I very much enjoy when the Angels win. After a season that has been marked with some truly wretched play, its a nice change to see the Halos play the way they are supposed to. Now I know I have probably written that statement on more than one occasion this season only to see the Angels slide back into a pit of bad baseball, but this time it appears to be different. The team is playing the way it was enginnered in the offseason. Sure we would like Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton to hit closer to their career averages, but both have shown some signs of life. The pitching is better and the defense has been solid. Put it all together on a regular basis and maybe this team can live up to its potential.
(I reserve the right to change my mind when the start to suck again…)
Game Notes
— Hey don't look now but Joe Blanton is pitching pretty well. He has allowed 2 or less runs 4 of his part 5 starts and was solid again today. His defense certainly helped keep that run total down (more on that later) but he did get the outs when he needed and kept the ball in the ballpark (mostly). So, good for you Joe.
— Seems like most of the offense is waking up. Trumbo had two hits, Kedrick and Iannetta went yard and Callaspo had two more hits. I know it's against the Astros who have wretched pitching, but the bats are a key compenent to any real contention talk.
— Nice work from the bullpen again today. It was also nice to see Garrett Richards put up a strong inning. I still think he should be a starter but if he is going to stay in the bullpen, he has to get his confidence up to the point where he can use his A+ stuff in a real high pressure situation.
Halo Hero
It's easy to forget how good Josh Hamilton is. We have spent most of the season focusing on his offense that we lost track of the fact that he is still a real asset on defense. Today Hamilton robbed two home runs which would have made this game a lot closer than it appeared. If Peter Boujos can ever stay healthy the outfield will really be a scary place. Hamilton won the game with his glove, here's hoping his bat can do the same in the days to come.
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