Angels 5; Mariners 2

The crazy 5:30 pm CDT start forced me to miss the first three innings. It was already 2-0 before I left the office, and it was 4-2 before I got off the red line. Some of us have to work, ya know. Actually, the more I think about it, one of the benefits to staying in the Mid-west is that I can pretty much see all of just about every game. The East Coast games start at 6:00, and if I can get out of the office by 5:30, I'm home in time to see the whole thing. That would all change if I moved back home.

Anyway, since I missed most of the scoring, I really don't have a lot to comment on. Vlad was the victim of a simply atrocious call at the plate. Good throw from Ichiro, but Vlad was clearly in before the tag. Once again, the old "tag? what tag? If the throw beats him, he's out" laziness of the umpires strikes again. The only really other notable thing was Chone Figgins being a MAJOR dumbass getting picked off second with nobody out and Vlad at the plate. That cost the Angels a run as Vlad walked, and GA drove one off the right field wall that took a bad carom right to Ichiro.

Solid outing from Paul Byrd, which is another in a string by Angels pitchers. One of the reasons has been how they've handled Beltre and Sexon. They've completely shut those two down. Of course, as I type that, Sexon drills a single to left center. Nice play Geri in center field to hold him to a single.

One crazy thing about this series has been the following stat (brief pause while I look it up): 12 walks for (make that 13 now; oops, 14), 5 walks against. They had none yesterday, but I didn't think I'd see any games this season in which the Angels drew five unintentional walks. They've done it twice in the last three games. Right now, only the White Sox have a better ERA, and the starter ERA is also second. Only the otherwordly 2.82 starter ERA of the Sox is better than the Angels 4.02, which will go down to 3.97 after today's strong effort from Byrd, 3.71 if you take out Kevin Gregg. In 2002 they had better pitching than expected. Of course, they had better everything than expected, but I still think this is a good start.

One thing about D-Mac that's worrying me (and I didn't see him play in the minors, so I could be worried for no reason), he doesn't seem to pull the ball all that much. Don't get me wrong, I like to see him go the other way, but not ALL the time. I think he's still trying to find his swing. That's OK. I'm patient.

Frankie comes on with a three run lead. 17 strike outs, no walks to this point. That's a pretty decent ratio. Jeremy Reed with an awful bunt for out number one. Tough guy to bunt on. Does one - well not even city, but state - does any geographical region have two relief pitchers who are as fun to watch as LA.? Frankie and Gagne (when healthy) are two one inning guys who are worth the price of admission. 18 strike outs, no walks. That's just filthy, filthy, dirty stuff. Dave Hansen to the plate for his first at bat of the season. Is that even fair? Make a guy take his first AB against K-Rod? Add to that, he's got an ump with a flight to catch who just called a strike on a pitch about 8 inches off the ground. And just like that, Hansen grounds out, the Angels sweep, and have won 4 straight.

Time for a day of rest, a good night for me to head to the driving range (it's supposed to be 70 degrees tomorrow), and a day to gear up for the Tigers, who are no longer gimmes.