To start with, I played like crap in the CDGA Amateur qualifying. It's got me contemplating taking an indefinite hiatus from competitive golf. Fortunately, I'll be heading down to the Futures Tour event in Hammond this weekend to watch a friend play, so that will keep me occupied while I take a couple of weeks off from playing golf at all, which should allow my wrist some time to heal.
On top of that, the Angels played less than stellar baseball, and John Lackey blew a four run lead as the Angels lost their first game in the last six. They've now won four straight series, and nine of the last ten.
Lackey was sharp through three innings, but started to elevate the ball a bit, and if you do that during a day game in June, you're going to give up some home runs in that stadium. The Twins took advantage.
Then something happened in hockey, but I had already fallen asleep on the couch.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
Twins 3; Angels 16
For the first few innings, this looked like your typical Angels-Twins tilt. Low scoring, good pitching, great defense, questionable baserunning, exciting plays on the bases and at the plate...
The Angels had extended a little bit in the fifth, putting together a two out rally, Orlando Cabrera's single bookended by doubles from Reggie Willits and Vlad Guerrero. After a Gary Matthews fly out, things had settled down.
Then, with one out in the sixth, Boof Bonser, who had been a strike throwing machine, threw three consecutive balls to Casey Kotchman. The fourth pitch was a strike, and it ended up about 8-10 rows deep in the right field seats. It was such a nice swing, I had to re-watch it a couple of times just to hear the crack of the bat. Then the floodgates opened. After a Howie Kendrick single, Mike Napoli knocked one into the second bullpen, and a two run lead was suddenly a five run lead. As if to rub it in, the Angels added two more runs with two out, Cabrera singling home Figgins (who should have been out stealing second), and a Matthews single following a Guerrero IBB for an 8-1 lead.
But this time eight wasn't enough. Willits, Cabrera, and Vlad reached again (a second straight IBB to Vlad), and Gary Matthews made them pay again, this time with a grand slam. And the hits just kept coming. Garret Anderson followed with a homer of his own. As much I love watching Vladdy hit it deep, there's just something about the swing that GA takes on home run balls that is really beautiful to watch. They weren't finished until they had doubled up that 8 runs for a total of 16 on 23 hits.
Almost lost in the shuffle was an excellent performance from Jered Weaver, who allowed six baserunners, one homer, and struck out four over seven innings. He's now 5-3 with a 3.88 ERA. I think that will come down a notch or so, and he'll finish the season closer to 3.50. I'd take that in a heartbeat. That would be a quality major league season.
After going 8-2 in their last ten, the Angels now sit 15 games over .500, trailing only the Red Sox and Mets in the race for baseball's best record. This has been a pretty nice 59 games, and a fantastic last 26, in which they've gone 20-6. They've been fun to watch.
Now let's hope they didn't use all their runs last night. And if they did, well, Kelvim is used to getting little help.
The Angels had extended a little bit in the fifth, putting together a two out rally, Orlando Cabrera's single bookended by doubles from Reggie Willits and Vlad Guerrero. After a Gary Matthews fly out, things had settled down.
Then, with one out in the sixth, Boof Bonser, who had been a strike throwing machine, threw three consecutive balls to Casey Kotchman. The fourth pitch was a strike, and it ended up about 8-10 rows deep in the right field seats. It was such a nice swing, I had to re-watch it a couple of times just to hear the crack of the bat. Then the floodgates opened. After a Howie Kendrick single, Mike Napoli knocked one into the second bullpen, and a two run lead was suddenly a five run lead. As if to rub it in, the Angels added two more runs with two out, Cabrera singling home Figgins (who should have been out stealing second), and a Matthews single following a Guerrero IBB for an 8-1 lead.
But this time eight wasn't enough. Willits, Cabrera, and Vlad reached again (a second straight IBB to Vlad), and Gary Matthews made them pay again, this time with a grand slam. And the hits just kept coming. Garret Anderson followed with a homer of his own. As much I love watching Vladdy hit it deep, there's just something about the swing that GA takes on home run balls that is really beautiful to watch. They weren't finished until they had doubled up that 8 runs for a total of 16 on 23 hits.
Almost lost in the shuffle was an excellent performance from Jered Weaver, who allowed six baserunners, one homer, and struck out four over seven innings. He's now 5-3 with a 3.88 ERA. I think that will come down a notch or so, and he'll finish the season closer to 3.50. I'd take that in a heartbeat. That would be a quality major league season.
After going 8-2 in their last ten, the Angels now sit 15 games over .500, trailing only the Red Sox and Mets in the race for baseball's best record. This has been a pretty nice 59 games, and a fantastic last 26, in which they've gone 20-6. They've been fun to watch.
Now let's hope they didn't use all their runs last night. And if they did, well, Kelvim is used to getting little help.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Orioles 3; Angels 4
Apparently the key is to lose the first game of the series. For the second straight series, the Angels lost game one, and rolled the rest of the way. Kind of reminds me of a certain post-season in recent memory.
After a close victory Friday and a comfortable win last night, no doubt made better by the bitchslapping that the Senators gave the Ducks, the Angels needed some Vladimir Guerrero heroics, a two run homer in the ninth, to pull out today's victory. I missed Friday night's game because I was drinking with some friends, and I really just didn't feel like writing about last night's game.
58 games into the season, the Angels have baseball's third best record. They have some separation between themselves and the M's and A's, and Texas is completely out of the picture already. Apparently it's their best record ever after 58 games. Next up are the Twins, who've been hanging around .500, and are a solid 7-3 in their last ten games. Something about the Twins. The Angels always seem to play playoff style close games against the Twins.
After a close victory Friday and a comfortable win last night, no doubt made better by the bitchslapping that the Senators gave the Ducks, the Angels needed some Vladimir Guerrero heroics, a two run homer in the ninth, to pull out today's victory. I missed Friday night's game because I was drinking with some friends, and I really just didn't feel like writing about last night's game.
58 games into the season, the Angels have baseball's third best record. They have some separation between themselves and the M's and A's, and Texas is completely out of the picture already. Apparently it's their best record ever after 58 games. Next up are the Twins, who've been hanging around .500, and are a solid 7-3 in their last ten games. Something about the Twins. The Angels always seem to play playoff style close games against the Twins.
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