder probably would have made the play with ease, but let’s not nitpick. The point is Abreu is starting to get going at the plate and it is no coincidence that the Angels are winning at the same time. By the way, Abreu already has four homers this year when he didn’t hit his fourth dinger last season until late June. Believe it or not, he actually could be in for a bigger year than he did last year now that he has finally gotten over his slow start.