An Angel series win over the Cubs in which the Angels made the most of their first trip ever to Wrigley Field.
Game 1 – Angels 7, Cubs 6
Game 2 – Angels 12, Cubs 0
Game 3 – Cubs 12, Angels 1
Los Angeles Angels of AWESOMENESS
- When Jered Weaver is on, he doesn’t even look like he has to try. He just mowed down the Cubs with extreme prejudice, especially with poor Chad Tracy. If he gets skunked from the All-Star Game this year, then the fix is officially in.
- I have officially come to peace with Scott Kazmir. I had really hoped he could be an ace caliber pitcher coming into the season but that clearly isn’t going to be the case. What he has become though is something the Angels should be happy with. While he isn’t an ace, he has developed into a solid middle of the rotation starter. He isn’t going to dominate, but he is going to give the Angels a chance at winning his start. With his start on Friday, Kaz now has four straight starts where he has allowed five hits or fewer and two earned runs or less. Not so coincidentally, he won all four of those starts.
- I wonder if the Angels might not keep Howie Kendrick in the lead off spot even after Aybar and Izturis gets back? After the series he had this weekend, nobody would blame them. Personally, I think he is just locked in and would hit great in any spot of the lineup, but with all the issues this team has had finding a good leadoff hitter, keeping Kendrick in the top spot isn’t the worst idea even if he hardly profiles as a leadoff man.
- When Juan Rivera, Robb Quinlan and Kevin Frandsen all steal a base off of you, you probably need to address your catcher defense. I’m just saying.
- Can we talk about the nice series Brandon Wood had? I know I have been hard on the kid, but he showed some real signs of progress this series, not the least of which was him getting at least one base hit in each game while only striking out twice in twelve at-bats. He is catching a lot of flack for his fielding work at shortstop, but I think playing short is actually what helped him. Instead of worrying about performing at the dish, Wood was likely preoccupied with re-acclimating to short, even though it is his natural position. And, for the record, let’s all cut him some slack for his struggles at short. I actually think he could handle the job on an everyday basis if he needed to, but not when he hasn’t had any work their for months. That being said, let’s hope Aybar gets healthy quick.
- As I will mention later, I think Mike Scioscia mishandled Brian Fuentes this weekend, but I do think he made the right decision to bring Fernando Rodney in for the save opportunity on Friday even though Rodney did wind up getting tagged for a home run. The Cubbies are loaded up on righties in their line-up with most of them having pretty decent power and Fuentes just isn’t cut out for that kind of work and it is refreshing to see Sosh finally realize that. Closer by committee here we come!!!
Los Angeles Angels of FAIL
- Ladies and gentleman, meet Joe Saunders, enemy of momentum. He fouled up in the Milwaukee series right after the Angels had the great sweep of the Dodgers and then when they were getting their mojo back against the Cubs with another potential sweep on the horizon, he falls flat on his face again. Granted, the defense didn’t help him very much, but he just wasn’t very good in this one.
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- And the legend of “the other” Francisco Rodriguez takes its first real hit. He was a mess on Friday and may have lost some of Mike Scioscia’s faith in the process. Even his follow-up effort on Sunday wasn’t that strong. Dude just isn’t ready for primetime yet I am afraid.
- You are probably expecting me to slam Brian Fuentes for his dreadful performance in relief on Sunday, but I’m actually going to defend him here. We actually shouldn’t be surprised at all that he got lit up. Brian has complicated pitching mechanics and if he is going to see game action for a week, he is liable to fall apart and Mike Scioscia should know that. If anything, we should be grateful that Sosh got this poor outing of Tito’s system in a game that the Angels were already out of rather than in a save situation.
Halo Hero of the Series
Go, Torii, go!!!
4 hits, 4 walks, 4 runs, 4 RBIs and two homers in the series. Yeah, that’ll work.