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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (16-12) @ Boston Red Sox (12-16)
Pitching Probables: LAA – Jered Weaver (6-0, 0.99 ERA) BOS – Clay Buchholz (1-3, 5.33 ERA)
Game Info: 4:10 PM PT; TV – Fox Sports West; Radio – KLAA 830 AM
The Angels finally have a chance to not only bring great vengeance and wrath of biblical proportions to Boston, they have a chance to bring home some redemption. This series gives the Angels the opportunity to greatly boost team morale, who wouldn’t feel great if we went into Boston and swept the Red Sox?
As you have all undoubtedly figured out by now, I am very delusional and irrational when it comes to baseball. Having said that, I will accept nothing less than a series sweep from the Angels. This Red Sox team thinks they can just stroll up in our home and pad their stats, nu-uh, not if this writer has anything to do with it. With the magic of my written word, I bestow upon the Angels the energy and skill required to sweep the Red Sox at home, cause we all know they don’t have what it takes to do so on their own accord. From what I’ve noticed from this Angels team, it’s that they seem to perform only when they are behind. It doesn’t matter if the Angels are behind in a game or behind in standings, when they trail they kick it into high gear. Now that they are tied for first with the Rangers, I would not in the least bit be surprised if the team “lags” it today. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Angels were swept by the Red Sox…..again.
Monkey See Monkey Do: Do look forward to seeing the Angels battle for blood against the Red Sox today. The Angels aren’t just looking for a W, they’re looking to win back some lost pride. You can’t expect this team to let anyone, especially the Red Sox, come to Anaheim and embarrass them in front of the home team. The Angels aren’t going to let the Red Sox feast upon them again, especially with the way some of our players have been heating up of late. Trumbo has regained his confidence in the batters box, Hunter is finally putting the ball in play in tight situations instead of K’ing, and Howie is…..well Howie is just Howie. The Angels may not explode at the plate, but they will put pressure on the Sox’s pitching and defense, and make their AB’s count.
Monkey See Monkey Don’t: Don’t expect to see Weaver Weave the Red Sox’s batters today, especially since he’s coming of a weekend long flu. Word is he lost a bit of poundage this past week, which is obviously not a good sign for the King. It is a foregone conclusion that if Weaver does happen to pitch today, it won’t be for very long. Even if I’m wrong and Weaver does happen to be lights out against the Red Sox today Scioscia won’t want to work Weaver too hard in his fragile state today. Realistically speaking, Weaver isn’t going to shut down the Sox tonight, though he will find a way to keep his team in the game while he’s on the mound.
The Monkey’s Bananas Prediction of the Game: Since we’re on the topic of exactly how deep Weaver will be able to go this game, I’m just going to throw a number out there. 10. Yes, that’s right…10. 10 what you ask? 10 IP! While battling through slight fatigue left over from the weekend, Weaver is going to keep his pitch count efficiently low today. So effiecient in fact, that he will be able to pitch the 10th inning to secure himself the W! I don’t throw out the title of King to just anyone, and Weaver is going to show everyone why he deserves that title.
The Monkey’s Back-up Prediction: So Weaver may or may not pitch today, and I don’t want to throw away my prediction if he has to sit today out. If Weaver doesn’t pitch, I predict that Mark Trumbo will be find some BoSox blood, especially since they made him look like a fool at the plate in front of his friends and family during their visit. Trum-dawg isn’t going to go 4-4 with 4 grand slams, or even 2-4 with a home run and double. Well, he might, but that isn’t what im choosing to stake this website’s reputation on. Trumbo doesn’t want metaphorical blood achieved through an astounding performance, he’s going to go for some real blood. Remember when Youks took out Haren in his Angel debut last year? Well, Trumbo is going to show Youks how to take out a pitcher with a batted ball, forcing Clay out of the game prematurely with a minor injury (or major, which is really hope isn’t the case). All the pre-season talk of Trumbo hitting the ball so hard he could hurt another player who foolishly stand in the way of the ball is going to come to fruition today. How’s that for a throwaway prediction?
*Due to a hectic schedule I have in front of me today, I won’t be able to put up a Game Recap. Sorry to inconvinece the three of you looking for some post-game entertainment.*