Alright so maybe I went a little overboard with my belief in Jered Weaver. Apparently, he is human and is not the invincible cyborg I thought he was. More importantly, I was dead wrong about this game as the Angels let unknown Alex White get his first major league win. I can’t help but feel a little responsible since I basically wrote an entire column of bulletin board material, which I am sure the Indians read. This got them all fired up and they put together and inspired enough effort to take down the might Weave. Oh yeah, and the Angels still can’t hit.
What to make of tonight’s ball game? It looked like we might be in for my as previously called for route early on but a couple of key at bats later, the Angels are on the wrong side of the ledger. Hitting is continuing to be an issue since it is obvious that Mickey Hatcher continues to do his stellar job of suggesting nothing to the hitters so as to adjust their approach. Weaver has an uncharactersitically off night, which would not be an issue if the Angels could muster up some offense, and the guys drop a very winnable game. These are the ones that you look back on in September and cringe when they are three out with seven to play. But hey, we got Danny Haren tomorrow, so that’s a reason to light up the halo right…right?
Game Notes
— Two infield hits for Mark Trumbo! I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that has never happened before nor will ever happen again. What do we call those? Trum-bebees?
— Nine more strikeouts for the Angels tonight, including three from Torii Hunter. No wonder the fans out at the Big A looked a little cooler than normal with all that breeze floating off the field.
— Did you know that Jeff Mathis has started 19 games this year? He did get a hit tonight (which was a questionable one at best) but also managed to strike out with two on and the game on the line. Good job Mike, keep giving old Jeffy at bats and I know someday he’ll work his way out of that career long slump he’s in.
— Give it up for “Grease Fire” Takahashi and Chopper Thompson who both turned in scoreless performances out of the pen. Takahashi resembled a major league pitcher for the first time in weeks and Thompson continues to just go out and get people out. I don’t want to say it too loudly but Angels pen could be ok after all.
— The lone batter highlight of the night was Vernon Wells’ two run shot for his first home homer of the season. Glad you got that out of the way after only one month of play.
Halo A-Hole
Really this should be my picture but I’m trying to deflect the blame a little. Weaver seemed to be unable to put batters away tonight, which is normally his strong suit. Jered had no strikeouts and threw a ton of pitches to get through six. The fifth was a good example of what went wrong. He got the first two easy enough but despite numerous two strike counts, he couldn’t get the big pitch to get out of the inning. So Jered, you get the award tonight for making me look like a complete tool. Thanks buddy, really appreciate it.