An Angel series sweep of the Mariners in which we remember how nice it is to be on the delivering end.
Game 1 – Angels 4, Mariners 3
Game 2 – Angels 7, Mariners 4
Game 3 – Angels 3, Mariners 0
Los Angeles Angels of AWESOMENESS
- A sweep. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be on delivering end of one. I have to admit, it was nice. Sweeping Seattle isn’t exactly anything to brag about, but, for the Angels, it at least gives them some more confidence and reminds them that they really aren’t that bad, even though they haven’t played well the last few weeks.
- Baseball is such a crazy sport sometimes. Jered Weaver pitched his ass off Friday night and got a no decision, leaving him stuck on 11 wins despite his fantastic season. Ervin Santana also pitched pretty well, and has been very good this season, but not nearly as good as Weaver, yet he notched his 16th win of the year on Saturday.
- Dan Haren sure fixed that whole run support problem didn’t? Clearly he wasn’t going to take any chances this time out and totally shutdown the Mariners, barely giving them a chance to plate a run.
- Hank Conger and Mark Trumbo both got their debuts, not quite in the fashion many of us had hoped, but at least Scioscia finally took his new toys out of the box.
- Congrats to Rich Thompson for picking up his first career major league win! That had to be a cool moment for him, but what is probably going to be really cool for him is that his two-inning performance was really solid work, continuing a trend for him this year. I know everyone is all excited for Jordan Walden, Francisco Rodriguez and Michael Kohn, but Chopper Thompson, at this point, has just as great a claim to a bullpen job as any of the other young relievers. If this crop rookie relievers (not sure Thompson still qualifies) keeps developing as rapidly as they have this season, the Angel bullpen is going to have a very bright future. Now, if only one of them was left-handed…
Los Angeles Angels of FAIL
- Look, we all enjoyed the the 16-inning marathon to end the Cleveland series, but that doesn’t mean we needed an encore performance to start this series. This wasn’t a tense affair of two teams trying real hard to score but being unable to come through, like the Cleveland game. This game was embarrassing for everyone involved. It was almost like neither team wanted to win. Seattle didn’t even get a hit in the extra innings (which also speaks to the quality work of the relievers not named Fernando Rodney). I think after playing 30 innings in two consecutive games, we can all agree that these extra inning shenanigans can cease and desist immediately.
- I suppose I should be excited that Fernando Rodney had two saves this series, but he should have had three. His one blown save was yet another performance by Fraudney where he not only blew the game, but got hit hard by the opposition, so I really don’t care that he closed out two other games this series without and drama (and really, one of them was a one out save and shouldn’t count). The funny thing is that the general consensus amongst Angel fans is that they don’t trust Fraudney at all, but still prefer him over Fuentes and somehow, that makes it OK. How about we just get a real closer?
- I would just like to call attention to the fact that Jeff Mathis had two throwing errors in one game on Friday. This is the same Jeff Mathis that is supposed to be so good defensively that it justifies his horrendous bat being in an already offensively-starved lineup. I’m just saying.
- Just so we’re clear, Brandon Wood deserves to start a game in this series, but Mark Trumbo and Hank Conger don’t? I’m still not sure that I follow.
Halo Hero of the Series
He may have only had one hit the entire series, but Bobby Abreu sure made it count, didn’t he? But hitting that walk off homer isn’t the lone reason he wins this honor. It was how he hit that home run that won it for him. Yes, that’s right, folks. Bobby Abreu actually swung at a FIRST PITCH!!! That’s like finding a four-leaf clover stapled to a unicorn being ridden by Elvis Presley.