Jered Weaver picked up the W for the Angels but racked up a whole lot of Ks in the process.
Finally, I am using the Bananas Prediction for some good. That prediction is always wrong, and this time to our benefit. I thought Weaver was going to be a little off today, but he couldn’t have been more on. He shut me up pretty fast with a career-high 15 strikeouts and even had a no-hitter going for a good while.
I just can’t stop being impressed with how great Jered has become. The Angels badly needed him to lockdown the Jays and go deep into the game, and Weaver managed to do in style. He got almost no buzz as a Cy Young candidate before the season, despite his stellar 2010 campaign, but he has been every bit one of the best pitchers in the league this season. He’ll obviously come back to earth at some point, but if he can have these long stretches of dominance, the rest of the league is going to have no choice but to start giving him the credit he deserves.
Game Notes:
- I really want to believe that Rodney getting the save tonight was just Scioscia being careful with Jordan Walden who threw 25 pitches last night. I really want to ignore the obvious counter-argument that Rodney was working his third day in a row which is highly abnormal, even if he used just six pitches the night before. I really want Scioscia to not do the wrong thing and give Fraudney his job back, even if it is hard to ignore that that Fernando has been pretty good in his last three appearances. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the next save chance to find out if I am going to get what I want.
- Next time the Halos play an all-nighter extra-innings game followed by a day game, they should probably just push back the day game a few extra hours. Some of those players looked awfully tired out there. Vernon Wells couldn’t remember how many outs there were. Rajai Davis dropped a flyball as if he were some sort of Little Leaguer (sucks when it hits you in the glove like that, Rajai). And Jose Bautista really looked like he needed a nap, after all, he got caught sleeping by Weaver when he picked him off first base. Then Jose seemed really cranky at the plate what with all the whining and temper tantrums every time he didn’t like strike call.
- I’m going to choose to ignore Brandon Wood’s two strikeouts and instead choose to focus on him getting his first hit of the season. Hooray, Brandon Wood! (I’ll let you decide whether or not that was dripping with sarcasm.)
- Another game, another big hit for Peter Bourjos. I couldn’t be happier to see Speedy Petey starting to hit, especially since it means we get to see more of him in the field. That being said, I don’t want to see him at leadoff too much. He has the speed, but he doesn’t have the contact skills or the eye. Maybe he’ll have that in a few years, but he doesn’t have them now. Until then, if he continues to heat up with the bat, he has the potential to be a very nice offensive weapon at the bottom of the order.
Halo Hero
Today’s hero. Tomorrow’s Cy Young winner?