Wednesday, September 05, 2007 |
GA, Masher: Angels 4, A's 3
In other words, aside from his 1-2-3 fourth, it was a fairly typical Jered Weaver outing, getting in and out of trouble but keeping the other guys at bay for the most part. The Angels got him off the hook for a potential loss in the third when Jeff Mathis singled and Howie Kendrick ripped his first home run since his game-winner on June 29 against the Orioles. GA took Gaudin deep after Vlad walked, and that, friends, was the ballgame, Frankie's little nervous meltdown in the ninth notwithstanding. After a terrific two-inning shutdown performance by Darren Oliver, K-Rod came in and gave up a pair of consecutive doubles to Rob Bowen, of all people, and Shannon Stewart. I might be tempted to say that Frankie's turning into Troy Percival with the way that he sometimes makes me nervous, but then I noticed that Percy, superficially (measured by ERA+, 180 vs. 151) is having a better season. Not a fair comparison, I know, but still kinda funny.
So the game ended with an Angel win, and as Matt Welch mentioned, it means all kinds of good things for the Angels. With a 12-3 Yankees win over the Mariners, the Angels have a 7.5-game lead in the AL West, the biggest division lead in the majors and bigger than the one the Halos had at this point in 1995 (shh). The Angels are also 26 games over .500, and they would set a franchise record if they finish that way (107-55). Anyway, there's a bunch more good stuff, and things are looking mighty happy for the boys... save for that jitter-inducing bullpen.
Update 9/7: Yes, they would be 94-68 if they finished 26 games over .500, but that just strikes me as an odd way of declaring the thing; .500, at the end of 162, is 81, but .500 at the end of n games is floor(n/2). That is, I can't be .500 if I lose 77, I must be better than that.
Labels: angels, athletics, recaps
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