It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Super Vlad!!! The man we all thought was long since dead is back with a vengeance. Combining his forces with the Angels’ newest superhero K-Mo the Destroyer, Super Vlad has risen from the ashes and powered the Halos to another dramatic victory!
In a game that was supposed to be all about two of the speediest teams in baseball burning up the basepaths, it was instead power that ruled the day. The power-laden Rays bashed two home runs off of starter Sean O’Sullivan but the Angels weren’t to be outdone with Vladimir Guerrero and Kendry Morales each crushing two home runs of their own.
Oh, there was still plenty of speed on display as the Rays did swipe four bases off of Mike Napoli who was apparently doing his best Rube Baker impression trying to throw out base stealers. Neither team relented in their offensive assault, all the way to the final pitch of the game when Ben Zobrist flew out to the second row of the left field bleachers, only Juan Rivera’s glove happened to get in its way.
The big news though simply has to be the re-emergence of Vladimir Guerrero. Nobody wanted him batting fourth when he returned from his latest injury, some people didn’t even think he deserved to play at all. I admit that I am one of those people who doubted his abilities, but now he has four homers in seven games, with three of those dingers coming off some of the better pitchers in the American League. Not bad for a guy who supposedly has lost his bat speed and power stroke.
Maybe it is just a flash in the pan or one last power surge before his body starts breaking down again, but for now the Angels have their old MVP back and for that reason, the rest of the American League should be very afraid.
Good News:
- Excellent work by Kevin Jepsen. He did a fantastic job of getting himself out of an unlucky jam in the seventh and then just dominated the Rays in the 8th. The way he just walked off the mound after getting Jason Bartlett looking is a great example of just how confident he is right now.
- Just in case you haven’t checked the league leaders lately, Kendry Morales is now in the top 10 in homers and RBIs in the American League and trails only Joe Mauer for the best slugging percentage in the AL. And this is the guy that bats sixth for the Angels, yet people wonder how it is the Halos are scoring so much this year.
Bad News:
- Vlad did take some of the bloom off his rose by bounding into a 1-2-3 double play to end a bases loaded threat for the Angels when they could have totally busted the game open. Even in his prime he pulled that kind of choke job, so I wouldn’t read too much into it.
- Fuentes = shaky. Carl Crawford bailed him out by swinging at the first pitch and Fuentes did manage to fan Evan Longoria, but just when we were all feeling confident in him he nearly gives up a game-tying homer to Ben Zobrist and spoils all of that.
- So much for Sean O’Sullivan being the rotation savior. The Angels kept handing him a lead but he just couldn’t hold onto it. There just is no way the Halos are going to survive the playoff chase if they expect him to function as their number three or even four starter the whole time.
Halo Hero:
- Vladimir Guerrero
Kendry Morales deserves honorable mention since he had one more hit and one more RBI than Vlad in addition to two homers of his own, but when a guy hits a milestone like homer #400 and that homer also is a game-winner, how can you not give him the player of the game honor?
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