Angels 3; Red Sox 0

Well, it wasn't easy, although for 7 innings, Paul Byrd made it look pretty easy. He was fantastic until losing it a bit in the 8th, giving up a double and a rare walk. Shields came on, causing yours truly to cringe a bit. But Shields responded by striking out ManRam, Renteria, and nemesis David Ortiz, the last two with the bases loaded. Frankie was shaky in the ninth, but he found a way to throw the breaking ball for strikes at just the right time, striking out the side, although he loaded the bases in the process.

For the second straight night, Larry Young embarrassed himself, making his case for being the most pathetic excuse for an umpire in Major League Baseball. This time, he botched a completely routine tag up by Cabrera who moved from second to third on a foul fly out to right. Trot Nixon jumped into the stands, caught the ball, exchanged some high fives, ran up for a beer and a helmet sundae, made a few phone calls, and was in the process of hitting on some ZooMass co-eds in the fifth row when Cabrera decided to leave for third, which he reached easily. The Sox appealed to second, claiming that Cabrera left early, and inexplicably, Young agreed. Two ejections later, the Sox were out of the inning.

But that wasn't the strangest moment of the night. That came in the top of the seventh when Bengie Molina actually beat a throw to first base. Sure, it was only after Renteria went into the hole and made a great stop, then went to second to try to get the lead runner, but he legged it out all the same, and it became an RBI fielder's choice.

The good news is that Escobar was up and throwing in the 8th, which may be a sign that Bart will be ready to go on Saturday, a game which I may be at, but probably not. Sunday I may skip out to play golf, but I do have tickets for tomorrow night's game. Washburn goes against Buerhle, so the game should be over in about 37 minutes.