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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (17-22) @ San Diego Padres (14-25)
Pitching Probables: LAA — Jered Weaver (5-1, 2.83 ERA) SD — Jeff Suppan (2-1, 1.69 ERA)
Game Info: 7:05 PM PT; TV – Fox Sports West; Radio – KLAA 830
So we return to interleague play, where awkward matchups are forced down our throat, thus causing us to follow teams we’d normally not gives two thoughts about. Actually, I’ve rather enjoyed interleague play for the simple reason that the Angels usually feast on the National League. The Padres are a woefully inept team that can’t hit, field, or hold a lead (wait, that sounds creepily familiar. . .). I would hope the Halos use this as a sweep opportunity to get within a hair’s breath of .500 for the first time in . . . well, forever.
I would expect Jered Weaver to be his usual dominant self tonight. Weaver is an extreme flyball pitcher in a ball park that makes the Grand Canyon seem cozy. Weaver can basically toss the ball at the plate and let his outfield do the rest. This should also be a series where we see a lot of Peter Bourjos. Bourjos is also an ideal fit for this park and, along with Trout and Wells, there should be a ton of fly balls tracked down for outs.
I sincerely hope that a return to a NL park that Albert Pujols has hit in pretty well over his career will continue to hasten the hitting Renaissance he’s begun by hitting homers in two straight games. These signs of life are encouraging and I think all of us Angel fans want to see him succeed. A long bomb or two tonight would bring all those naysayers, myself included, back into the fold pretty quickly. But even Albert may not be immune to the deep fences of Petco Park. Though the park may be big, the chances of the Halos dumping this one seem very small.
I hope.
(Note: Due to my work as a High School Assistant Principal, I will not be able to recap the game until tommorrow.
Sorry all, have to chaperone the Prom. You know you’re jealous.)