Aston's Angels Report-- May 11, 2012

                                      ....So You’re Saying They Have a Chance
                                                  [Season Record: 14-18]
　

     This has not been the season that many expected for the Angels, but I remain [hesitantly] optimistic that something good can come out of this long baseball season still. They were finally able to clinch their first series win against the surprising Baltimore Orioles (who still lead the AL East, believe it or not), by winning the first two of the three-game series, after about 3 weeks of losing, but it after that it went down hill again, for about another week. They lost the final game against the O‘s, then went on the road and were swept in Tampa Bay by the Rays, and lost two of three to the Indians, and found themselves buried at the bottom of the division standings. Luckily for them, they had the worst team in baseball, the Minnesota Twins on their schedule a couple more times, and were able to take advantage.

     Since their series loss to the Indians at the end of April, the Angels haven’t lost a series in May, and are starting to play a little better as a team, thanks to a few positive changes, great starting pitches, and some favorable early scheduling. For some reason, they have played the Twins three separate times already, even though they are in a different division, and have only faced one other team in their own division so far, but the Angels aren’t complaining. They swept the Twins at home to start May off strong, including two shutouts to finish off the series. The most notable performance of the season so far, came in game 3, when Jared Weaver was dominant and nearly perfect, hurling his first career no-hitter, and the Angels offense woke up and scored 9 runs, in what looked like a momentum changing game for their team (finally). The Angels starters hadn’t been getting much run support, as the Angels offense has been borderline terrible, but it looked like this may be the spark the team needed to propel themselves back to where they want to be.

     That thought went away rather quickly when the Toronto Blue Jays come to town, a team the Angels have had trouble with for many years now, no matter what their record was. The Blue Jays shut the Angels out in the first two games, with two complete game gems by their starters, and it looked like that momentum pendulum was swinging back the other way again. The Angels managed to win the last two games of the series, behind two strong performances from their 4^th and 5^th starters, as their starting pitcher depth was on display once again, enabling them to eek out a series tie, when it looked like they were down and out. Then it was back out to Minnesota, where they won two of three, and, even though the one loss was another shutout, it looks like they are starting to play well.

     The team made several eye-opening changes, en route to their improved performance, including a new closing pitcher, releasing one of their veteran players, and starting a 19-year-old in centerfield, among others. Jordan Walden led the league in blown saves last season as a rookie, and got off to a slow start this season, so manager Mike Scioscia made the change, demoting Walden, and promoting the much more trustworthy Scott Downs to the closer role. I’ve been on the Scott Downs bandwagon since he was brought in last year, and I felt he was actually underused, especially this season, considering how effective he is against both left-handed and right-handed hitters, and his impeccable control (a necessity for a closer, in my book). Walden can throw 100 MPH but that doesn’t mean much when you can’t throw strikes and the hitters are looking for the fastball because you can’t throw a slider for a strike if your life depended on it, so I applaud the move whole-heartedly.

      One of their more popular players, Bobby Abreu, was released earlier in the month, due somewhat to lack of performance, but probably more because there simply wasn’t much playing time for him with this team. He is a liability as an outfielder because of his diminishing defensive skills, as he has slow reaction time to balls hit in his direction, and he doesn’t run as fast as he used to make up for it. His offense had been lacking over the past couple of seasons, hitting about .250 the last two years, after being a career .300 hitter for the most part, leading up to them. I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs that it looked like he would be on his way out, but I’m still sorry to see him go, because I thought he could teach some of the other hitters some patience at the plate. I’ve never seen one hitter get to a 3 ball- 2 strike count so many times in my life, unless I was just paying attention more to his at-bats than other players (which is quite possible), and I was advocating the idea of him as the leadoff hitter for the last couple of years, because he does things leadoff hitters are supposed to do in most of his at-bats. Scioscia finally did put him in the leadoff spot in a couple of games (against the A’s and the Twins, I think) and he did pretty well, but in the long run, there just wasn’t enough room on the squad for someone who can basically only play designated hitter against right-handed pitching, so they released him. One of the biggest issues with the team was the leadoff hitter role, as Erick Aybar has failed miserably (like I predicted last year, since he’s a free swinger and seems like he always will be), and Peter Bourjos is a mediocre hitter at best at this point in his career, so even his gold-glove caliber defense hasn‘t been able to keep him in the lineup this season. When the Angels decided to release Abreu, they brought up their young 19 (or 20)-year-old, and one of the league’s top-rated minor league players, Mike Trout, and he has taken over the leadoff role. Trout was hitting about .400 in the minors, and he has showed some surprising patience, and even more surprising power, to go along with his great speed and energy. He’s also shown some good outfield skills in center field, while playing nearly every game since his call-up from the minors, and his team is hoping that he can find a way to get on base and score some runs.

      In another move to bolster their roster in a much-needed area, the Angels made a trade to improve their bullpen earlier this month as well, trading for the Padres Ernesto Frieri, a name probably unfamiliar to most. I know him because of my fantasy baseball research, so I was glad to hear they got him because of his low ERA and WHIP (walks/hits per innings pitched) and high strikeout totals over his short career for the Padres, but I was also a little disappointed to hear that they traded away Alexi Amarista to get him. Amarista is a good little player who can hit, run and play numerous positions, so they gave up some high potential to get Frieri, but it could help them out in the long run, because they definitely needed help in the bullpen, since they had one of the worst bullpen ERAs in baseball before he arrived, and there obviously isn’t much room for Amarista to play for the Angels right now (or even in the near future, since his main positions were middle infield and outfield). Now it looks like they are going to have to call up one of their other top prospects, catcher Hank Conger (who played last year in the majors) because their regular catcher, Chris Iannetta has to have surgery on his wrist and will be out for about two months. Ironically, he injured himself in the 2^nd inning of the game when Weaver threw the no-hitter, but stayed in to catch the duration, and then found out he was severely injured. So far the moves have paid off, but they still have quite a bit of work to do if they want to make a run for the postseason.

     Hopefully they can carry the momentum they have started this month into their next series, against the rival Texas Rangers, who are in first place in the division, and 7 games ahead of the last place Angels. It’s obviously still early in the season, but this could be one of the most pivotal series of the season for the Angels, if they can find a way to win at least two of these upcoming games and gain some ground in the standings. If they somehow find a way to sweep the series, they will find themselves only 4 games back and in the thick of the race, but if they lose all three, then they will be 10 games back, and the Rangers will have even more confidence going forward, so this will be a huge test for them. The first game on Friday will be probably one of the most anticipated pitching matchups of the series, with the former Ranger, CJ Wilson, going against the Japanese import player who was signed to a huge contract to replace Wilson, Yu Darvish. The weekend games are going to be nationally televised (FOX and ESPN, respectively), so the whole country will get to see what the two teams are all about, and the pressure will be even greater to perform well.

     Their starting pitchers have been very good for the most part this season (except for a couple poor starts from Santana, surrendering far too many homeruns), as most people expected, especially over the past couple of weeks, but their offense hasn’t lived up to its potential, and has been very inconsistent. It’s hard to perform well as a starting pitcher, when your offense gives you virtually no run support every time out there, so you have to basically shut out the opposition to have a shot. Weaver, Haren and Santana have been given some of the lowest run support in the majors, and they can’t be perfect (I think Santana was given no runs in three starts in a row, so he was winless even though he was pitching better than earlier in the season). Most people will point out that Albert Pujols has only one homerun, and didn’t hit his first until after over 100 at-bats, which is highly unusual, but I am not really worried about that. I am more concerned with the fact that he was probably trying to hard to hit that first homerun, instead of just trying to hit. Many players press too much and try to do more than they are capable of in the first season of a huge contract, and he was awarded one of the richest contracts in history coming into this season, but I think he will be able to get back into his normal groove soon. People forget that he started off poorly last season as well, and then ended up with more than 30 homeruns, while leading his team to a world championship, so I don’t think it’s worth worrying about [yet]. I’m more concerned with the strikeout numbers and his low batting average, considering he has hit over .300 and accumulated about 250 more walks than strikeouts for his career (a stat I couldn‘t believe when I first saw it), but I think those will improve as time goes on and he gets more comfortable and patient at the plate. Once the team gets back into the Angels hitting philosophy, which is aggressive base running and going from first-to-third on base hits, knocking in runs with base hits and sacrifices, instead of going for the homerun too often, then they will be much better off. It seems like a lot of them are pressing and trying to pull everything, instead of taking pitches (and walks), hitting to the opposite field, and running the base paths aggressively to put pressure on the opposing defense, which will eventually lead to runs, just like it has in the past when they had much less powerful hitters in the lineup. I think the hitters on the team need to watch how Howie Kendrick hits the ball well to right field, and follow suit in their at-bats, especially some of the less powerful players, like Aybar, Callaspo, Izturis and Bourjos (when they play). Too many of them seem to be trying to make up for the poor start with one mighty swing, only to find themselves jogging back to the dugout after recording another easy out. Torii Hunter has been making a concerted effort to hit the ball to right field which has resulted in a fairly high batting average thus far, and some of the other power hitters seem to be starting to follow suit. Kendrys Morales is occasionally hitting the ball the other way, and the mighty Mark Trumbo can hit the ball hard in any direction, but they will be an even better team once Albert Pujols and Vernon Wells figure out how to hit the ball to right field again. They have to find a way to keep Trumbo in the lineup (not just against lefties) but that tends to weaken their defense since he can only play the corner outfield and infield positions, when he isn’t in the DH spot (where he usually is against lefties, since Morales isn’t as good as a right-handed batter). When he plays in the outfield that takes away either Hunter or Wells, who have each won gold gloves as centerfielders, so that obviously limits their defense there, and now that Callaspo is hitting better, Trumbo isn’t necessarily the best candidate for 3^rd base (and obviously Pujols is the everyday 1^st baseman), so it’s a juggling act just to get him in the lineup, but their offense needs him, so Scioscia has to find a way somehow. I sort of like the move of Callaspo (when he plays) to the 2^nd spot in the lineup, where he has hit well in his past few starts, mainly because I didn’t think he fit in as #6 hitter where he was last season and earlier this season. If Trout and Callaspo (or Kendrick) can get on base, and Pujols, Hunter, and Wells can figure out that they just need to get hits, and not necessarily homeruns, to score runs, then they can become the dangerous team they looked like they would be, on paper. We all know you can’t be paper champions in any sport, no matter how good it looks.

     The bottom line is that their offense has been anemic for most of the season, putting far too much pressure on the pitching staff, and the bullpen has not been up to par thus far. If they can maintain the top notch starting pitching performances, utilize their bolstered bullpen more effectively and [most importantly] find ways to score runs with their typical aggressive style of offense, then they stand a good chance of making a run, despite their poor start to the season. Some of you might remember that they started the 2002 with a 6-14 record, just like this season, and they went on to win the championship that year, so that gives me solace that they can do it again. We shall see….

[Probably my last] Laker Report- 2012

                                                                                                                            May 9, 2012
                                                The Lakers Stink….Still
        As you may have noticed (but probably not) I have written some rather unkind words about one of my favorite sports teams, the Los Angeles Lakers over this season. It’s more out of love and high expectations than that of the typical disdain from the Laker-haters that encompass the country, but there seems to have been something(s) missing for most of the season, and it is becoming more evident as the playoffs are going on. They managed to get the 3^rd seed in the Western Conference, but their season is destined to end relatively soon, no matter how you look at it.

        As of now, they are ahead in the series with the Denver Nuggets, but their immaturity and complete lack of depth is glaringly evident, and annoying to fans like me. A good team would have closed out the Nuggets in game 5 at home, like the other teams in the playoffs this season, and like the dominant Lakers team of the past, but they were out-hustled, out-smarted, and completely out-played. Add to that, another immature and ridiculous comment from Andrew Bynum, who has acted like a giant baby on several occasions over the past few months, while intermingling occasional stellar performances on the court that have caused some analysts to profess him as the best center in the game. For some reason, he opened his big mouth, and claimed that closing our a series is easy, because the other team tends to fold when you get off to a good start, which only put a target on his (and the entire team’s) back, and provided more incentive for the Nuggets. Granted the score of the game was close in the end, only because Kobe Bryant made some shots at the end of the game to draw them into contention, but they were down by 15 points in the 4^th quarter, and were outplayed from the opening tip off. For some reason, they seem to have some sense of entitlement, like all they have to do is step on the court at home and they will get the victory, but that’s not how it works, and a good team understands this. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if they lost this series, much like how they lost to the Suns a few years ago, when they had a 3-1 game lead in the series then, too.

        Let us count the reasons why they have no chance this season. One of the most glaring issues, is that they have probably the worst bench of any team in the playoffs this season, not to mention the fact their coach refuses to put in some players who have helped the team at times earlier in the season (mainly guard Andrew Goudelock). It’s pretty darn obvious that Steve Blake cannot guard Andre Miller at any point in the game, but Coach Mike Brown still insists on keeping him in the game, instead of switching the lineup to put a bigger guard on him (I guarantee Phil Jackson would have changed that early in the series). When they go to the bench, they put in a few players who aren’t much of a scoring threat, so the opposition can double-team their post players right away with absolutely no fear of the outside shooters making anything when the ball gets passed back out, because they have been a poor 3-point shooting team all season, and even worse when their bench players are on the floor. When Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest) finally started to play well near the end of the season (mainly when Kobe was out with injury), that gave fans some hope, but then he reverted back to his old thug days and whacked an opponent in the head with his elbow and got suspended for a bunch of games. Even when he does come back, there’s no telling what kind of player he will be after all the time off (and the different dynamics with Kobe on the floor at the same time), and it still won’t help improve the bench much. In his stead, they have been starting Devin Ebanks at the small forward position, but moving him back to the bench won’t really boost their performance, because he hardly scores (or provides any sort of threat offensively) and there’s a good chance he won’t play at all, just like he didn’t most of the season when World Peace was in the starting lineup. Matt Barnes usually comes in off the bench at that position, and he provides some energy and hustle (which is needed on this team), but he isn’t a good outside shooter, and often misses lay-ups when he does get the ball close to the basket, to make matters worse. The only major contributor off the bench has been the newly acquired Jordan Hill, who has provided some interior defense and rebounds in a surprisingly efficient role, especially considering the fact that he barely got onto the court for the first ten games after they traded away Derek Fisher to get him from the Rockets at the trade deadline. He doesn’t contribute much in the scoring column though, adding to the glaring weakness that is their bench output.

        Their defense was overrated at the beginning of the season, like I was saying then, because teams weren’t scoring as much against them more because they were rusty rather than the Lakers locking them down. They were leaving wide open shooters then, just like they are now, but NBA players tend to make those shots, like they are now that they are in game shape. Their perimeter defense is porous, allowing open shots from the outside most of the time, or allowing their guy to get to the basket far too easily on other possessions, even though they should have an advantage in the painted area (close to the basket). Despite having two 7-footers who often play simultaneously, they allow far too many wide open lay-ups, because Bynum fails to hustle for most of every game, and Gasol is about as frail as a player his size can be, getting overpowered constantly by shorter players at both ends of the court. Sure, Bynum blocked ten shots in the first game, but he remains very inconsistent, as he fails to understand what his role is on the defensive end is far too often, and fails to run down the court constantly, which I really hate. In game 5 last night, he dunked a ball in the 4^th quarter, and then sprinted down to the other side of the court, which actually pissed me off even more, because he typically lumbers down to the defensive end at what appears to be a jogging pace, so it’s sort of insulting to know he can run when he wants to, but simply never really wants to. I sincerely hate it when professional players fail to hustle, and he has been slacking far too often, and then acting like he doesn’t care after the fact, just to fuel the fire of my frustration even more. If he plays up to his potential on both offense and defense, it makes his team so much better, but it just doesn’t seem like he has the maturity level that is required for consistent play, but he isn’t the only problem.

       If they have to rely on Kobe to score 43 points for them to score, they may as well just go home now, because they need a balanced attack to win in the playoffs against the best teams in the league. Kobe made about four 3-pointers when they were desperate for points at the end of game 5, but when he gets in that shooting mode, the rest of the team stands around and watches as he throws up another shot, and they have no offensive rhythm of their own if he does pass the ball to them, which has always been one of the problems when Kobe tries to carry the team on his back like that. If necessary, the opposition will simply double- team Kobe to get the ball out of his hands and take their chances with the other Laker players making shots, and those odds are usually pretty good for the opposition, since the Lakers fail to have proper ball movement most of the time to get the ball to an open player who can actually make a shot. Most of their players can’t make a play for themselves, so they have to rely on ball and player movement to get open shots, but their offense is stagnant most of the time, for some reason. Usually they take about 15 seconds holding onto the ball around the perimeter or passing the ball back and forth from the post, and then have to shoot a desperation shot near the end of the shot clock because they are out of synch. When Ramon Sessions first came aboard (another trade deadline acquisition) he was using his speed to get to the basket, running on fast breaks, and making plays on the pick-and-roll play (both rarities for the Lakers before his arrival), but now he seems afraid to drive to the basket, and isn’t producing much at all offensively (which was the norm at the end of the regular season as well). One would think that they would have figured out how to play (something close to) consistently on offensive by now, after more than 60 games in the regular season, but as I like to say, that’s what you get for thinking…. Maybe they will figure out how to get back to the style of play they used in game 1 to control the pace of the game, utilizing their height to their advantage on offense, while playing efficiently on both ends of the court, in at least one of the remaining games, because if they don’t, their season will come to an end before the upcoming weekend.

        What’s worse, is that even if they do manage to beat the Nuggets, which will probably have to happen in game 7, after Denver annihilates them in the upcoming game 6 on their home floor, they have to face the #2 seed Oklahoma City Thunder (who were the best team in the league for most of the season). I’ve been saying all season that OKC is a far superior team, and that seems even more evident now, with the Lakers’ struggles and the Thunder’s dominance during the regular season and four-game sweep in their playoff series. Some fans will point to the Lakers’ victory a few weeks back, when they came back from an enormous deficit to beat the Thunder, but that was a complete fluke, and serves to put the Thunder on notice, so they will concentrate even more than before. After all, they built that 20 point lead because they are a far better team and were playing like it for most of the game, and only gave up the lead because of a plethora of missed shots from their two all-star players in the final minutes, which is more of an anomaly and can’t be expected to happen again. Add to that the extra incentive the Thunder will have (not just because of their failure to win that game) because of the brutish elbow to one of their best players, James Harden, from World Peace, which nearly knocked him out completely (and was also a contributing factor to the Lakers victory in that game). Harden is almost certainly the 6^th man of the year in the NBA this season, and he anchors a bench that is far superior to that of the Lakers, and his team will play harder than ever to avenge that bully beat down, and reinforce their dominance. Looks like it will be another ’wait until next year’ scenario for the Lakers, but I’ve been resigned to that fact for most of the season…

Aston’s Angels Report 2012 [Game 10-13 vs Athletics- W, 3 L]

AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                                 April 21, 2012
Game 10-13: [Almost] The Worst Series Ever       Vol. 2, Issue 6

     Series #4 (W, L, L, L vs Oakland Athletics), Season Record 4-9

      After losing their first three series, the Angels looked forward to coming back home to face off against probably one of the worst teams in the majors, but their fate remained the same as it has so far in this young season. They started off well and looked poised to possibly start a winning streak following a 6-0 opening game victory on Monday, April 16th, but then they reeled off three terrible games, each seemingly worse than the next, with variety of errors, whether they were in the field, at the plate, silly mental errors or a big mistake by their manager costing them a possible victory, they all resulted in another losing streak.

       The team gave their ace starter Jared Weaver the early lead in game 1, after a first inning homerun from Kendrys Morales to give them a 3-0 lead, and they went wire to wire for an impressive shutout victory, leading me to believe that they may have finally turned the corner and may start to put together some consecutive victories. Morales went 3-for-4 with a double and the 3-run homer in the 1^st inning, which was his first homerun since 2010 (and his first hit in about a week this season), and Weaver retired the first 12 batters he faced, en route to another dominating performance (6 2/3 innings, 5 hits, 6 strikeouts). The Angels scored 3 more in their last at-bat in the 8^th, including another RBI from Morales who doubled home Pujols to start the inning, then a bases loaded walk, and a wild pitch pushed home the final two runs. The A’s didn’t even get a runner to 3^rd base until their last at-bat, and that was only because of two back-to-back errors by Angels infielders with two outs in the 9^th, and the way their offense looked in this game, fans like me were licking their chops with expectation for the remainder of the series.

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       Game 2 of the series was a game that Dan Haren should have earned the victory, after going 6 2/3 innings, allowing a lone run on five hits (a homerun by Daric Barton), but a terrible managerial decision probably cost them the game in this one. Both teams went scoreless for the first 4 innings, and then Haren allowed the homerun to Barton with two outs, on his only mistake pitch of the game. He showed much better control of his pitches throughout the contest, throwing a lot of strikes, including first-pitch strikes to a large majority of the batters he faced, dictating each at-bat and proving why he is one of the best pitchers in baseball.

      His offense was providing much support, however, so they found themselves down 1-0 going into the bottom of the 5^th. They managed to manufacture a run in that inning, after back-to-back singles by Wells and Callaspo to lead off the inning, and a couple of productive groundouts to finally push home the tying run. They added one more in the bottom of the 6^th, with a two-out rally and a little help from the Oakland pitcher, Tyson Ross. After the first two made outs, Morales singled and then advanced to 2^nd on a fortuitous wild pitch from Ross, and Torii Hunter took advantage of the situation with a go-ahead RBI single, to make the score 2-1.

      Haren got into some trouble in the top of the 7^th, when rookie Cuban phenom Yoenis Cespedes singled with one out and was advanced to 2^nd by a surprise 2-out bunt single from the catcher Kurt Suzuki. With the left-hand hitting Barton due back up, manager Mike Scioscia decided to pull Haren, even though he had just thrown 85 pitches, to try and maintain their miniature lead. Scott Downs came in and struck out Barton with apparent ease, to preserve the lead, going into the 7^th inning stretch.

      That was not the questionable move that I was alluding to earlier; that move came in the next inning, after the Angels did nothing offensively in their half of the 7^th. Scioscia brought in Kevin Jepsen to pitch the 8^th, and that is when the tide turned for the worst, from the Angels’ perspective, at least. Jepsen struck out the first batter he faced, with impressive overpowering pitches, but then he walked the next two batters, Cliff Pennington, and Jemille Weeks, to put the tying run on 2^nd. The CF Coco Crisp (yes that’s his name) took advantage of the fact that Jepsen had control issues, sitting on a first pitch fastball, and whacked it back up the middle for a game tying RBI single. With runners on 1^st and 2^nd now, Jepsen remained in the game, and threw a hanging slider on a 1 ball-2 strike count and Josh Reddick doubled down the right field line for an RBI double (it would have scored two if it hadn’t bounced into the crowd for a ground rule double). It was now 3-2 in favor of Oakland, and Scioscia finally changed pitchers, bringing in the rookie David Carpenter to face the dangerous Cespedes with runners at 2^nd and 3^rd and still just one out. He threw too many sliders, and Cespedes finally got hold of one and lined a single to left to score two more, and make the score 5-2 Oakland. I can list a few things wrong with this inning, but to me the biggest mistake was bringing in Jepsen in the first place; why the hell wouldn’t you leave in your absolute best relief pitcher, Scott Downs to pitch the 8^th, when he only faced one batter in the 7^th, and is anything but a left-handed specialist (like so many other lefty relievers these days). He can get out righties just as well as lefties, but for some reason Scioscia went with Jepsen, who has always had control issues, no matter how impressive he was in the exhibition games in spring training (he spent most of last year in the minors because he can’t throw strikes consistently, for one thing). Then to make matters worse, Jepsen was allowed to continue pitching after he walked the second and third batter in the inning, and even if Scioscia didn’t want to pull him after the first, he really should have considered it after the second, but he just left him out there to throw one right down the middle to Crisp and then the wheels fell off… I blame this entire loss on Mike Scioscia, although the Angels offense could have made this game less of a nail biter if they had just scored a little more while Haren was out there (and maybe he wouldn’t have been pulled when he was in thr first place, and the result would differ substantially)…Vernon Wells did add a solo homerun in the 9^th, but it was basically meaningless (as many of his homeruns seemed to be last year) as they started the inning down 5-2, facing the Oakland closer Grant Balfour, who retired the next two batters to seal the 5-3 Oakland victory.

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      Game 3 was quite possibly the worst offensive performance I’ve seen this season, and it didn’t help that Ervin Santana again allowed a 1^st inning 3-run homerun, just like he did against the Yankees in his last start, to put his team in the early hole once again. He allowed three straight hits with one out in the 1^st, the last of which being the homerun to Cespedes, and just to add insult to injury, Ervin had two strike counts on all the batters he allowed hits to, but just couldn’t put them away, throwing weak sliders to allow the hitters to make contact. Granted the first two hits, by Pennington and Reddick were more of the bloop variety, Cespedes certainly didn’t bloop the 1 ball- 2 strike slider he saw, launching it deep into left field for a no doubter homerun.

       Former Angel Cy Young award winner, Bartolo Colon, was the Athletics starter, and he completely dominated the Angels offense throughout the game in this one. He only allowed a few two-out singles, and the Angels didn’t even get a runner to 2^nd base until the bottom of the 8^th, when it was already 4-0 (another homerun allowed by Santana in the 6^th). Near the end of his outing, Colon threw a ridiculous number of consecutive strikes- something like 39 straight strikes, and nearly every Angels batter was facing a 0 ball-2 strike count each at bat, allowing Colon to throw whatever he wanted to get them out, and they looked like last year’s offense, which was beyond futile at times. The Angels only managed to scare him a couple of times with a couple of deep fly balls, from Pujols and Wells at different times in the game, but, as they all know, the ball doesn’t travel well at night in Anaheim stadium, and those balls died in the gloves of Oakland outfielders’ gloves near the wall, en route to an ugly 6-0 loss.

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     Now the Angels played game 4, just trying to salvage a series tie, and avoid their fourth straight series loss (and 3^rd straight game lost). They again turned to the starter that had been their losing streak stopper, CJ Wilson, making his first start in front of the home crowd as a member of the Angels. Oakland used young lefty Tommy Milone, whom they received in the trade for Gio Gonzalez in the offseason. While the Angels may have been happy not to have to face the Gonzalez, who had his way with them for the most part last season, they couldn’t put together enough hits to do any damage against Milone either.

        They fell behind early again, when Wilson walked Seth Smith after getting the first two outs in the 2^nd inning, then threw a cut fastball that didn’t cut inside enough, to Suzuki, who doubled down the left field line to score Smith, and give the Athletics the 1-0 lead. The game turned for the worst in the 4^th inning, when Wilson walked the first two batters in the inning. He has had trouble with his control somewhat in the season, but he worked out of the jams he caused with walks in both of his other starts, and he only has himself to blame for what happened in this game. He forced Smith to hit pull off of a good outside pitch, and tap one towards Wilson, who grabbed it near the 3^rd base line. He made the biggest mistake(s) of the game, first when he neglected to throw the ball to 3^rd for the easy force out, as the runner got a late break from 2^nd and would have been an easy out, and then to make matters (MUCH) worse, he lobbed the ball over to 1^st base, and the ball rode into the runner, out of 1B Pujols’ reach, and went into right field. Not only did two runs score on the throwing error, but Smith went to 2^nd base, and he eventually scored on a single to make the score 4-0 Oakland. Instead of simply throwing the ball to 3^rd to at least get the force out at the base (and possible a double play, with a throw to 1^st), to keep runners at 1^st and 2^nd (keeping the double play in order) with one out, the A’s scored two, put another runner at 2^nd and still had no outs in the inning. It was like a play out of my little league games when I was 10, but this was a major league game with major repercussions, not to mention tens of thousands of paying fans, who were forced to watch absolute crap. Oakland scored 3 runs, with just one hit, after two walks and that awful error in that inning, but the Angels had plenty of chances to get back into the game.

       In the next inning, the bottom of the 4^th, the Angels finally put numbers on the board, after Pujols led off with a line drive double, and Wells doubled him home one out later to make the score 4-1. Mark Trumbo followed that with a rocket line drive that bounced off the wall, to score Wells (4-2), but because it was hit so hard, the left fielder, Reddick, was able to throw the ball into 2^nd and hold Trumbo to a single. Iannetta grounded out to 2^nd, moving Trumbo to 2^nd, and Erick Aybar hit an infield single, on a grounder to the shortstop, but Trumbo was held at 3^rd. Peter Bourjos continued his poor hitting this season and ended the inning with a groundout, so the Angels’ bad luck continued, when you consider that the ball Trumbo hit should have been a double (or even a homerun) and he may have been able to score after the next two batters.

       The Angels pitchers managed to hold down the Athletics’ offense from then on, as Wilson, Jepsen, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jason Isringhausen combined to shut out the A’s until the end, but the Angels offense failed miserably to capitalize on numerous chances. They got two runners on with two outs in the 5^th, but Wells failed to knock in the run. The A’s changed pitchers in the 6^th, bringing in youngster Fautino De Los Santos (who closed out game 3), and they looked like they were going to break through, as he walked Trumbo and allowed a single to Iannetta, to put runners on 1^st and 3^rd with no outs. The A’s brought in different pitcher- someone I’ve never heard of, Jordan Norberto, and he proceeded to retire Aybar (who inexplicably swung at the first pitch) on a groundout so he continued his futility (and who was given a four-year contract extension earlier in the day). Then he struck out the struggling Bourjos, and induced a inning-ending groundout from Iannetta. All they had to do was hit a fly ball in one of those first two at bats with the runner at 3^rd, to at least score one, but they couldn’t even manage that, and it was now apparent that this probably wasn’t going to be their game.

       The Angels got two more hitters on base in the 7th, with a another double from Pujols (his 3^rd of the game) and a walk to Hunter, but Wells and Trumbo failed to capitalize. That was really their last chance to make a push in the game, as they couldn’t solve another former Angel, Brian Fuentes, in the 8^th, and then had to face Balfour in the 9^th again. Luck was on their side momentarily in the 9^th, when Pujols reached 1^st base with one out, on a throwing error by 3^rd baseman Josh Donaldson, but that lasted about a second, as Hunter hit into game ending double play grounder.

        Coming into the series, it looked like they would at least have a good chance at finally winning one, and after game 1, it looked like they could potentially start a substantial winning streak, but all that hope and expectation fell apart as the series progressed, and now they find themselves in a hole that grows deeper and deeper as the days go by. After leading the league in runs during the spring training, and their pitching seemingly improved over what was one of the best staffs last season, it looked like they were on their way to a great season. Now I wonder when and if they will get to the .500 mark, much like last season, where they barely broke even by the halfway point in the season. It’s time for the offense to wake up, the defense (including the pitchers) to use their brains and be professional, and the pitching staff to get back to their winning habits. The offense has been off, the defense has been lacking at times, their starters have surrendered too many runs, and their bullpen has the 3^rd worst ERA in the league (after being 2^nd best in the league last year), so the whole team needs to shape up…. And that includes the coaching staff as well, because other teams aren’t just going to lie down.

　

Aston’s Angels Report 2012 [Game 7-9 @ Yankees- W, 2 L]

          AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                     April 16, 2012
          Game 7-9: Slow Starters                              Vol. 2, Issue 5

           Series #3 (L, W, L @ New York Yankees), Season Record 3-6

         After losing the first two series of the season, the Angels traveled to New York to play in their third home opener of the season, in the Yankees first home game of the season in the New Yankee Stadium. Game 1 of this series on Friday, April 13^th, started off just about the same way that the last series (in Minnesota) ended, allowing multiple runs in one inning to fall behind in what would become an eventual loss.

         The Angels sent out Ervin Santana while the Yankees used one of their new additions, Hiroki Kuroda, formerly of the LA Dodgers, and both were looking to improve upon their poor opening starts to the season. The Angels changed up their lineup compared what has been their typical lineup thus far, putting Bobby Abreu in right field, and batting 2^nd, Mark Trumbo got the start at 3^rd base, and Maicer Izturis was at 2^nd base after his good game against the Twins as the shortstop, so Kendrick and Hunter were given the day off. The Yankees used what has been their standard lineup for a while now, with the one change being their new addition, former Philly, Raul Ibanez appearing as the designated hitter.

               SCORING INNINGS
        After the Angels failed to score in their first at-bat, Santana looked like he was going to get off to a good start in the bottom of the 1^st, when he struck out the first two batters he faced (Derek Jeter and Curtis Granderson). He couldn’t finish the inning, and it cost his team dearly, as he allowed a single to Alex Rodriguez, walked Robinson Cano on four straight pitches, and then walked Mark Teixeira to load the bases. Nick Swisher took advantage of Santana’s wildness, getting into a good hitters count, at 2 balls-1 strike, and walloped a deep flyball off of the wall in right center, to knock in all three runs to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead right out of the gate.

         Alex Rodriguez homered leading off the bottom of the 3^rd, to give the Yankees a 4-0 lead, and giving him 69 career homeruns against the Angels, the most for him vs. any team. I’ve seen him torch the Angels for too many years now, even when he was a rookie with the Mariners, and of course through his career with the Rangers and now the Yankees, and maybe that’s the reason why I despise him so much…. Or maybe it’s just because he’s arrogant, a proven admitted cheater, and a complete douche bag who doesn’t deserve to be in the hall of fame no matter how many homeruns he hits (but that’s just my- and about every other baseball fan who isn’t in New York- opinion)

         The Yankees tacked on one more run off of Santana with another homerun, this time off the bat of CF Curtis Granderson, who benefited once again from the short right field ’porch’ in Yankee Stadium, barely hitting the ball over the fence on what would have been a fly out in almost any other ball park. The score was now 5-0 and that would be the final score.

               IN ADDITION
         The Angels were held in check by Kuroda, who went 8 innings, allowing just 4 hits, and striking out 6 hitters, while throwing 104 pitches in a dominant performance. He came out for the 9^th and was pulled out when he allowed an infield single to Abreu to start the inning (a dribbler that Jeter couldn’t make the play on), and David Robertson came in to finish it off. The Angels had a total of 5 hits in the game, and they erased most of those from the base paths when they hit into three double plays, so they basically had no chance in this one. Kuroda pitched ahead of the batters he faced, while the Angels’ pitchers were pitching from behind in the count against the Yankees’ patient hitters, and the result was what would be expected in that scenario.

         Santana did pitch through the 6^th inning, ending his night with his only 1-2-3 inning of the game, but the only plus for the Angels in this one was the performance of their bullpen. It could be (reasonably) argued that the Yankees offense didn’t exactly try as hard once the score was 5-0 and they were in complete control of the game, so the bullpen performance becomes a little less impressive. The most notable part of the game from the Angels standpoint was the debut of the recently called up (from the minors) David Robertson. You may remember one of my initial Angels Reports, admiring the spring training performance of this youngster, and I guess I can take some pride in the fact that I was right to think he could make the major league roster. He pitched well against some imposing Yankee hitters, allowing just one hit in his inning of work in the 8^th, and he could help out the bullpen with Downs injured and others struggling.

               FANTASY WATCH 
        The only notable fantasy players in this one wore the pinstripes, highlighted by Kuroda whose stat line I mentioned earlier (also add the W and quality start), along with Granderson’s HR and (oh, how I hate to say it) Rodriguez who was 3-for-4 with the homerun.

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         So far this season, the Angels starting pitcher CJ Wilson has turned into the club’s stopper, putting an end to an Angels losing streak. They came into the game with a three-game losing streak, and Wilson helped them get back in the win column with another positive performance, earning his first career win against the Yankees. The Yankees sent out Phil Hughes, who they hoped would revert back to his stats from 2010 and help improve their rotation when the season began, but could end up in the bullpen if he continues to pitch as poorly as he did on Saturday against the Halos.

         The Angels went back to their more standard defense, with Torii Hunter back in RF and Howie Kendrick back in at 2^nd base, along with Alberto Callaspo as 3^rd baseman, while also shifted their lineup a little, moving Vernon Wells into the 7^th spot behind Callaspo. The Yankees put Andruw Jones in LF, Eduardo Nunez at 3^rd base, and used Alex Rodriguez as their DH, to add more right-handed hitters to the lineup. They also shifted their right fielder Nick Swisher into the 2^nd spot and moved back the CF Granderson to the 6^th spot against the left-handed pitcher Wilson, which I assume will be a common move for them for the rest of the season.

                SCORING INNINGS
       After blowing a possible scoring chance in their first at bat when they had runners at 1^st and 3^rd with one out (Morales and Hunter both struck out), they got on the board in the 2^nd inning. After Callaspo led off the inning with a strikeout (after the umpire called ball four a strike earlier in the at-bat), Vernon Wells hit a sharp single up the middle (a pleasant sight when he doesn’t try to pull everything), and then the catcher Chris Iannetta hit an opposite field homerun, down the right field line, just inside of the foul pole, taking advantage of that short field in right.

        The Angels took that 2-0 lead into the 3^rd inning, and added one more run with back-to-back hits to open the inning. Kendrick opened it with another patented line drive single to right, and then 1B Albert Pujols hit a deep flyball to center, that looked like possibly his first homerun of the season when he hit it, but it hit off the wall and went for an RBI double, giving them a 3-0 lead. They failed to push across another in that inning, despite the runner in scoring position.

        They made up for that when they came up again in the top of the 4^th, and knocked Phil Hughes out of the game. Iannetta continued his impressive and patient season, drawing a lead off walk, which was followed by a strikeout by CF Peter Bourjos. Erick Aybar hit a grounder to Teixiera at 1B, that went off his body, and Aybar hustled from the start, beating out the infield single, diving head first into 1^st. It looked like the Yankees might change pitchers, since Kendrick was already 2-for-2 against Hughes, but they left him in and Kendrick made them pay, as he clobbered a 3-run homerun to deep left field to give them a 6-0 lead. Hughes tried to throw the same inside “front door” slider that he caught Bourjos with earlier in the inning, but Kendrick was ready for it, and that turned out to be the last pitch Hughes threw, as his manager, Joe Girardi, made his way out to the mound to remove him from the game. They replaced him with rookie David Phelps, who actually pitched well for them, allowing just one hit in over 5 innings of relief work (making the possibility of Hughes eventually going to bullpen more likely still)

         The Angels made it four scoring innings in a row, when Vernon Wells hit a solo homerun with two outs in the top of the 5^th, to make the score 7-0 Angels. That was the only hit and run allowed by the rookie reliever, Phelps (and his first hit allowed as a major leaguer, I think) who was impressive throughout the rest of the game, although it could be argued that the Angels offense was in cruise control like the Yankees offense was in the previous game.

        The Yankees only scored one run, in the bottom of the 5^th, to make the score 7-1, when Nunez and Jeter singled to start the inning, and Cano drove in a run with a one-out single. Wilson battled back like he did from the get-go, and retired the next two batters to keep the Yankees from turning it into a big inning.

               WINNING WILSON 
        The Yankees got off to a good start against Wilson in the 1^st inning, with the first two hitters reaching with singles, and they were given a gift when the Angels failed to turn what should have been a double play (Kendrick inexplicably made a high throw to 1^st), but Wilson managed to get out of the jam, and he held the Yanks in check throughout the duration. He allowed just one run despite getting himself into a couple other jams later in the game.

          After averting the potential danger in the 1^st, he mowed through the NY lineup in the 2^nd and 3^rd, but faced more adversity in the 4^th when he allowed two runners with one out. He helped himself with a great defensive play on a swinging bunt from Jones that dribbled up the 3^rd base line, and then jammed the catcher Russell Martin to induce a weak pop out to right to end the innings and strand runners on 2^nd and 3^rd.

           After getting out of the jam in the 5^th (when the Yankees scored their first run), Wilson had to squeak out another one in the 6^th that was mainly caused by his own bad defense. He retired the first two batters, then accidentally hit Martin with a pitch, and then forced Nunez to hit a chopper back to him, but he made the mistake of looking to 2^nd for some reason instead of throwing the ball to 1^st immediately, and then rushed the throw and fired it into the dirt, past Pujols. The error put runners at 2^nd and 3^rd with two outs again, but he threw some great pitches to Jeter and eventually forced a weak pop fly to right to end the inning, and finish his night’s work.

               DEFENSE AND PITCHING
        After Wilson’s good outing, the Angels’ relievers continued their improved pitching (in this series that is), as Kevin Jepsen, LaTroy Hawkins, and Jordan Walden each pitched consecutive 1-2-3 innings to silence the Yankees and hold on to the 7-1 victory.

        The best defensive play of the game was turned in by the Angels centerfielder (and who I term as a gold glove outfielder even though he was robbed last year) Peter Bourjos in the 2^nd inning. Andruw Jones belted a line drive to deep center field that probably would have been a double against nearly anyone else, but Bourjos sprinted back to the wall and reached out to rob him of an extra base hit, and help Wilson and his team hold on to the early 2-0 lead.

               FANTASY WATCH 
        Howie Kendrick had a great game, going 3-for-5 with a homerun and 3 RBI, Albert Pujols had one of his best games as an Angel, going 2-for-5 with a double and RBI. Even Vernon Wells got into the mix, getting 2 hits, including a homer and he appears to be hitting the ball hard, while not pulling off on everything like he was last year. Chris Iannetta has impressed me since spring training with great patience and the ability to hit the ball hard to the opposite field, and he added a 2-run homerun to right field, along with two walks, adding to his team-leading RBI totals. Of course I can’t omit, CJ Wilson who once again put an end to an Angel losing streak, with 6 quality innings, allowing 6 hits, and just one run, while striking out 2, while earning the all-important victory.

         The only notable player on the Yankees (or at least the only one I want to mention) was the rookie pitcher David Phelps, who pitched 5 1/3 innings in relief, and allowed just one hit and one run (Wells’ homer), and I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds his way into the starting rotation soon.

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                                                       GAME 3
          Sunday April 15^th did mark the rubber game of the series, but there was a much greater significance to this day, not only in baseball history, but in American history. April 15^th is Jackie Robinson day, a celebration the first African American player to wear a major league uniform. Not only is Robinson a baseball hero, he was an American civil rights icon, who played one of the most pivotal roles in American history, helping shape our society for the better forever. All the players wore Robinson’s number 42 on their uniform, and every game in the majors paid tribute to one of the most important people in American history, not just sports history.

          The Angels sent out Jerome Williams, making his first start of the season (as the Angels didn’t need a 5ht starter until now) after a good season last year in his sort stint with the team. The Yankees starter was Ivan Nova, who had an outstanding rookie season for the Yankees last season, going 16-4 with a very good ERA of 3.70, especially considering he pitches in the AL East division. The Angels lineup changed once again, as Morales (in a 1-for-23 slump), Bourjos, and Callaspo were given the day off. Wells took over in CF and hit 5^th, Mark Trumbo got the nod as the DH, Bobby Abreu took over in left, and Izturis got the start again at 3^rd base. The Yankees put Ibanez in left field and used Gardner as the DH for this game, interchanging the two from their game 1 lineup.

             SCORING INNINGS 
       There was a lot of scoring in this game, but unfortunately for the Angels fans, most of it was done by the home team. The Angels did score first, when Mark Trumbo hit a solo homerun to left to give them a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2^nd, but that lead didn’t last long. The Yankees tied the score in the bottom of the 2^nd, when Cano singled to lead off, Teixeira drew a walk, and Ibanez singled to center to score Cano from 2^nd, to make it 1-1.

        The game turned for the worst in the bottom of the 3^rd, when the Yankees strung together some good at-bats to score 4 runs and knock Williams out of the game very early. It started with the dreaded lead-off walk to the speedy Brett Gardner (on four pitches), then Jeter doubled to right field and Granderson made productive out, grounding out to 2^nd, to score the run and move Jeter over to 3^rd with one out. Rodriguez singled to left to score Jeter and make it 3-1, Cano drew another four-pitch walk, and Teixeira doubled to right to score another run, making it 4-1, and putting runners at 2^nd and 3^rd, still with just one out. Swisher hit a sacrifice fly to left, for another productive out, to score another, making it 5-1 Yankees, and that was the end of Jerome Williams’ very short night, as Hisanori Takahashi was brought in.

       The Yankees added more runs in their next at bat, again jumpstarted by a leadoff walk, this time to Russell Martin. Gardner followed with a single, and Jeter capped it off with a three-run homer to right field, to make the score 8-1.

       The Angels tried to make it a close game, scoring 2 in the top of the 5^th, when Chris Iannetta hit another 2-run homerun to right field, following a lead off walk by Izturis, making the score 8-3. Kendrick hit a one-out double, but Pujols and Hunter made outs, failing to add any more runs, so it still looked like a blow out in the making.

       They tried to further the comeback attempt in the top of the 6^th, when Trumbo drew a 2-out, four-pitch walk (Trumbo was one of very few who hit the ball well off of Nova, so it was understandable), and Izturis drove one off the wall, over the jumping attempt by Swisher, to make the score a little more respectable at 8-4. Iannetta followed with a hard groundball to 3^rd, and Rodriguez made a good diving stop, then got up and threw him out, saving what would have been an RBI single, to keep the Angels from making it a big inning.

       The Angels last chance to get back into the game came in the 7^th, after the Yankees brought in their first reliever, Rafael Soriano, and he proceeded to allow the first three batters to reach base. Aybar led off with a [rare] walk, Kendrick surprised them with a bunt single that dropped in between the pitcher and catcher, and Pujols singled home a run with a soft line drive single to left, to make the score 8-5. With runners at 1^st and 2^nd, and no outs, Hunter flew out to center, and Wells hit a sharp line drive right to 3^rd base (tough luck, but hard hit). Abreu showed his typical patience and drew a walk, to load the bases with two outs for Trumbo, but he failed to take advantage as he hit a fly out to right to end their last chance to get back in the game.

        The Yankees scored in the bottom half of the 7^th, when Swisher knocked in a run with a single to center, scoring Cano from 2^nd after he had walked and stolen 2^nd. That gave the Yanks a 9-5 lead, and then Raul Ibanez put the finishing touches on the game with a 2-run homerun later in the inning, to make it 11-5, which ended up being the final score.

              FANTASY WATCH
       Kendrick had another 3-hit game for the Angels, including a triple (where he was stranded at 3^rd in the 1^st inning), double and single. Iannetta and Trumbo each hit homeruns, and Maicer Izturis had another good game, going 3-for-3 with a stolen base included.

       The Yankees had a few players with hits and RBIs, but the two standouts were Ibanez with 2 hits, including a homerun and 3 RBI, along with Jeter, who had a double plus a 3-run homer.

        The Angels travel back home now to face off with the western rival Oakland Athletics, and hopefully they can turn the season around. It’s still early obviously, as it isn’t even 1/16 (6 %) of the way into the 2012 season, but at some point you have to wonder how long can you use that excuse. They need to pitch better and start winning series, and hopefully get on a winning streak, because the Rangers look like they are playing just as well as they did the past two seasons, where they made the world series in both, so the Angels have their work cut out for them….even if it is still early.

Aston’s Angels Report 2012 [Game 4-6 @ Twins- W, 2 L]

       AAR: Aston’s Angels Report                     April 12, 2012
             Game 4-6: More Pitching Woes           Vol. 2, Issue 4 

\         Series #2 (W, L, L @ Minnesota Twins), Season Record 2-4
         After a disappointing series against the Royals, the Angels faced off against another American League Central team, the Twins, and unfortunately had very similar results. The start to the 2012 season has been eerily similar to the poor start to last season, primarily defined by poor pitching performances and difficult losses, but the fact remains that there are still over 150 games remaining, so panic time hasn‘t quite arrived yet.

      The first game of the series on April 9 staged a matchup of starting pitchers CJ Wilson- making his first start as a member of the Angels, versus the Twins’ Nick Blackburn. While Wilson is probably one of the best (if not the very best) 4^th starters in all of baseball, coming off of a stellar 2011 campaign (posting a 16-7 record, 206 striekouts, and a 2.94 ERA), Blackburn has been a below-average starter for most of his career with the Twins (posting a 7-10 record with 4.49 ERA in 2011), but he has pitched better at home over his career, which evened the matchup a little more. The Angels lineup was altered a little from the previous series, with DH Kendrys Morales moved up to the 4^th position in the lineup, Bobby Abreu taking over in left field for Vernon Wells. Alberto Callaspo took the reigns at 3^rd base again, instead of defensively challenged 3^rd base student Mark Trumbo, with the expectation of many groundballs served up by his sinker ball throwing starter, Wilson. The Twins have a couple new faces this season, with former Athletic (and Angels nemesis from last season) Josh Willingham in left field, former Dodger Jamey Carroll as the starting shortstop, and catcher (and sometimes outfielder) Ryan Doumit, who played for the Pirates previously. They of course have the familiar M & M boys, former MVPs Joe Mauer (playing 1^st base) and Justin Morneau (shifted to DH this season, due to his injury concerns), to go along with a few young players who have been there for a couple years as well, like 2B Alexi Casilla, 3B Danny Valencia, and RF Trevor Plouffe. Expectations aren’t very high for the Twins this season, but they performed well in this series.

       The Angels put some runs on the scoreboard in their first at-bat, with some timely hits and tough base running. Shortstop Erick Aybar led off with a walk, showing some rare patience, and after a fly-out by Howie Kendrick, Albert Pujols hit a groundball to the 3^rd baseman, Valencia, that should have been an inning ending double play. Aybar showed some great base running skills, as he slid in to 2^nd base aggressively, making it impossible for Casilla to throw on to 1^st to complete the double play, to keep the inning going. Morales followed with a sharp single to center, and Pujols continued the good base running trend, running to 3^rd. Torii Hunter put the Angels on the board with a groundball single into left field, to score Pujols, and Abreu continued his hot hitting against Blackburn for his career (8-for-16 coming in), slicing a ground rule double the opposite way down the left field line, scoring Morales for an early 2-0 lead.

        CJ Wilson was given the lead before he even took the mound, and he didn’t relinquish it, although he did have a little bit of a control issue, which seemed to be attributed to the heavy movement on his pitches, as even the catcher, Chris Iannetta, was having difficulty catching some of them. He walked the #2 hitter Carroll with one out in the 1^st, but struck out Mauer and induced a groundout from Morneau. He walked the second batter he faced in the 2^nd inning, Doumit, but that was sandwiched between two strikeouts and then a weak groundout to end that inning. He got the first two batters out in the 3^rd, before walking Carroll- the least threatening (in terms of power) hitter in the lineup- again. He allowed his first hit of the game to the next batter, Mauer, which pushed Carroll over to 3^rd. Wilson nearly pushed in a run with a wild pitch, but Iannetta made a great block on the ball in the dirt to keep the runner at 3^rd (as Mauer took 2^nd base). Justin Morneau couldn’t drive in the runner(s) as he ended the 3^rd inning with a weak tapper back to the pitcher. Wilson made a costly mistake to the first batter in the 4^th inning, throwing a below average speed (85 MPH) fastball to Willingham to start the at-bat, which was spanked deep into left field for a leadoff homerun, making the score 2-1 now. He came back to get the next three in order on easy groundouts to end the 4^th.

        After the rough 1^st inning by Blackburn, he went on to retire 15 straight Angel batters, through the 6^th inning. He wasn’t overpowering, but he kept the opposing hitters off balance, inducing mostly groundouts along with three strikeouts. The streak ended with two outs in the 6^th, when Morales hit a grounder to 1^st, that went off of Mauer’s glove, ricocheting to Casilla, who then threw the ball away. The rare two-base, double error enabled Morales to go to 2^nd base, but Hunter couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity as he hit a (rare) fly out to center to end the inning.

       Wilson had his first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 6^th, striking out Mauer again, and getting another groundout from Morneau, before facing the dangerous Willingham again. He nearly hit another homerun, but it drifted into foul territory at the end of its flight, and then he hit a grounder up the middle that Kendrick made a great play on, running it down as he went deep behind 2^nd base to snag it, and then made a great off- balance throw to 1^st to record the final out. The Angels capitalized on the momentum from the quick inning and stellar defense, as the offense finally added some insurance runs in the next half inning, to back up the strong pitching performance of Wilson.

        Abreu led off the 7^th with another trademark solid at-bat, working the count full before drawing the dreaded lead off walk. Callaspo followed by hitting the first pitch he saw back up the middle, just past the diving shortstop, so what looked like a potential base clearing double play ball turned into a single and two runners on with no outs. The Twins looked like they thought the next batter, Iannetta, was up to bunt with runners at 1^st and 2^nd, but he hit the first pitch he saw into left center field, for a 2-RBI double, to give the Angels a 4-1 lead. The Twins changed pitchers and Bourjos hit a seemingly harmless grounder to 3^rd but Iannetta continued the good base running theme, advancing to 3^rd as Valencia charged the ball to make the play at 1^st. With one out and a runner at 3^rd, the Twins changed pitchers again, bringing in the left- hander Glen Perkins the Angels resorted to their familiar small ball tactics with Erick Aybar up to bat. After taking the first two for balls, the Angels put the squeeze play on, so Iannetta started for home as Perkins pitched, and Aybar laid down the bunt to allow him to score easily and give the Halos a commanding 5-1 lead. The move to bring in the lefty made it a little easier to make the squeeze play work, since his back was to the runner at 3^rd and with a right-handed batter at the plate, he wouldn’t be able to pitch out towards the runner even if he did realize the runner was going at the last second, like a pitcher would be able to do with the batter in the other batter’s box. All the variables worked in the Angels favor and resulted in the final run of the game, on a well-timed common Mike Scioscia tactic.

        Wilson took the mound again in the bottom of the 7^th, with a new four run lead, and faced the minimum thanks to a double play grounder by Valencia, following a lead off single from Doumit. Scott Downs came in to pitch the 8^th and allowed just one base runner on a broken bat “seeing eye” dribbler down the 3^rd base line that turned into an infield hit, but he retired Carroll and Mauer to end the inning. The Angels offense was held in check for their last couple at-bats, so when Kevin Jepsen came in to pitch the 9^th, they still had a 5-1 lead, and proceeded to add a little drama to the finishing touches. He hit the first batter he faced, Morneau, in the back foot, and then allowed a line drive single up the middle by Willingham. Doumit followed with another line drive up the middle, but Aybar made a great diving catch going to his left, and then flipped the ball over to Kendrick covering 2^nd base, for a well- timed double play. Valencia ended the game with a groundout to Aybar, and the Angels were victorious again. Strong pitching and defense along with good base running and a little timely hitting (when they weren’t making 15 consecutive outs that is) produced the win, but unfortunately the pitching aspect of that combination would be missing in the next two contests.

FANTASY IMPACT
        The Angels’ CJ Wilson (7 innings, 3 hits, one run, 5 strikeouts, quality start) and catcher Chris Iannetta (1-for-4, with double and 2 RBI) were the fantasy stat standouts for the Angels. Josh Willingham was the lone offensive contributor for the Twins, posting a 2-for-4 game with a HR and only RBI for the team, and he should be in your lineup whenever he plays against the Angels, it seems.

CATCHER’S CORNER
        Catchers seem to get very little recognition for the difficult work they do, and it is my goal to highlight some of the game-saving plays they make. The Angels Chris Iannetta did produce the big hit of the game, with his two-run double in the 7^th to give the Angels a cushion in the scoring column, but he made one of the more important defensive plays as well. With runners on 1^st and 3^rd in the 3^rd, he made a great block on a ball in the dirt on a pitch to Justin Morneau, preventing the runner from being able to score. Although the runner at 1^st did advance, he allowed Wilson to keep the 2-0 lead, as he went on to throw a sidearm fastball and induce a weak groundout to end the inning. If that run had scored, it would have been 2-1 with another run in scoring position, and there is no telling what may have happened next, not to mention that the homerun from Willingham later in the game would have tied the score, and could have changed the game completely.

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        This series was an odd one, with a very rare scheduled day off in between the first and second games, so game two took place on Wednesday April 11, and the scheduling seemed to favor the Angels, as they skipped over what would have been the 5^th starter, so their ace Jared Weaver was the starting pitcher. He was facing off against the Twins veteran right-hander Carl Pavano, an average pitcher who tends to pitch deep into games and usually keeps the games close. The Angels altered the lineup a little, putting Vernon Wells back in left field, instead of Abreu. The Twins made a few changes, moving Doumit to right field and Mauer over to his familiar spot behind the plate, while inserting another youngster Chris Parmalee at the 1^st base position.

         The first three innings were rather uneventful, as Pavano was perfect in the first three innings, retiring the Angels in order, and Jared Weaver was almost his equal.. Weaver walked the first batter he faced, Denard Span, but he was erased by a double play grounder off the bat of Joe Mauer. The first hit of the game came in the 3^rd inning when Parmalee singled off the end of his bat into center field, but Weaver retired the next two hitters to finish the inning. The Angels got their first base runner on in the top of the 4^th, and capitalized with the first run of the game soon thereafter. Aybar singled up the middle to lead off, for their first hit of the game, but Kendrick hit an easy grounder to force Aybar out at 2^nd. Kendrick stole 2^nd base, which was the Angels first stolen base of the season (in five games), and then Albert Pujols came through with a line drive single to left, to score Kendrick and give the Angels a 1-0 lead. Pujols was thrown out trying to go to 2^nd on the throw home from the outfield, and Morales ended the inning with an easy fly ball to left.

        The Angels’ momentum didn’t last long at all, as the Twins came right back with some runs of their own in the bottom half of the 4^th. Carroll led off the inning with a double down the left field line, and Mauer followed with an RBI single to left center, tying the game at 1-1, in a matter of seconds. Morneau struck out for out #2, but Willingham continued his torment of the Angels, clobbering another homerun deep into left field on the first pitch fastball from Weaver (a mistake), for 2 RBI to give the Twins a 3-1 lead. Weaver settled down to retire Doumit and Valencia but the damage had been done, so the Angels had some work to do if they were going to get back in it.

         The offense came right back in the top of the 5^th, starting with a one-out single by Wells, who lined the first pitch he saw into left field. Callaspo hit a fly ball to right for the second out, and it looked like another lost inning. Iannetta managed to get a single into right field on a broken bat looper over the infield, putting runners at 1^st and 3^rd with two outs for CF Peter Bourjos. Bourjos whacked a deep fly ball into left, that ended up going over Willingham’s head, and then he crashed into the wall and fell down. Bourjos started off running at about half speed going to 1^st and then he kicked it into hyper drive as he flew around the bases and went all the way around the bases in no time flat for the always exciting inside-the-park homerun. Usually these take place on a ball that bounces around the wall bounds around a corner away from an outfielder, but this one went to straight away left field, and the play was backed up by the center fielder who fielded the ball and threw it in to the cut off man. By that time, Bourjos was flying around 3^rd and he slid in about a second ahead of the throw, for a relatively easy inside-the-parker, proving once again that he is probably the fastest base runner in baseball. More importantly it gave the Angels back the lead, who were now up 4-3 after that awe-inspiring play, after the inning looked to be almost over just two batters earlier.

        Weaver capitalized on the newfound momentum from his offense, and retired the Twins in order in the bottom of the 5^th, and allowed just one hit-to Morneau- in the 6^th, holding the lead for his team. The Angels offense went down in order in the 6^th , and then they tacked on another run in the top half of the 7^th. Hunter led off by hitting a line drive into center that Span nearly caught as he charged forward, but he could only stop it on a short hop. The ball got away from Span, so Hunter hustled his way on to 2^nd to try and stretch it into a double, and his aggression was rewarded as the throw from Span luckily scooted past the 2^nd baseman. It would have been an out if the throw had been caught, but the hustle from Hunter resulted in a runner in scoring position with no one out. Wells failed to move him over to 3^rd, hitting a fly ball to left (when you want to hit it to right to move the runner over), and Callaspo failed to do anything once again with an easy ground out, setting the stage for Iannetta with two outs. He came through with a clutch hit on the first pitch he saw, slicing a double into right center that fell in and rolled to the wall, scoring Hunter to give the Angels a 5-3 lead.

        The next half inning turned out to be the most important one in the game, as Weaver came back out to pitch the bottom of the 7^th. That may have been the first mistake, as he gave up back-to-back singles to Doumit and Valencia to start the inning, and then he was pulled from the game (at least one batter too late in my opinion). Hisanori Takahashi was called upon to pitch to the left-hand hitting Chris Parmalee and he got ahead in the count no balls, two strikes, but he made an absolutely horrible pitch, leaving a slow spinner down and in ( the worst spot to throw to a left hand hitter) and Parmalee capitalized by driving one down the right field line. Hunter made matters worse as he crashed into the right field wall trying to cut the ball off, allowing the ball to roll past him, so both runners scored to tie the game and Parmalee made it all the way to 3^rd with a triple. It looked like Takahashi was trying to throw a slider down and away, but he left it hanging in the happy hitting zone for Parmalee that probably cost the Angels the game (with an assist from the poor defense by Hunter), as it turns out. The Angels replaced him with LaTroy Hawkins, who inherited an unenviable position with the go-ahead run at 3^rd with no outs. He forced Casilla to hit a shallow fly out to left, that wasn’t deep enough to score the run, and then struck out Span for the second out, but he couldn’t get that elusive final out of the inning. Carroll came through again for the Twins, going with the outside pitch, lining the ball into right field to score Parmalee and give the Twins the unexpected 6-5 lead.

        The Twins brought in left handed fireballer Glen Perkins to pitch the 8^th and he retired the Angels in order easily, getting a groundball back to him from Aybar and then striking out Kendrick and Pujols. The Twins went down in order in their half of the 8^th, setting the table for their closer Matt Capps, in the 9^th , with the one-run lead. Morales led off with a sharp grounder right to the 2^nd baseman for out #1, and Hunter turned another hit to shallow center into another double with another hustle play, breaking his bat on a soft grounder up the middle, and hustling from the get-go to slide in safely ahead of the accurate throw from Span. The Angels had the tying run at 3^rd, but once again Wells couldn’t do anything, as he weakly pulled another grounder to the SS. I thought that Scioscia would pinch hit Abreu, given his good performance in game one of the series, along with Wells’ overall struggles vs. right handed pitching and in general, but it was not to be. Callaspo came up as the Angels last hope, but he failed again as well, weakly popping it up to the 3^rd baseman, Valencia, in foul territory to end the game. I thought there would certainly be a pinch-hitter there as well, with Abreu and Trumbo still available on the bench, but manager Mike Scioscia chose to stick with his starters, and it didn’t pay off. Most losses are never good, but this was a terrible loss, considering the situation they were in after the 7^th inning stretch, and the way their offense came through initially to retake the lead in the 5^th inning. As bad as this loss seemed at the time, game 3 would be even worse, and the panic button was starting to flash.


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         Game 3 of the series was probably one of the most disheartening games of the past few seasons, so much so that I didn’t want to watch my recording because I knew what the outcome was going to be, as I saw the updates and final score on the game on other channels without watching any of it. I know it’s still early, but this season is starting to look like a replay of last season, with the pitching issues and poor play costing them vital games. A lot of fans look at games in April as being somewhat meaningless, but some of the losses you get early in the year really come back to hurt you late in the year, when you’re fighting up hill to make up for some of those games you should have won that turned into losses many months prior.

          The Angels sent out another one of their pitching stars, Dan Haren to try and salvage the series in the rubber game of the series, as he faced off against the Twins left handed slinger, Francisco Liriano. Both pitchers were coming off of poor initial starts in their 2012 season, each allowing 5 earned runs in a handful of innings. Haren was making his 50^th start as a member of the Angels, and he has been impressive for most of them, while Liriano has been a ‘pitcher on the rise’ for a few years now, but he hasn’t been able to break through and become a winning pitcher yet, despite the fact he did throw a no-hitter last season (he finished with an unimpressive 9-10 record and 5.09 ERA).

          The Angels changed up their lineup, replacing Aybar with Maicer Izturis as both the leadoff man and shortstop (Aybar tends to struggle against left-handed pitchers so this may become something of a trend in the near future). Mark Trumbo got the start as the team’s DH after taking a couple games off (mainly because of his defense, I’m sure) and Bobby Wilson took over the catching duties, as Mike Scioscia loves to keep his catchers fresh with a platoon situation. The Twins only made one change to their successful game 2 lineup, changing their right fielder for the third game in a row, with the speedy Ben Revere, instead of Ryan Doumit (and Trevor Plouffe in game 1)

          Both teams had leadoff hits in their first inning at bat, but both were stranded as the next three batters were retired for each team. The Angels’ offense exploded with an unexpected outburst in the top of the 2^nd inning, ignited by a mammoth leadoff homerun by Mark Trumbo, who launched one into the upper deck in left field. Vernon Wells tried to hit one back up the middle, but Casilla made a good defensive play to throw him out at 1^st, but the Angels followed that up with four straight hits. Callaspo singled up the middle, Wilson followed with another hit to center, and then the offensive star in the last game, Peter Bourjos hit a deep fly into left for an RBI double. Bourjos gave his team a 2-0 lead, and helped put runners at 1^st and 2^nd for Maicer Izturis, who added another hit (to his leadoff single to start the game), smacking another one back up the middle, to score two more, for a 4-0 lead. Izturis stole 2^nd and Kendrick followed that by drawing a walk, putting two base runners on for Pujols, but he continued his early season slump and just missed a pitch down the middle, popping it up to the first baseman for an easy out. With Torii Hunter up to bat, the Angels tried a double steal, and the Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer made a poor throw to 2^nd, that bounced into center field, allowing Izturis to score easily after his attempt to steal 3^rd. In Mauer’s defense, the fielder at 2^nd should have at least stopped the ball to keep the runner at 3^rd from scoring, and because the ball went into center allowing the runners to advance, the error was charged, and the Angels were up 5-0. Hunter hit a deep fly out to right to end the inning, but it looked like the game would be in the Angels’ bad after that scoring outburst,… but things aren’t always as they seem, especially in sports, and with this team.

          Dan Haren pitched much better than in his first outing, with improved control for the most part, and he held the Twins scoreless for the first four innings, despite allowing a few base runners in the process. He set them down in order in the 2^nd following the Angels offensive outburst in the top half of the inning, but got into some trouble in the 3^rd. Revere led off the inning with a base hit up the middle, and Casilla followed with a single into right, on a mistake slider that hung up in the middle of the plate, on a 1 ball-2 strike count. Span made the first out on an easy fly out to left, that didn’t advance the runners, but Haren dug the hole a little deeper, walking Jamey Carroll to load the bases, with the Twins’ big hitters coming up. He threw three quality pitches to Mauer, finishing with a good slider on the inner half to get a pop up on the infield, and then forced Morneau to hit a shallow fly out to right to end the inning and keep the score 5-0. The Twins only managed one hit in the 4^th to remain scoreless, and the Angels offense only produced one base runner, on a walk, in their two innings following their big 2^nd inning, but they did attain their 4^th stolen base of the game, which is a welcomed sight for Angels fans. They added one more run in the top of the 5^th, started by Trumbo who drew a two-out walk, and then stole 2^nd (the Angels 5^th of the game), catching the Twins defense by surprise. Wells drove him in with a 2-out double down the left field line, lunging for a 1-2 outside slider and getting enough of it this time to place it away from the left fielder, and score the 6^th run for the Angels.

        It looked like a commanding 6-0 lead for the Angels, more than half way through, but the tides turned, starting in the bottom of the 5^th. Span and Carroll each hit soft line drive singles to the opposite field, with one out, to give Mauer another chance with runners on base. This time he came through, and it looked like he was waiting for the inside slider this time, as he turned on it and deposited it into the right field seats for a 3-run homer, cutting the Angels lead in half just that quickly. Haren retired Morneau on a groundout, but faced more danger in the inning when Willingham got an infield single on a weakly hit dribbler along the 3^rd base line, and Parmalee followed with a bloop hit into right. He avoided more damage, striking out Valencia swinging at a full count slider that cut away off the plate at the last second, to finally retire the side.

        The Angels failed to score in the 6h, despite a lead off infield single from Wilson, and a sacrifice bunt from Bourjos to move him into scoring position, as Izturis and Kendrick both struck out looking, against the new Twins pitcher Alex Burnett. The Angels removed Haren from the game, in what looked like a premature pitching change, and brought in Takahashi to pitch the bottom of the 6^th. He retired the first two hitters he faced but then things got a little dicey, as he wasn’t able to put hitters away with two strikes against them. He had Denard Span down 1 ball- 2 strikes, but allowed a single to left on a hanging, hittable slider, and then got ahead of Jamey Carroll, but tried to nibble too much with his pitches and ended up walking him to put two runners on for Mauer again, with two outs. Mauer hit what looked like a routine grounder to the shortstop Izturis, but for some reason he double clutched and threw the ball late to 1^st, allowing Mauer to beat the throw and loading the bases for the Twins’ Justin Morneau once again. Manager Mike Scioscia went with the right-handed hard throwing Kevin Jepsen (instead of the soft-tossing lefty) against the left handed slugger, and the move paid off as Morneau hit a weak fly out to left to end the threat.

         The Angels went down in order in the 7^th against Burnett, setting the stage for the Twins to complete the comeback after the 7^th inning stretch, with another three- run inning. Willingham led off with a homerun to left on a full count 96 MPH fastball, to continue his battering of the Angels pitching, cutting the lead to 6-4. Parmalee followed that with a line drive double to left center, going with another 96 MPH pitch, then Valencia grounded one into right field for their third straight hit. The Angels defense then let them down, first because it looked like Kendrick was in position to field the grounder that was just a couple feet to his left, but for some reason he didn’t see the ball well and made his first move to his right, so the ball went to the right fielder. To make matters worse RF Torii Hunter made a terrible mistake, throwing the ball over all the infielders all the way to the catcher, even though the runner at 3^rd wasn’t coming home, which allowed Valencia to go to 2^nd base, and eliminate the double play possibility, not to mention allow a second runner into scoring position. Ben Revere batted with the tying runs at 2^nd and 3^rd and no outs, but he couldn’t manage to drive them in, hitting a medium depth fly ball to left, and Parmalee didn’t even attempt to tag up and test Wells’ arm. Scioscia replaced Jepsen with lefty Scott Downs, and the Twins countered by pinch-hitting Luke Hughes for Alexi Casilla. He hit the first pitch from Downs into deep left center field, that nearly resulted in a collision by the two Angels outfielders, but still allowed the runner to come in on the sacrifice fly (moving up both runners), to make the score 6-5. Span batted with two outs and the runner at 3^rd, and hit a grounder towards Pujols at 1^st, who underhanded it to Downs covering the base, but Span is a fast runner, so they tried to hurry the play, and in their haste Downs wasn’t able to catch the ball cleanly. To make matters worse, he got stepped on as he tried to reach back with his foot to touch the base as he covered 1^st, and it looked like he twisted his ankle, so he had to be pulled from the game. It was a brand new game as the Twins tied the score with that infield hit, that was a tough play but a play that should have been made, and now the Angels had to go back to their bullpen, bringing in Rich Thompson. He allowed a stolen base to Span, but struck out Carroll to end the inning, so the game headed into the 8^th as a 6-6 tie.

         The Twins brought in Jared Burton to start the top of the 8^th, and he allowed a lead off single back up the middle by Vernon Wells, and any time he doesn’t try to pull the ball it’s a good thing, so that was a positive sight. Callaspo hit a fly out to right on the first pitch he saw, and as the Angels called up Kendrys Morales to pinch-hit for Wilson, the Twins countered by bringing in a left-hander, Brian Duensing, into the game, to turn the switch-hitter around to hit from his weaker right side. Morales hit an easy fly out to left for the second out, bringing up the offensive hero from the last game, Peter Bourjos. Duensing made a big mistake, throwing a wild pitch which allowed Wells to advance to 2^nd, and Bourjos made them pay as he grounded one through the hole on the left side, into left field, to score Wells, giving the Angels the lead again, 7-6. They failed to tack on any more despite a walk to Izturis to put two on, as Kendrick grounded out to end the inning.

         The Angels continued their trend of bad pitching and poor defense at the end of this game, as they surrendered the lead, and a whole lot more, in the bottom of the 8^th. Mauer led off the inning and took advantage of a very bad pitch from Thompson, who left a hanging curveball down the middle of the plate on a 1 ball-2 strike count, and it was lined into right for a single. He tried to continue the trend of offering the next batter, Morneau, outside fastballs, but Morneau was ready this time, and launched the 90 MPH pitch deep into the right field seats, to give the Twins a 8-7 lead. I guess Scioscia didn’t want to use any of his other relievers because he left Thompson in the game, and he proceeded to allow more runs to the Twins. Willingham followed the homer with a line drive, that went off of the 3B Callaspo’s glove as he leapt up to catch it. He did strike out Parmalee, but fell behind Valencia 3 balls-0 strikes so he threw a fastball right down the middle, and Valencia whacked a double down the left field line, to score another run and make it 9-7 Twins. After Revere grounded out for the 2^nd out, Luke Hughes took advantage of another bad pitch from Thompson, knocking another hanging curve (on a 0-2 count) into left field, to score the Twins 10^th run, and they eventually took 10-7 lead into the top of the 9^th inning.

          Now the Angels were down for the first time in the game after another multiple run inning by the Twins, just as their last at bat of the game approached. The Twins brought in their closer Matt Capps to finish the game, but the Angels were still fighting. Pujols led off the inning with his first hit of the game, a sharp single into left, and then the Angels got a lucky bounce to help make things interesting. Hunter hit a a slow groundball up the middle that looked like an easy double play ball, but the ball bounced right off of 2^nd base as the fielders closed in on it, and ricocheted away, allowing Pujols to take 3^rd, and start the Angels last attempt at a rally. With runners at 1^st and 3^rd and no outs, Mark Trumbo lined an RBI single into left, to make it 10-8. Vernon Wells was also helped out by a little luck, as he hit another potential double play grounder to the shortstop, who tossed it to the 2^nd baseman, but they were unable to get complete the double play as Wells was called safe at 1^st. First. Wells was lucky that the 2^nd baseman double clutched slightly before throwing and then even luckier that the umpire called him safe, as replays appeared to show that he was safe. Callaspo batted with runners at 1^st and 3^rd, and grounded out to 1^st, scoring Hunter from 3^rd to make the score 10-9, while moving Wells with the potential tying run over to 2^nd base. Iannetta was next, with his first at-bat of the game after coming in as defensive replacement (when Wilson was pinch-hit for), but he couldn’t take advantage of the lucky bounces in the inning to complete the rally, hitting a weak grounder to 3^rd base, as Valencia made a great running throw to 1^st for the final out of the game.

         Minnesota came into the series with one of the lowest scoring offenses in the game, but they beat down the Angels pitching in the final two games, compiling an astounding total of 20 hits in this game. Haren allowed 9 hits and just 3 runs (along with 7 strikeouts) in his 5 innings, but the bullpen allowed 11 more hits, and more importantly, 7 more runs, in their 4 innings of work. It looked just like the start to the 2011 season, as the bullpen failed to hold the lead early in that season too, so hopefully they can pull it together soon, before they fall too far back in the standings. The bright side is that their offense is scoring fairly often, despite a lack of production from their main offensive cogs (namely Pujols) and they have started to play their small tactics (squeeze bunts, stolen bases), which is their typical modus operandi but their record is what counts, and that isn’t too positive. Things don’t get any easier for the Halos, as they have to travel to New York to take on one of the eastern division power houses, the Yankees. As I write this, they have already lost the first game of that series, getting shut out, so things aren’t looking very positive so far…. but it‘s still just a week into the season.

FANTASY WATCH

The Twins’ Joe Mauer had 3 hits, including a 3-run homer, despite getting off to a slow start in the game, but many Twins batters contributed to their fantasy stat line, given the fact the team had 20 hits and 10 runs scored.

One of the most notable Angels fantasy lines belongs to Albert Pujols, but it’s for his lack of production, as he is hitting about .200, with no homers and very limited production. He got off to a slow start last season with St Louis as well, but he still hit 37 homers and drove in 99 runs, so it’s not time to worry yet.