This was kind of a fun game to watch. Turn it on, get discouraged, do other stuff around the apartment while the game plays in the background, give up hope, then watch the Angels put up a five spot in the 8th to win the game. And just in case you got a little too happy, Frankie made matters a little more interesting by giving up a two out shot in the ninth, suddenly making a two out RBI single by Juan Rivera all that much more important. Frankie then gave up a 390 foot shot in to JD Closser that fell just short of the wall and into Chone Figgins' glove.
Even the most pessimistic among us keep hope alive after just about every win, and wins like this go double for that. When the team comes back and wins a game that they really shouldn't, you always think it's the one that helps them turn the corner, that leads to a long winning streak. Well, we'll find out this week if that's the case.
But while the team has teeter-tottered between being in the race and out of the race, three players have made the season worth watching. One is plying his trade in triple A due to an inexplicable brain cramp that seems to have afflicted all of the team's upper management. Meanwhile, we've been treated to fantastic first halves from Orlando Cabrera, who has now reached base safely in 54 or 55 straight games, and Michael Napoli, who has added an ability to hit for average to the plate discipline and power he showed in his minor league career, a career that he doesn't figure to continue. Both played major roles in tonight's victory, with the OC extending his streak with an RBI single in the ninth, and Napoli ripping an opposite field double that drove home the tying and and go ahead runs. No matter what happens this season, they've provided a heck of a lot of entertainment.
And they all provided a nice present for John Lackey, who pitched well enough to win, and actually did win for once. He had to be patient, but he got a double play line drive to escape a bases loaded, one out jam in the second inning that could have essentially iced the game for the Rockies if it had been a few feet up, left, or right. But such is baseball. And if the Angels do use this game to spur them to bigger and better and things, they can look back at that lucky line drive as a turning point.
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3 comments:
Well, The OC's single just loaded the bases (Vlad's groundout knocked in the first run) and the double play you refer to was of the 4-6-3 variety, not a line drive. But otherwise, right on, man.
See, that's what I mean when I say having it on in the background and not paying attention.
Nap has been awesome. Can see why the Angels wanted to bring up Mathis instead.
Yeah, I'm kidding.
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