6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: Wang Busters: Angels 3, Yankees 1

Proceeds from the ads below will be donated to the Bob Wuesthoff scholarship fund.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Wang Busters: Angels 3, Yankees 1

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

Recap • Yahoo Box

Labels: angels, recaps, yankees