6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Today's Birthdays

Nobody of importance:

The Ransom Of Red Chief: Angels 14, Mariners 6

If you weren't subjected to the American author O. Henry in college, suffice to say he was famous for his surprise endings, or at least, for the surprise ending in the short story, "The Ransom of Red Chief", a story in which a couple con men decide to kidnap the young son of a local wealthy man, only to discover it was more trouble than the effort was worth.

By the end of the fourth, the Angels were headed for their own typical bad results following a typical day-game-plus-away-game effort by Ervin Santana that yielded a five-run fourth for the M's. That is, weak offense with good but sporadically klutzy pitching was about to lose the day. The only thing that kept it from being yet another rerun was the absence of some abnormally large fielding gaffe.

Yet the Angels did not consider Mike Hargrove's stubbornness. Gil Meche, who had only surrendered a trio of runs but had failed to record an out in the top of the sixth, got yanked for Julio Mateo. Meche later said to the Seattle Times that he felt he was "fine" and that

"If I missed on the Ball 4, it was only by an inch. The next guy hit a good pitch. The next hit a ground ball," Meche said. "I had a five-spot [five runs] to work with. No pitcher in that situation wants to come out of that game."

Actually, he didn't have five runs to work with; he only had two by the time he was yanked, so perhaps his defective arithmetic skills entered into the equasion.

But Mateo quickly allowed all his inherited baserunners to score, and then some, as the Angels quickly turned a three-run deficit into a four-run lead. Now, as Ken Rosenthal might warn you, this could be an indian summer of the Angels' offense; but it might not be, especially with Kendry Morales going 8-16 over his last four games, one of the guys the Angels need to get going.

And speaking of guys who need to get going, Juan Rivera gave the team an added boost by welting a three-run shot in the ninth off Rafael Soriano, one of two homers he had on the day. It was a demoralizing blow for a team already demoralized; but as Jeff over at Lookout Landing put it,

When a fan of a team that's ahead of you is writing posts like this, you have to realize that, while none of us has any confidence in our team to win the big games, nobody else does, either, and I think that helps soften the blow of the Mariners' sudden return to Earth.

This season ain't over yet, and the AL West looks as winnable as it ever has.

ESPN Box • Recap

Boom, Squish: Dodgers 11, Diamondbacks 3

Enrique Gonzalez hasn't gotten into the sixth inning in three of his last four starts, and you start to wonder what the Diamondbacks are thinking. Andre Ethier managed four RBIs despite only going 1-3 and that not a home run; he had an RBI groundout, an RBI walk, and an RBI triple that plated two. J.D. Drew scored a run every time he was on base, an effort in which he was 3-3, and even Aaron Sele managed a single after getting into a two-strike hole trying unsuccessfully to bunt.

Unfortunately, the game also marked the return of Rafael Furcal to the leadoff spot. With a 2-4 line in the game, you could argue it was a success, but whether he repeats that success...

On the mound, Sele held down the Diamondbacks once again, a strange juggling act that seems to have extended his career. He may be coming down to earth eventually, but so far the National League has been a tonic on his aging arm. The game's most exciting moment — I literally fell asleep watching it — had to be Danys Baez plunking Shawn Green. Retribution for yesterday's three-time plunking of Nomar? You bet.

At last, I should mention the return of old friend Gio Carrara, a good soldier who's plugged away at it in Las Vegas for so long this year I thought the Dodgers might have given up on him. After watching him give up a run in his first frame of work in last night's game, I started watching through my fingers: oh, no, back to Vegas. But he managed a scoreless inning the next time up, and so, good on him.

ESPN Box • Recap

The Rules of Beanball

Here's a Steve Henson piece in the Times. Excerpt:

Payback often is necessary regardless of whether a team believes the initial hit by pitch was intentional. If a pitcher trying to throw inside misses his location enough to hit more than one batter, maybe he needs a reminder to improve his command.

"This isn't instructional league," said one Dodger still peeved a day after first baseman Nomar Garciaparra was hit three times by the Arizona Diamondbacks, tying a major league record.

"If a guy can't hit his spots better than that, he's probably going to get a message from us."

Roster Notes

• The Angels tried to get Lastings Milledge out of the Mets for Jeff Weaver. I like it, and maybe under Steve Phillips that would have happened, but not under Minaya.

  The Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers all are thought to have some interest [in Jeff Weaver]. The Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks could consider Weaver too.

• Jered Weaver's 5-0 opening streak as a rookie has only been done once before in the AL's DH era, by Ben McDonald, a college phenom "ready to go" who started in the major leagues the year he was drafted (Baseball Cube). Outside of his age 23 and 24 seasons, he was an above-average pitcher throughout his career, the number one of the Orioles' staff.
• Jeff Kent was benched in last night's game because of a sore abdominal muscle on his left side.
• To get old friend Gio Carrara on the lineup, Hong-Chih Kuo was optioned to AAA Las Vegas. The move surprised Gio:

  "I knew they didn't have another (roster) spot and that they would have to open one up. I just tried to pitch. I never thought they would do something like that."

• Ricky Ledee was transferred to the 60-day disabled list and will start a rehab assignment today at AA Jacksonville.
• Outfielders Kenny Lofton (strained hamstring) and J.D. Drew (bruised foot) may not play in today's game.
• Former Angel, Giant, Met, etc. Edgardo Alfonzo is playing for the Independent League Bridgeport (Conn.) Bluefish.