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

I don't have time to go over this right now, but it looks tremendously interesting: via the east-coast-based Crank comes a piece from LA Weekly about Scott Boras. Boras really, really wants you to believe he's good for baseball, and just so, he keeps repeating that lie, in much the same manner as certain infamous practitioners of antiquity did, and their more recent devotees. It's a long article which I plan on reading in full later.

Labels: biz, players

News

• Bartolo Colon's triceps tendinitis turns out to have implications for Salt Lake, as the Bees have adjusted Joe Saunders' next start to Saturday. Last night's weak outing by Jered Weaver caused Mike Scioscia to pull in Dustin Moseley in relief, and that pretty much played the Angels' hand.

  The Halos could start Hector Carrasco, but Carrasco lately has been good for about two innings or so, maybe. His one start this year was against Boston, in which he gave up three runs, one earned. He doesn't fool batters well in the second time through the order, either, and his line against jumps from .260/.356/.481 in his first 25 pitches to a rather dangerous .400/.500/.700 in pitches 26-50, in small sample sizes to be sure. Saunders looks like a good choice, but only if the Angels are willing to move somebody... like optioning the little-used Kendry Morales to Salt Lake.

• Garret Anderson went 0-3 with two strikeouts in his rehab stint for Rancho.
• 2006 12th-rounder Jordan Walden signed with the Angels for a $1M bonus rather than attending John Lackey's alma bater, Grayson County (Texas) College. Update and clarification: Walden actually attended Grayson rather than accepting a scholarship to U. Texas.
• Jason Schmidt made his first appearance in uniform for the 66ers, about which more below.
• The Dodgers will start Hong-Chih Kuo Saturday against the Pirates.

Scores

Presented without comment, because I've gotta get going...

Labels: minors

This was supposed to be a big pitcher's duel, with a low score to go with it. Instead, it turned into a slugfest with the Angels picking up their fourth three-homer game of the year, against "King" Felix Hernandez. The three longballs were the first he's given up all year, and only the second time in his career he's given up three in one game, the last time being almost exactly a year ago on June 6, 2006, against the Giants. All of them were solo shots, to Barry Bonds, Randy Winn, and Steve Finley, so they didn't hurt so much as these did today.

That's because Hernandez was giving up a lot of baserunners. The top of the Angels' order did exactly what it needed to do against the M's, going a collective 7-for-12 with three walks. Those hits included Vlad's opposite field, two-strike, three-run blast in the fifth, which brings me to another point: the top three of the order scored six of the Angels' eight runs. Gary Matthews, Jr. wasn't consistent with the bat, striking out twice and receiving an intentional pass in the seventh, but his big three-run homer in the first more than made up for it.

Jered Weaver posted one of his more forgettable performances of the year. His alleged hallmark, command, was once again very poor, giving up first-pitch balls to 12 of the 28 batters he faced, and walking three while striking out an equal number. That's pretty similar to his May 25 outing against New York, in which he gave up first-pitch balls on 11 of 24 batters, though he ended up striking out five through five innings. He's had good games here and there, but it seems like his A command is still waiting to be found somewhere.

Two of Weaver's three walks came back to bite him, Raul Ibanez's in the first and Ben Broussard's in the fourth. His big inning, the knockout blow for Weaver, was the Yuniesky Betancourt RBI single that drove in Adrian Beltre with two out. Dustin Moseley came in and restored order... sort of, though it wasn't Moseley but Napoli who, uncharacteristically, managed to throw out would-be base stealer Betancourt.

Matthews, Jr. did his best to keep Weaver in the game, making several sparkling plays, including an "oh, God, that's a bases-clearing doub — no, wait, it's a lineout at the warning track" on Kenji Johjima that prevented a total disaster in the fifth.

Finally, a few words about the bullpen. Dustin Moseley gave up a run in the sixth on a leadoff walk to Jose Lopez, but he retired four straight batters starting with Jose Guillen to keep the Angels in the game. It might be fair to say that Hector Carrasco is in danger of losing his swingman-in-a-close-game role to Moseley. Scot Shields pitched a fantastic eighth, striking out two. While Frankie's ninth was less-than-perfect (he had his B command and walked leadoff batter Jose Vidro), he struck out the side and preserved the win.

Erick Aybar played third for the first time in his professional career, and wouldn't you know it but the very first at-bat ended with a bullet hit to him off Ichiro's bat that he turned in a fine defensive play to make the out. Offensively, Aybar contributed only a sac bunt in the bottom of the eighth, but unfortunately he still represents an improvement over the fatally slumping Chone Figgins. It has been suggested elsewhere that one of the Angels' most crucial errors this season was limiting Figgins' rehab stint. I'm not sure but that their hands were forced by the CBA on this one, but regardless, he clearly can't do any damage at the plate, the odd home run here or there notwithstanding.

Casey Kotchman also homered, a solo shot directly following GMJ's in the first, and got lifted for Robb Quinlan in the seventh when the M's brought in George "Death to Lefties" Sherrill. Q hit a "sac fly" that really reached no-man's land, which Betancourt managed to catch. With the M's shortstop's back turned to the infield, Reggie Willits was able to score from third, and the Angels plated an insurance run. The dramatic catch made up, somewhat, for the missed grounder hit straight at him in the first by Vlad; I was shocked the official scorer didn't call it E6. Oh, well.

In general, it's been an interesting series. The M's are playing much better lately than they have over the last couple of years, as their second-place status (and winning record) attests. I didn't think much of the team as assembled before the season started, but some things are gelling for them, their bullpen especially, and the hitting to some degree as well. If they finish anywhere close to their current winning percentage, it'll be the first time since 2003 they've had a non-losing record.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: angels, mariners, recaps

• Headlining this post is the possibility that Bartolo Colon's triceps tightness may force a DL stint. Joe Saunders will be the likely callup, though the Angels might give a spot start to Dustin Moseley.
• Garret Anderson will start a rehab stint at Rancho tonight, and will likely be there through the weekend.
• Justin Speier will start a rehab assignment at Rancho on Thursday.
• Update: With the Yankees' Jason Giambi scuffling by his standards (.262/.385/.441 on 7 HR), rumors have spread that the Yanks are considering voiding his contract. Here's a follow-on piece by Allen Barra in the Village Voice about the Angels' possible role there:

  The only grounds for voiding Giambi's contract would be steroid use after the drug policy went into effect in 2003, for which there is no evidence. Giambi's contract may well contain clauses that specify other drug-related reasons for termination, including pre-2003 use, but as a source close to the Players Association points out, "It makes no difference what's in [Giambi's] contract if it violates what's in the Basic Agreement."

  What then, is likely to happen? We don't know, but an intriguing subplot may have emerged at precisely the moment the Los Angeles Angels came to town last weekend. Though he claims to have no knowledge of how the rumor of a Giambi-to-Angels trade got started, it's obvious that no team would be a more perfect fit for Giambi. Since he's a lousy fielder and must DH, Giambi would have to play in the American League. There are three American League teams on the West Coast, and Giambi is hugely unpopular with the fans of one of them: his old team, the Oakland A's. This leaves the Seattle Mariners and the Angels, and the Angels have two big advantages: They're a contender, currently leading the Western Division by four games; and they play their home games close to where Giambi grew up. And the West Coast is far enough away for a player who wants to escape the brutal scrutiny of the New York media.

  Giambi has a no-trade clause in his contract and can steer a deal in any direction he wants. In other words, if the Yankees want to get rid of him badly enough, Giambi is in a position to force them to negotiate with the Angels. From the Yankees' perspective, it wouldn't be as good as terminating his contract, but at least in a trade they'd get something of value.

  Not Nick Adenhart, and I doubt any other team in baseball gives up much to get Jason, either, especially considering his absurd contract.
• Chad Billingsley will most likely not start on Saturday for the Dodgers. Hong-Chih Kuo is a possibility, but he got slammed in his most recent appearance for Las Vegas. D.J. Houlton did well, but would be pitching on short rest and has a troubling history of inconsistency (less of a problem lately, though).
• Takashi Saito complained of a sore arm and asked out of Sunday's game.
• Justin Duchscherer has had a setback with his hip injury and will not return on schedule.
• Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia sent scouts to watch Troy Percival pitch.

Labels: angels, dodgers

News

The Dodgers' Josh Bell and Blake DeWitt both made Baseball America's Prospect Hot Sheet this week:

15. Josh Bell, 3b, low Class A Great Lakes (Dodgers)

Finally, Part Two. Like McCutchen, Bell struggled in the cold weather, hitting just .216 in April. But he turned it around full-force last week, hitting .476 with three homers.

20. Blake DeWitt, 3b, high Class A Inland Empire (Dodgers)

It had been a rough spring for the highly-regarded Dodgers prospect before last week. He entered with a mere .219 batting average but finished hitting safely in five of six games to bump his average to .260. Dewitt had four multi-hit games and enjoyed an 11-for-15 stretch over three games at Lancaster (the slump-buster of all ballparks this season).

... and unfortunately (but not unexpectedly), Nick Adenhart appeared in the Not-So-Hot section:

Nick Adenhart, rhp, Double-A Arkansas (Angels)

We've been big Adenhart fans since his days at Williamsport (Md.) High, but the 20-year-old has been scuffling in the Texas League lately. The 2004 14th-round pick has allowed eight runs on 15 hits and walked seven over his last 11 innings.

Scores

Labels: minors

It's been noted Brad Penny's strikeout rate has been falling for a while now, and so far this year, he's got a 5.53 K/9 rate. He struck out four Nationals through six and a third yesterday, odd because Washington is the fifth-easiest team to whiff in the league. Oh, well, he got the win and pitched a shutout, so what am I complaining about?

I found it very ironic that Marc Normandin would author this piece slamming Juan Pierre as the boat anchor that would kill the Dodgers' prospects of winning the division:

It was assumed by many that Juan Pierre’s offense would dip further into the realms of awful when he signed with the Dodgers, but this beats even my negative expectations. Pierre is hitting .274/.307/.307 on the season, a 614 OPS. To put that into perspective, there are five players with slugging percentages higher than Pierre’s OPS. His Isolated Power figure of .033 is the 37th worst with at least 225 plate appearances in the past twenty-five seasons.

...

Colletti has done some good and some bad in his time as Dodger G.M., but this signing helps to erase a lot of good. If they end up missing out on the NL West title by a few games, you can blame Pierre’s lack of production for it.

Juan Pierre was 4-for-5 in yesterday's game, all of them on line drives. Normandin points out that Pierre is hitting far fewer ground ball hits than usual, and making more outs in the field. This game is just the flip side of that, where those balls don't end up in gloves. I'm a Juan-half-empty guy myself, so Normandin's admonition that "you might as well just stick Brady Clark in center to satisfy your veteran fetish" strikes me as perfectly sound. It's a win, but it's not how the Dodgers will win.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: dodgers, nationals, recaps

Several things of interest in this game:

1. Ervin Santana's strong rebound from his rough first inning. Ervin Santana walks into a baseball stadium, walked the bases loaded... and then he gets a double play on a rocket to Howie Kendrick to end the inning. Santana just wasn't compelling in the first, but once that got settled, he pretty much dominated the Mariners. He faced the minimum in three of the remaining six innings of the game, and allowed only two singles and a reach on an Orlando Cabrera error.

   Now, bench him on his next road start, please? I mean, one home loss and the long knives come out.

2. Shea Hillenbrand's unexpected homer. Sure, it was to the cheap part of the yard, just right of the left field foul pole, but raise your hand if you want to give it back. I didn't think so.
3. The end of Mike Napoli's hitting streak.
4. Another multi-hit game for Reggie Willits, about whom I've had a little nail-biting lately.
5. Q goes 2-for-4 with an RBI against a lefty. It should be noted that this year he was hitting lefties worse than righties (.244/.261/.489 vs. .300/.417/.300), the reverse of his usual pattern. Of course, one of those was a gift when Ichiro lost his routine fly in the lights.
6. Scot Shields was better than we've seen him lately, pitching a 1-2-3 eighth. It was his second consecutive appearance in which he faced the minimum, the 11th time this year he's done that out of 24 games. Good show!
7. Casey Kotchman's retrieval of Vlad's errant throw in the ninth. Vlad Guerrero fielded Richie Sexson's liner to right, and then in a fit of braggadocio, he tried to double up Raul Ibanez. Only, his throw was about 20 feet offline, and Kotchman had to run over and pick it off. Good thing, because if that hadn't happened, the ensuing game-ending double play might have been a scoring groundout instead.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: angels, mariners, recaps

BTF recently had a post about Joe Torre's meeting prior to their road game against Toronto. That ended the same way the prior three games with the Angels did, in a 7-2 loss. Reasonable Yankees fans — by whom I mean folks like Alex Belth, Cliff Corcoran, and Jay Jaffe — understand losing, even extended skids, is part of the game.

And then you have your atavists:

My friend Javier and I faced off with a group of Angels fans yesterday. There were four loud ones behind us who started up in the seventh inning and didn’t quit until the final out when they aimed a racial jab at Derek Jeter.

There is nothing that will touch off a war in the Bronx quicker than a knock on The Captain.

“Shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you,” Javier shot.

“Jeter’s overrated,” one of them giggled.

Javier lunged and the giggler crashed back into his seat.

“If you want to step outside we’ll go,” Javier challenged. “There’s four of you and two of us so you might want to go back to Disneyland and get some more guys.”

Javier set his shoulders in a manner that showed he held victory in his fists.

The Angels scattered and Javier carried himself out of The Stadium the same way the Yankees will carry themselves into Toronto: Knowing that victory in their hands and their bats.

Now, I'm not going to defend anybody making racial slurs; that kind of behavior is uncalled for. And to do it in the Bronx is just asking for trouble, sure. But assaulting fans of opposition teams who come to your park? It's those kinds of rowdies who show up at Angel Stadium each and every Yankees series. That circus is why Helen abhors being at the park for any of the games with the Bombers, and why their loud, entitled, arrogant fans have such a negative reputation throughout baseball. It's not enough that their team has to win; they also have to beat down fans of every other team.

I certainly hope the Angels continue to bedevil them, especially by the time the Yanks make it to Anaheim.

Labels: angels, yankees

News

Late because we had company over for Memorial Day.

• 

  Profile in courage:
  Nathan Haynes

  The Angels purchased the contract of outfielder Nathan Haynes Sunday. Haynes has been hitting and hitting and hitting at Salt Lake this year, posting a .391/./.466/.586 line for the Bees in 169 at bats. To make room on the 25-man roster, Tommy Murphy was optioned back to AAA. Of Murphy, Mike Scioscia said, "Tommy [Murphy] needs to play every day, and Nathan can do some of the things Tommy was doing when he was up here. He has a lot of talent that will play in the big leagues."

  Haynes, a first-round pick from the 1997 draft by Oakland (32nd overall), has had eight surgeries and had never made the majors previously. As you can imagine, he thought about quitting:

  There were three knee surgeries, three hernia operations and one surgery for torn thumb ligaments, but the most devastating injury was a tear in his left hip, which limited him to eight games in 2004 and 2005.

  "Oh, yeah," Haynes said, when asked if he considered retirement. "Eight surgeries and not reaching your goal will do that. But I always said one day in the big leagues will make it worth it. I got my day."

  Haynes left as a minor league free agent after 2003, but player development director Tony Reagins promised him in 2006 that if he was healthy, he would re-sign him. Haynes played 31 games in Gary, "and Tony kept his word," said Haynes, who played 68 games last season at double-A Arkansas and Salt Lake.

  Haynes got a hit in his first major-league at bat yesterday, a single off Mariners reliever Jon Huber.

  To make room for Haynes on the 40-man roster, the Angels requested unconditional release waivers on lefty Phil Seibel, which means the Brendan Donnelly trade has come perilously close to being worthless. Donnelly has a 3.86 ERA, but more importantly, lefties are hitting .269/.367/.346 off him. By contrast, lefty specialist Darren Oliver is allowing .571/.600/1.048 versus lefties this year. Seibel had season-ending elbow surgery on his left (pitching) arm earlier this year.

• Here's a Times piece on Rick Reichardt, the man whose $205,000 bonus sparked the first-year player draft.
• The weekly MILB.com league summaries are up.
• No Angels or Dodgers prospects made Player of the Week or Pitcher of the Week honors.
• Jason Schmidt will start a minor league rehab assignment for Inland Empire starting Wednesday.
• The Dodgers are also considering promoting Hong-Chih Kuo for the start against Pittsburgh now that Brett Tomko has been demoted from the rotation.

Scores

Labels: angels, minors

Update: Incidental notes:

• Reggie Willits' 2-for-4 game was his first multi-hit outing since his May 18 game against the Dodgers.
• Beltre may be warming up some; he homered in Sunday's game off the Royals' Odalis Perez. It represents only the third multi-homer game he has had wearing a Mariners uniform, the other two being July 2, 2005 against the Rangers (off C.J. Wilson and John Wasdin), and August 22, 2006 against the Yankees (off Jeff Karstens and Ron Villone). Beltre had 10 games with two homers for the Dodgers, seven of them in his career year of 2004.
• Colon on his arm:

  "I feel good, but my arm is tight," Colon said, pointing to a spot just above his right elbow. "It's not an excuse -- they hit the ball hard. It's not pain, I just can't get loose. The tightness started when I was in the bullpen. It was the same for the whole game."

• Mike Napoli's hitting streak extended to 14 games with a single... however, he did not score a run, breaking a ten-game streak where he had scored a run and gotten a hit.
• Casey Kotchman's streak of 115 error-free games at first ended with a seventh inning throwing error.
• Nathan Haynes, called up Sunday to replace Tommy Murphy on the 25-man roster (and about whom, more later), got his first major league hit in his first major league at-bat, a pinch-hit appearance to lead off the bottom of the ninth in Reggie Willits' leadoff spot. Go Nathan!

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: angels, mariners, recaps

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: cubs, dodgers, recaps

Without comment...

Labels: minors

Whoever it was on the postgame show said it right: don't knock yourselves out too hard patting yourselves on the back, 'cause the Yankees aren't a really good team at the moment. When your winning runs come across as bases-loaded walks, it doesn't speak well of your offense.

Howie Kendrick had a pair of hits, including a booming seventh inning double that could have scored Casey Kotchman but for (a) Kotchman's absence of speed, and (b) a moment of understandable hesitation. That got Joe Torre to the mound with the hook for starter Mike Mussina, replacing him with lately reliable reliever Scott Proctor.

Ron Roenicke then made the defining decision of this game, a memorable one that will put him in very high esteem in my mind for a long time to come: he brought in pinch-hitter Erick Aybar to replace Robb Quinlan to face the righty Proctor. Quinlan had gone 1-for-2 against Mussina, but his season line against righties is a rather dismal .244/.261/.489, and so Aybar, sporting a relatively robust but small-sample-sized .276/.323/.310. The focus, of course, was on the OBP, for after an 11-pitch at-bat, Aybar walked to drive in the tying run. It was so uncharacteristic of the Angels that even Roenicke confessed to being surprised:

"Two bases-loaded walks, not real good odds on that," Roenicke said. "That wasn't really in my mind."

Unfortunately, I don't have Retrosheet play-by-play data to tell you the last time an Angel drove in a run on a bases-loaded walk, let alone the go-ahead run (improbably, Chone Figgins). However you want to slice it, Roenicke pulled some gold out of his hat.

That decision paid off twice, as it happened. With Mike Napoli at third and Aybar at second, Reggie Willits' hit a fly to medium center off new Yankee pitcher Brian Bruney. Since Johnny Damon has been sidelined lately with a gimpy hamstring, Melky Cabrera — who has a decent arm — was patrolling center, and thus was a legitimate threat to throw out any daring baserunners trying to score.

Napoli tagged and bolted for the plate as only a catcher can. Now, Napoli has decent speed if you add the caveat, "for a catcher"; but by himself, he was a dead duck. One of Aybar or third base coach Dino Ebel had Aybar motor for third. By the time Aybar was halfway to third, Doug Mientkiewicz had fielded Cabrera's return throw. Whether by intent or sheer dumb luck, Aybar, not Napoli, drew the throw, and the Angels scored what turned out to be the winning run rather than making the last out at the plate.

That extra run turned out to be important because Frankie Rodriguez had to face the top of the Yankees' order. He had his B command in this game, walking leadoff batter Bobby Abreu, giving up a single to Jorge Posada, and allowing a sac fly to Cabrera with men on second and third. But he finally nabbed "Captain Clutch" on a long flyball out to make the final out of the game, and the Angels once again beat the Yankees, 4-3, sweeping them at Yankee Stadium. The last time they did that was August 20-22, 2004.

But we aren't here talking about a win without mentioning John Lackey's fine effort, eight innings of two-run ball in which he held 1-5 batters to a measly 2-for-20. Oddly, it was little-used reserve catcher and former Angel system product Wil Nieves who did the damage, going 2-2 with a pair of RBIs against Lackey. He's really grown in to the ace role, and while maybe he doesn't tread the lofty ground expected of names like Johan Santana, Felix Hernandez, or Roy Halliday, he's the first pitcher in the majors to make it to eight wins. If he keeps this kind of performance up (and the Angels can keep supporting him offensively), a Cy Young might be in the cards.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: angels, recaps, yankees

Dated 5/16/07; virtually identical to the one dated 4/2/07, save for the substitution of Orlando Cabrera for Howie Kendrick, the latter being then on the DL.

Labels: angels, kremlinology

Labels: minors

• Hate Shea Hillenbrand? So does Sports Illustrated writer Larry Dobrow, who says it's time for him to find another line of work:

  He lacks power. He lacks patience. He's clumsy in the field and a manager-baiting pain in the ass in the clubhouse. He's the roster equivalent of a cold sore.

  Ooh, man, don't talk about viral infections. Casey Kotchman's still on the 25-man roster...
• Justin Speier threw a simulated game Friday in extended spring training. He will throw another on Monday, and will rejoin the Angels on Tuesday for evaluation.
• Is Kelvim Escobar thinking of Bartolo Colon?

  "I know for sure I can be a Cy Young [winner]," Escobar said. "When I see the guys that have won the Cy Young, there's no doubt.

• Jason Repko is making progress in rehab, taking swings off a tee, and doing some light throwing (90 feet).
• Wilson Valdez cleared waivers and has accepted an assignment to AAA Las Vegas.
• Jason Schmidt came down with the flu and missed his simulated game assignment. Presumably there will be a makeup exam.
• Jack Cust is now 0 for his last four games following the A's 8-3 flogging at the hands of Baltimore, driving his average down to .246. Eric Chavez, who missed three straight games with triceps tendinitis, started at third in tonight's game and went 0-for-4. As the Rev points out, Oakland is now in 3rd place in the AL West.
• Huston Street is eligible to come off the DL tomorrow but has yet to throw a pitch.
• Felix Hernandez was removed in the sixth from his Friday night start due to a back strain. He's expected to make his next start against the Angels on Wednesday.

Labels: angels, dodgers, injuries

Faced with the prospect of installing Jeff Kent against Will Ohman (lifetime 0-2 with a walk in three plate appearances) or leaving in Luis Gonzalez (4-6 in 7 PA with a home run) with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom of the eighth, Grady Little called for Kent. Small sample sizes don't mean much, but I dunno. I would have left in Gonzo, who was 1-for-3.

Carlos Zambrano pitched one of his best games of the year, and maybe that's because he started with Henry Blanco as his batterymate. With Hank White behind the dish, Z has a .763 OPS against; with more offensively-minded Michael Barrett, that number rockets to an enormous .924.

Hendrickson continued his slide. There's nothing more to say that hasn't been said; Dodger management needs to get somebody else in the rotation, pronto, whether it's Billingsley (who pitched well in this game in relief) or Kuo (down in AAA stretching himself out to start starting soon, we hope).

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: cubs, dodgers, recaps

The Halos have hit Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang hard previously. In their only start against the Bombers' pitch-to-contact guy, the Angels whomped him up for five runs in five and a third innings on August 13, 2006 in the Bronx. The fact that he placed second in last year's Cy Young balloting is testament enough to the ignorance and provincial attitudes of the voters. With worse peripherals than third-place Roy Halliday and the third-worst ERA on the list (he didn't even rank in the top five in ERA+), it's proof positive that the New York voting media has far too much influence.

Kelvim Escobar pitched one of his best games of the season to date, getting eight strikeouts against one of the best-hitting lineups in the league through seven innings. Even Scot Shields, who walked Hideki Matsui as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the eighth, got A-Rod to hit into a crucial double play. K-Rod gave us a bit of a scare by allowing a couple two-out baserunners, but struck out the side with a called whiff of Bobby Abreu.

Casey Kotchman: Demigod at the plate? Not counting today's numbers, he's got a .313/.366/.484 line in May, and I'll bet he'll be sorry to see this month go away. He went 3-for-3 with a walk and a double in today's action, and drove in one of the Angels' runs.

After staying out of yesterday's game thanks to a sore hamstring that had bothered him earlier in the week as well, Reggie Willits managed a couple of walks and scored a run despite another game in which he failed to get into the H column. Orlando Cabrera's 0-fer game was one of the few dark spots for an Angels, who got another win from the Yanks. How cool is it that we look forward to seeing the Bombers every year

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Labels: angels, recaps, yankees

Labels: minors