Angels 7; Tigers 6

It was a little too late for a recap last night, and by now, you probably know what happened. I'm not sure I really have any more to add to what Matt has said. Besides, I've already said it a million times. Finley sucks hard, and Erstad has no business batting fifth. However, there were faint glimmers of hope last night, as Scioscia finally removed Finley in a pressure at bat with another left hander. Sure, Kotchman struck out on a pitch that was nowhere near the strike zone, but it was a step in the right direction.

The Angels reclaimed sole posession of first after an extra inning loss by the A's, so let's hope the same happens again today.

Bruins v. Sooners today in what's really a make or break game for Dorrell. Oklahoma is wounded and vulnerable, while the Bruins' offense is clicking. The stars are going to determine the outcome of this one. Olson, Drew and Marcedes Lewis against the Sooners defense, and on the other side, it will come down to Justin London and Spencer Havner against student of the year Adrian Peterson. I think the Bruins are going to win, but it will be struggle, as I think they still need to gain confidence. I'm not sure they believe they can play with an Oklahoma team, even one that's poor by Oklahoma standards. If it's tied at half time, or the Bruins lead, they win the game. If they trail at the half, it will go to Oklahoma.

The post where I give up

Seriously, is there any reason to watch these sacks of crap anymore?

Can hockey season start now, please?

Fuck 'em all

I've never seen a team score nine runs in a game where I could say "they really deserved to lose." If you score nine runs, you usually deserve to win. But not this team. This team is made up of probably the dumbest group of players I've ever seen, all led by their dunce-in-chief in the dugout. Fuck'em.

Mariners 2; Angels 1

Mike Scioscia deserves 100% of the blame for any game in which Steve Finley plays. That goes double for any game in which Erstad bats fifth. It's that simple. On top of that, he refused to pinch hit for Darin Erstad in an obvious pinch hit situation. The logical choice would have been to call up Quinlan in that situation. Erstad was unlucky, as he hit the ball hard, but right at Beltre. Doesn't matter. It was a predictable situation, as it's a lot tougher to control the bat against a lefty with a good curve ball.

For the second night in a row, the Angels face a guy who should be selling life insurance, and they make him into an award winner. This offense is absolutely putrid. Thank God for the schedule, or at least the A's drawing the tough teams part. The easy schedule for the Angels looks like it will prove to be anything but.

Under .500 since the all star break. This, folks, is not a good baseball team. Winning three straight over another incredibly overrated team over the weekend doesn't change that.

Assuming I come to my senses tomorrow, there probably won't be a game recap. It depends on how badly I want to go see the Brian Jonestown Massacre. The Angels just gave me one more reason to NOT stay home.

Mariners 4; Angels 1

It's only the sixth inning, but this one is over. Joel Piniero has an ERA over 6 against the rest of the league, but against the Angels, they make him look like the second coming of Cy Young. And I don't mean to imply that he turns it on against them. I mean exactly what I said. This offense absolutely sucks against Piniero. At one point he threw Darin Erstad five pitches out of the strike zone and struck him out. He's thrown 49 freaking pitches through five innings. They had an entire inning that lasted as long as Barry Bonds' first at bat. Seriously. He's faced 7 teams more than once. His lowest ERA against any of those teams besides the Angels is 3.77 against the A's. Everyone else that has faced him two or more times has killed him. But the Angels treat him like they're facing his fading promise, as opposed to his true ability.

Whatever strides this offense took over the weekend, they've politely stepped right back to where they were before heading to Chicago. It doesn't help that Scioscia wants to believe so badly that he continues to punt a lineup spot by playing Steve Finley, not to mention weakening the defense at the same time.

Santana has not been sharp lately, and tonight was no exception. I'll admit, I thought his solid July and August were going to be good enough to send Escobar to the pen, but I've changed my mind. He was behind to almost every hitter. He had no control over his fastball. He's keeping his poise, but he just isn't getting guys out, and with this offense, they can't afford to have a starter give up four or five runs a game. If they don't move Escobar back into the rotation, I think they're in huge trouble. If they just throw him out there and pray, they're going to lose the division. It doesn't help when their 'gold glove' second baseman can't make a simple throw to the plate on a double steal.

Let's put this one in the books as an overmatched pitcher against a tired offense, and let's be thankful that we don't have to face Piniero again. On the bright side, maybe Finley will be returned to the bench for good. It's nice to forget about this team's problems every once in a while, but they have a great way of reminding us just how flawed they are.

Angels 6; White Sox 1

Watched the good parts of this one on the DVR after I got home from another mediocre round of golf. Not much to say, really, other than it's really awesome to listen to Hawk call a game where the White Sox just get hammered.

It's gonna take more than two decent games to get me to stop hating Finley, but he had a couple more hits to today. Garret is starting to get a bit of a power stroke back, which is going to be very important down the stretch. Going down the list, of the guys who have been regulars all season, only three are showing the power at either the level of expectation or better. Vlad, Figgins, and Molina. But what's happened to this point is water under the bridge. What matters now is what happens down the stretch. And if they can play a little long ball for the next three weeks, they'll be tough to catch.

Lackey was excellent again, as he continues to grow into an ace. It may be that growth, even more than the emergence of Santana, that makes Washburn expendable after the season. They would have three front of the rotation starters, and really Wash would be number four in next year's rotation (maybe #5 if Santana improves over the off-season). What he will command on the market is a lot to pay for a fourth or fifth starter, but it's less a reflection on him, and more a indication of the strength of this pitching staff. I realize that those roles are strictly definitional, and nothing says you can't have five number one starters. But at this point, I'll take Byrd for another year over Wash at a big number for four or five more.

Three more up the coast before the team returns home. Honestly, they've already won one more game on this trip than I expected. Hopefully they'll get three more.