Game Rewind: Double Your Pleasure – Angels 8 and 10, Royals 5 and 2

Double your pleasure, double your beatdowns of the hapless Royals.  The Angels swept yesterdays doubleheader against Kansas City with two more impressive offensive efforts even though one game actually featured an ungodly line-up that included Gary Matthews batting fifth with Howie Kendrick sixth (and yet still managed to score ten runs).

Really the Angels just toyed with the bottom-dwelling Royals on Tuesday, spotting them early leads in both games before blowing them out of the water with a patchwork Angel roster that continues to mysteriously continue being an unstoppable offensive juggernaut (facing Sidney Ponson and Bruce Chen as the opposing starting pitchers in both games certainly helped keep the momentum going though).  But don’t let the lesser opponent take anything away from what the Angels did yesterday.  It is no small feat for any team to score 18 runs in two games on the road, much less doing so missing the entire middle of their order (plus Morales for one game).

The Angels are simply oozing confidence in the face of their hardships instead of crying in their beers like most other squads would be doing.  Be afraid Texas and Seattle, be very afraid.

Good News:

• I missed a good chunk of the first game because I was hiding in my fallout shelter after Gary Matthews, Jeff Mathis and Reggie Willits all had RBIs in the same inning.  I was convinced that judgment day was upon us.
• After seeing Justin Speier come up big with two huge strikeouts to bail out O’Sullivan in the sixth inning of Game 2, I almost went back into the fallout shelter but my wife talked me out of it.
• Bobby Abreu continues to step up at the right time.  Not that anyone should get major props for owning Bruce Chen, but still, three doubles in one game certainly shows that while he doesn’t have big homer numbers, he can still bust out enough power to get the job done as a middle of the order bat when necessary.
• O’Sullivan was still a little rough around the edges, but once again he got the job done.  I still don’t think he is the long-term answer as the fifth starter, but he is good enough for now (or not, I understand he just got demoted to Triple-A which, barring an injury, means he can’t be recalled in time for what would’ve been his next turn through the rotation).

Bad News:

• D’oh!  Brandon Wood is making all of us bloggers look bad.  Three whiffs in five at-bats?  C’mon, Brandon, I know you haven’t played in a week but you have to do better than that if you want to crack the line-up.  At this rate the only way you are going to get regular at-bats is in a Blue Jay uniform.
• I don’t want to live in a world where Robb Quinlan can hit a homer in a doubleheader but Chone Figgins takes the collar in both games.
• I still can’t figure out Ervin Santana.  He fanned seven and didn’t walk anyone but he still found a way to give up five runs to the worst offense in the American League.  Even worse, he hit Jose Guillen with a pitch and only grazed his wrist.  If you are going to hit that punk and not dot him in the head, at least make it hurt.

Halo Hero:

• Erick Aybar

I don’t know what Aybar has been eating for breakfast lately, I just know I want some.  In the two games he racked up seven hits, five runs, four RBIs, three extra-base hits, one walk and a one steal.  That is a good week for most players much less one game.