Series Rewind: Season On the Brink? – Angels Lose Three of Four to Rangers

An Angel series loss to the Rangers in which the Angels’ season is now on the brink of a premature end… or is it?

Game 1 – Rangers 3, Angels 2

Game 2 – Rangers 1, Angels 0

Game 3 – Angels 6, Rangers 2

Game 4 – Rangers 6, Angels 4

Los Angeles Angels of AWESOMENESS

• I’m trying hard to find a silver lining here and the best I can come up with is that the Angels may have lost the series, but at least they were right in it all the way.  Losing three games sucks, but it wasn’t like the Halos got dominated.  Their losses came by a combined four runs.  It doesn’t make the seven-game deficit any smaller, but it does provide a glimmer of hope that the Angels can turn the tables on the Rangers when they come to Anaheim at the end of this week.
• Welcome, Alberto Callaspo!  It didn’t take long for the Angels to take advantage of their newest toy’s versatility as he played third and left field in his very first game.  Having him get a hit in each of his first three games is definitely a great way to ingratiate himself to his new (and kind of old) teammates.
• I should be crushed that the Angels lost this series, but the two trades made in the last few weeks have buoyed my hopes.  That is part of the magic of trades, I guess.  Let’s just hope the Angel clubhouse is feeling the same sense of confidence right now, knowing that while they may be losing, the Angel front office is going out of its way to try and improve the roster.

Los Angeles Angels of FAIL

• I officially have no idea where the Angels go from here.  They badly needed at least a split in this series but only won a single game and now find themselves seven games out in the division.  Hell, they are only holding onto second place by a mere half game over the A’s.  It seems pretty unlikely that they can overcome that deficit, but with the addition of Alberto Callaspo a few days ago and the stunning acquisition for Dan Haren earlier today, they definitely aren’t going down without a fight though I’m not totally sure that they shouldn’t still fold up shop and deal away a few assets to try and load up even more for next season.  Then again, with Haren in the mix now, the Halos could be just one more solid bat from being a real contender, so maybe they should go after a quality first baseman.  Needless to say, this is going to be an interesting week.
• The hardest loss to swallow in this series was the first one.  Allowing Cliff Lee to finally get his first win as a Ranger by defeating the Angels own ace in the first game of of this crucial series was pretty much the equivalent of dumping a truckload of momentum into the Texas clubhouse.
• Talk about a double whammy for Joe Saunders.  He finally turns in an excellent start in Arlington, only to be on the losing end of a 1-0 score.  Then he gets shipped to the cellar dwelling D’Backs two days later.  That is a pretty rough weekend for a guy.  Best of luck, Joe.  May your ability to win more games than your talent dictates continue.
• Here’s a thought: when trying to win a crucial series, try not to allow the opposing team’s star player, Michael Young, to hit a homer in the first inning of the first three games.  Just an idea, might be worth looking into.
• Oh if only the Angels had managed to pull of their heist of Danny Haren a little earlier they could have avoided serving up Trevor Bell as a sacrificial lamb in the final game of the series.  No knock on Bell, but he never really stood a chance in such a pressure-packed game, but really the Angels had no choice but to run him out there.
• Kudos to Mike Scioscia for trying to be creative with the lineup to get all his top infielders into the game, but I think he took it a little too far by having Howie Kendrick start at first base.  I mean, do the Halos really need an infield ENTIRELY composed of good contact hitters with fringe power?  This just supports my theory that if Mike Scioscia could ever just field a lineup of nine Maicer Izturises, he would not hesitate to do so.  Now he pretty much has four of them, so this has to be like the beginnings of a wet dream for Sosh.
• Good God is the Angel outfield defense bad.  The complete and total lack of range in the corner outfield probably cost the Halos the first game of the series and I don’t think it is at all a coincidence that Juan Rivera and Hideki Matsui suddenly needed rest days the next two games so that Reggie Willits could start in their place.  If that is what Mike Scioscia is resorting to (and I think it is the right idea), then it is high time they called up Peter Bourjos.  Bourjos is a tremendous fielder and catching fire offensively in Triple-A right now, so what could it hurt?  Besides, it would give Scioscia a fifth “action” player for his lineup.

Angel A-Hole of the Series

I’m not going to put this on any one player.  The whole team is responsible for this bed crapping of a series.  The bats weren’t potent enough.  The fielding wasn’t good enough.  The pitching wasn’t clutch enough.  They had a chance to step up and prove they were the top team in the AL West and failed across the board as a team.