Sunday, July 09, 2006 |
Magic And Morales: Angels 4, A's 2
Anyway. Ervin Santana got some wind at his back in this one, with an outfield assist by Juan Rivera and a fine tag out at the plate by Jose Molina, who himself contributed a home run to the affair. But Ervin's pitching was simply fantastic most of the game, retiring the side in order twice and getting five strikeouts over seven innings. The kid's 10-3 with a 3.96 ERA, and he's learning, too.
Offensively, Chone Figgins got a pair of hits, and it's good to see his average creeping back up to respectability. Anderson had two hits, his first multi-hit game in five appearances. Aside from Jose's homer, Kendry Morales, despite being 1-4 and taking some flak from Rex Hudler about his bat speed, drove in the winning runs on an RBI triple that Nick Swisher misplayed in left, attempting to make a sliding catch but instead tumbling into the wall and letting Morales easily get into third.
Finally, I wanted to add a postscriptum about the relative strength of schedules going into the second half. It's been much remarked upon that the A's have a tough schedule right after the break, but what those same observers forget is that the Angels will have no room for error (or, literally, errors) in their play starting on July 28, the opening of a road series at Boston. From there, they play twenty-four consecutive days:
So the Angels will be playing some tough teams in August while going a very, very long time without a break.Dates Who/Where Notes ========================================================= 7/28-7/30 @ Boston 8/31-8/2 vs. Oakland 8/3-8/6 vs. Texas 8/7 @ Chicago Sox Makeup for the rainout on 5/11 8/8-8/10 @ Cleveland 8/11-8/14 @ NY Yankees 8/15-8/16 @ Texas 8/17-8/20 vs. Seattle
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