| Shane Cobb. 4th September, 2005 - 4:39 pm
 Angels vs. A’s Recap
After getting absolutely humiliated in Tampa Bay, the Angels came back strong to win two out of three games against the Oakland Athletics. Even though only 13,000 people attended the games in Tropicana, the Angels were still embarrassed and determined to never let that happen again.
Game one of the three game series against the Oakland Athletics was one of the greatest pitching duels in all of baseball this season. The A’s ace Barry Zito took the mound against the Angels ace Bartolo Colon. Bartolo Colon has been wonderful for the second half of the season posting great numbers such as: 6 wins, 1 loss, and a 2.86 ERA. Zito pitched a full 9 innings striking out 9, but didn’t pick up the win because the game went in extras innings. Colon matched Zito and went 9 and 1/3 innings. Francisco Rodriguez gave up a homerun in the top of the 11th inning to Oakland’s Bobby Kielty. Huston Street closed out the bottom of the 11th to pick up his 18th save. The A’s took game one…
Game two was another good pitching match up between Joe Blanton and John Lackey. Sadly only one pitcher could come out on top and fortunately it was the Angels John Lackey. Lackey successfully accomplished his 11th win of the season pitching 7 innings striking out seven. Francisco Rodriguez, who blew the game the night before, came after batters and picked up his 31st save of the season. The Angels tie the series at one game apiece…
The third and final game of the series was one of Ervin Santana’s best-pitched games all year long. He pitched shut out ball through 8 and 1/3 innings. He struck out four batters and did not allow a single walk. In this playoff atmosphere, Santana showed the confidence and mound composure of a 10 year veteran. At just 22 years old, Santana shows tons of promise for the future. K-Rod was brought into this game as well to get the last two batters and effortlessly got the 32nd save. Angels win the series and tied the A’s for first place in the AL West.
Injury Update
Losing 6 games of their last 10, the Angels received great news on Friday saying that Kelvim Escobar is expected to be back with the team on their next road trip. This means Mike will have to make a tough decision on whether to keep Ervin in the rotation and move Escobar to the bull pen or vice versa. In my opinion, the best choice is to keep Santana starting and have Escobar “Curt Schilling” his way back into the starting rotation. Dallas McPherson had a successful surgery to get rid of a bone spur in his left hip. He is out for the season, but is expected to be ready for next season.
Angels Trade for a Left-hander
On this past Tuesday, August 30th; the Angels made a move to add a left-handed pitcher to the bullpen. The Giants traded Jason Christiansen, 35, to the Angels for minor league pitchers Dusty Bergman and Ronnie Ray. This move will give the Angels a veteran lefty who will play a big role in the postseason.
Vlad hits No. 300
On Friday night against the Seattle Mariners, Vladimir Guerrero hit a solo homerun to break out of his horrible slump where he had only 1 RBI in his past sixteen games. This solo homerun was a milestone in his career as it was number 300. He is only 29 years old and pretty much a lock for 500 homeruns. His homerun is also significant because it was on Angels’ announcer Rex Hudlers’ birthday. Expect Guerrero to get on another hot streak and carry the Angels into the postseason where he will compete for a consecutive AL MVP title.
Expect success for the Angels…
With Kelvim Escobar coming back off the DL, the acquisition of the lefty Jason Christiansen, the starting rotation pitching magnificent, and Vladimir Guerrero starting to get off his cold streak, expect the Angels to win the division and compete in the postseason for another chance to be in the World Series and hopefully win it all again like 2002. I have a tremendous amount of faith in the Angels to accomplish this, because we have all the talent in the world within our organization. |
