Angels 5; Mariners 0

Another interesting start from Washburn, another first inning where the Angels cut a run off at the plate, and another sparkling performance turned in over the rest of the evening. Wash seems to be getting a ton of ground balls this season, which is a great development. If he can keep the ball in the ballpark, he's going to be a MUCH more effective pitcher. Now the Angels will look to do something tomorrow night that they have been unable to do all season: Win three games in a row.

From the believe it or not file, Steve Finley had two hits, both for extra bases (a homer and a double). The home run came on a pretty good pitch, a curveball that Finley took from about a foot off the ground. G.A. absolutely crushed the ball that he hit out, and he hit another one pretty hard, too.

Alright, let's get to the catch. I've already heard it from my dad on this one, but I'm sorry. Great athletic feat? Sure. Great catch? Not hardly. I was instantly reminded of the lay-up that Jordan scored against the Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals. You know the one. The one where he went up with the right hand, completely unguarded, clear path to the basket, but for some inexplicable reason, he switched to his left hand and layed in a basket that he could have dunked. It's like running 180 feet through traffic crossing three streets at intersection to get to the corner that's 60 feet away when you had a little green man calling you across. Pretty dangerous and impressive? Sure. Pretty stupid? Definitely.

The fact is Ichiro completely misread the ball. He could have caught it at the wall without so much as jumping. But instead he ran back, climbed the wall, spun around, and practically had to jump down before he could catch it. Impressive athletic feat? Sure. Almost botched slightly touhger than routine catch? Definitely. You'll see it all year on the hilight reels, and every time I see it I'll cringe and think how unworthy it was. But enough of that.

Kennedy looked, well, not sharp to start off with. Booted a fairly routine grounder. Made a real dumb-ass play by throwing to second and almost hitting Cabrera in the feet on a play where he had no chance to get Ichiro, and allowed him to get to third. He did make a nice play later in the game to save a run and end the inning. Looked a little overmatched at the plate, but that's to be expected.

D-Mac looked pretty awful at the plate tonight, but he continues to impress in the field. I guess when you look at it, he's not doing much more than making routine plays, but word out of Arkansas and Salt Lake was that he always looked uncomfortable at third. Maybe he was just uncomfortable in Arkansas and Salt Lake. I've never been to Arkansas, but I always feel uncomfortable when I'm in Salt Lake, so I can't blame him.