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

A Shinier DVD: Rangers 7, Angels 6

We had company over yesterday, which explains the tardiness of getting to this game. Kelvim Escobar clearly had nothing; the AP recap gingerly assigned that to 99° F gametime temps, but it's worth recalling that Edinson Volquez had to deal with those, too. Volquez wasn't economical (94 pitches through five) but perhaps that was to be expected given the heat. The importance of this game may ultimately be that the Rangers are finally getting to see some payoff in their homegrown pitching, rather than trading it foolishly away.

GA hit a ninth-inning three-run homer, but the Angels got no further in that frame. Rich Thompson got to pitch in his major league debut, tossing a scoreless eighth.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Buchholz No-Hits O's: Red Sox 10, Orioles 0

Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz pitched a complete game no-hitter in just his second major league game. With that win, the Red Sox overtake the Angels for the "best in the majors" tag with an 81-50 record.

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Lifeless: Padres 7, Dodgers 0

Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness wants to know — as do I — why the Dodgers haven't called up Andy LaRoche instead of letting him languish at AAA, where he's apparently tearing the place up (as witness Friday's two-homer game). The Dodgers don't deserve to win the division if they keep making stupid moves like this. I don't give a damn that they're facing the Padres' ace.

Derek Lowe clearly was still feeling it in his hip, just judging by his line that included a pair of jacks, one each to Adrian Gonzalez and Mike Cameron, the latter a grand slam.

The Dodgers ended the day five back of the Padres, the latter leading the division by percentage points over the Diamondbacks.

Recap • Yahoo Box

Ian Kennedy's Debut: Yankees 9, Devil Rays 6

USC alumni Ian Kennedy made his major league debut, giving up three runs, one earned, over seven innings, outdueling former Dodger Edwin Jackson. Jackson lasted only 3.1 innings, and gave up seven runs, six earned, walking five. Jackson blanked the Yanks on July 20 through six innings in a game Tampa Bay ultimately won 9-2. The loss broke up a string from July 31 through August 27 where Jackson had quality starts in five of six games.

The scary part of this is to see the Yanks developing quality young pitching of their own. I don't worry too much about Team Steinbrenner when they're pursuing free agents, because we've seen what happens then, i.e., decline years from Randy Johnson, Keven Brown, Roger Clemens, and every other name pitcher out there. It's the guys with upside who scare me.

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Roster Notes

• Jason Bulger and Rich Thompson had their contracts purchased from Salt Lake and were added to the 40-man roster. To make room, Chris Resop was moved to the 60-day DL.
• The Angels activated Mike Napoli from the 15-day DL, but he'll be Jeff Mathis' backup until his hamstring fully heals. Geep.
• Juan Rivera is expected to return to the big club today. Best graf from the MLB.com story link above:

  "Juan is a guy who can bring some instant offense to a club," Scioscia said of Rivera, who has 15 RBIs in 14 games at Salt Lake, batting .232. "We'll see how he works in. He's able to play some outfield."

  "Instant" apparently equals "lousy".
• Erick Aybar started a rehab stint with Rancho. His strikeout-prone, low-average bat and mentally inconsistent approach in the field will return to pollute the Angels' lineup on Tuesday.
• Dallas McPherson will return next spring, reporting to instructional league on September 15 and will try to get an assignment for winter ball in the Dominican.

  "I feel pretty good -- definitely not 100%, but I'm on the right path," said McPherson, who was limited by back and leg injuries to 101 games in 2005 and 2006. "It's nice to be on the field, getting into baseball shape, getting my swing back and my legs underneath me. The back is holding up well."

  ...

  "I'm going to have to earn a roster spot," McPherson said. "I don't know what the Angels' plans are with me, but if I'm healthy, I'll worry about everything else later."

  Good luck, Dallas.
• The Dodgers David Wells dropped the appeal to his suspension, which means the left-hander will miss his Wednesday start against the Cubs.

  The timing of the decision is rather odd, in that the Dodgers released Brett Tomko to insert Wells into the rotation for the stretch run and couldn't wait to get him on the mound, flying him cross-country to pitch in New York and bringing him back on five days' rest to pitch Friday night against the Padres while skipping Eric Stults.

  Stop kidding yourself, Ken Gurnick, the Dodgers aren't going anywhere, and it's just not critical that Boomer pitch or not pitch in some particular game from here on out.
• Nomar had his 1,355th MRI of the season on his strained calf, which revealed that he was an aging player with nothing left to contribute.
• The Dodgers purchased the contracts of C Chad Moeller, INF Chin-Lung Hu, and RHP Jonathan Meloan, and recalled RHP D.J. Houlton as rosters expanded.
• Gurnick notes that the Dodgers have committed $76.6M to players on next year's roster. This includes Esteban Loaiza, who pitched virtually not at all this season, and had a 91 ERA+ last year in a full season, and Jason Schmidt, who had a 71 ERA+ in very limited duty (6 starts, 25.2 IP). Derek Lowe (118 ERA+) and Brad Penny (155 ERA+) were better deals, but what I find disturbing is the general trend: the free agent signings by Paul DePodesta (Lowe, Penny) seem to be working out a lot better than those by Ned Colletti.
• Mike Emeigh notes that the Indians and Padres are using the "Francisco Rodriguez" clause in the roster expansion rules, the Padres deploying former Dodger Oscar Robles and and ex-Dodger system lefty Ryan Ketchner as their Steve Green analogues. (Green was on the DL the year the Angels called up K-Rod, Rodriguez famously replacing him in the postseason.)
• The Padres activated Michael Barrett.

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