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Monday, May 16, 2005 |
The Offense Rests: Angels 3, Indians 1
Good news for the Angels: the injury to Odalis Perez means they get to see Mr. Lisa later this week, meaning they ought to have a chance at winning, i.e., embarrassing the Dodgers into releasing him. They can do both teams a favor at once that way. Today's game against the Indians reminded me that Paul Byrd probably isn't as good as he seemed today, but he's still got something left, and as a four- or five-spot starter, he's got some value yet. For his part, Byrd claims ignorance as to why he's done so well:
"They're one of those teams I do well against," he said after pitching seven shutout innings in the Angels' 3-1 win Monday night. "I can't come up with any one special thing. I've just had good starts against them."To help Byrd along, one reason he's done so well against the Indians is that three of the five starts have come against weak Indians clubs. His two starts in 2001 were the only ones against an Indians team that ended the year with a winning record. Though Cleveland actually doesn't look too bad this year, the presence of a strengthened Chisox team combined with the always-feisty Twins means that this division ain't big enough for three winning teams.Byrd is 5-0 with a 1.60 ERA (eight earned runs in 45 innings) in seven career starts against the Indians. He allowed three hits, struck out five, walked three and threw 85 pitches Monday.
Otherwise, the story remained much the same: the Angels continue to get inexplicably good starting pitching in the main, while the offense is off in the Bahamas, working on a tan. The 0-4, .243 Figgins in the leadoff spot is something I fretted about when Stoneman flushed Eckstein; neither of Erstad nor Figgins really are quality leadoff guys (nor should you be asking your first baseman to lead off in the first place). If the Angels make the postseason, for once they need to send the bouquets to their starters.
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