Friday, August 18, 2006 |
Nine And Oh! Angels 3, Mariners 0
The wind will crack in winter timeSome day next week, next month, or next year, Jered Weaver will fall, but for now, I don't want to hear about it. For now, he's a fantabulous sleighride at Christmas, a pure gift on a day when Oakland lost twice to the Royals, and may have lost their closer for a while thanks to a strained groin.
This bomb-blast lightning waltz
No spoken words, just a scream...Tonight we'll build a bridge
Across the sea and land
See the sky, the burning rain
She will die and live again
TonightAnd your heart beats so slow
Through the rain and fallen snow
Across the fields of mourning
Lights in the distanceOh don't sorrow, no don't weep
For tonight, at last
I am coming home
I am coming home
But enough of that; it's sufficient to win without taking joy in the opposition's DL, especially with Bobby Crosby coming back from injury. The entirety of the Angels scoring came on a Vlad RBI single, and a homer by Mike Napoli, who got it despite a terrible at bat during which he swung at at least three pitches outside the zone (one he fouled off).
As it turned out, Weaver and the Angels didn't need the help, though it looked for a few moments in the ninth like they would; Adrian Beltre smacked what looked like a sure homer to the short fence in left, but a fan in foul territory reached over and caught the ball. At first, third-base umpire Tim Tschida declared the ball fair and a home run (at least, I think it was Tschida), but an umpire's conference corrected it and turned it into a ground-rule double on fan interference.
This did not go over well in some quarters, but Frankie promptly took advantage of the situation, and got Raul Ibanez to pop out, and Richie Sexson to strike out swinging to end the threat. The Angels advance to four and a half games back, and strangely, the M's also gain a half game in the division despite the loss thanks to the Royals' sweep. As for Mr. 9-0, Jered Weaver has now equalled Whitey Ford's 9-0 career start in 1950, the last time it was done in the AL, and Livan Hernandez's 9-0 mark for Florida in 1997, the last time it was done in the NL. The guys remaining ahead of him are Kirk Reuter (10-0 in 1993-1994 for the Expos), and Hooks Wiltse, who went 12-0 before losing his first game as a rookie in 1904. (Believe it or not, he was actually not a very good pitcher that year, posting a 2.84 ERA when the league average was 2.73.)
Tonight Weaver joined Ford in the thin Olympian air. Is he a mortal? Or one of the immortals? We'll know soon enough.
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