Wednesday, August 03, 2005 |
Birds Caged: Angels 8, Orioles 4
-- angelsbaseball.com headlineTwo years ago, the O's owned the Angels. Despite another forgettable year of mediocrity in the AL East, Baltimore was 8-1 against the all-too-human Angels, who had a forgettable year of their own in 2003. Plagued by injuries (Glaus, Fullmer, Erstad), regression to the mean (Kennedy, Eckstein, Gil, Wooten, Spiezio), and age-related declines (Salmon), the Angels' 2003 ensured they wouldn't be much hated by the rest of the league. (Okay, maybe I'm wrong.)
This year it's the Angels' turn to whup up on the Orioles. Baltimore's high-flying first half, fueled as much by their division rival Yankees and Red Sox early season stumbles, haven't translated well in the second half, as they're rapidly sinking toward another third-place finish. Capped by questionable offseason acquisition Sammy Sosa, still anchored by an iffy rotation, no wonder Joe Dimino at Hardball Times called Baltimore "possibly the most, "who cares" combination of talents in the major leagues" before the season started. If this series is any indication, they've lived down to that assessment.
This game marks their eighth straight loss, and their sixteenth since the All Star break. Eric Bedard, who had a brilliant 2.32 ERA coming into the game, got roughed up for his second worst earned run total all year -- seven -- or, if you prefer, the Angels offense had an overdue breakout against a very good pitcher. Either way, a refreshing change from the events of the Tuesday through Sunday.
Lackey wasn't always brilliant, but he continued to gut his way through outings; in some ways, the fifth was his real masterpiece, containing the top of the order and managing to contain the opposition offense to only a pair of runs. Even last year, that becomes a blowout inning and Lackey heads to the showers; this year, he reaches back for something more and gets out of it. That the Angels answered with six runs of their own in the next half frame, more than batting around, didn't hurt. You absolutely have to like Lackey's improvements this year, without a doubt.
Finally, as the cherry on top, Vlad collected his 900th career RBI, the A's fell to the Twins, and the Angels go up on the division by a game and a half. It's all good, baby, it's all good.
Newer› ‹Older
 |
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.