Last time in Anaheim...
It was June 2003, the Mets were managed by Art Howe. Mike Piazza was on the DL. The outfield was "anchored" by white elephant Jeromy Burnitz. Scott Schoeneweis pitched, but not for New York. The Mets weren't very good.
But the Angels were the defending World Series champions. At this point in time, the Angels were a .500 ballclub. A couple of games over, some under, but generally coming back to even until the 2nd half of the season where they lost more often.
The Mets didn't have as good of a record at 29-35, but they had just taken 2 of 3 from the Rangers in Arlington, and would win the series against Anaheim by taking 2 of 3 from the Angels as well.
In the Sunday rubber game (Father's Day) of that series, Steve Trachsel pitched a CG 1-hitter (thanks David Eckstein) for New York, and some rookie call-up named Jose Reyes hit a grandslam off of Jarrod Washburn that just cleared the leftfield fence for his first career HR. Jeromy Burnitz also hit 2 HRs that day, and the Mets won 8-0.
Jump ahead 5 years later, and the Mets are fighting to get back to .500, fighting to win on the road, and perhaps fighting for Willie Randolph's job. The Angels sit atop the AL West, with only the Oakland A's to really worry about in their division. The Seattle Mariners are the worst team in the league, and the Texas Rangers don't have the potent pitching to go along with their potent hitting.
However, the Angels lost 2 of 3 to the Braves over the weekend, and they're not hitting the way they were earlier in the season. Vladimir Guerrero is having a respectable season (.268, 10 HR, 35 RBIs) if his name was Jeromy Burnitz. But for a hitter that hit over .300 from 1997-2007, pounding 35 HRs per season on average, Vladdy isn't Vladdy. But luckily for manager Mike Scioscia, his team has great depth and quite possibly the best starting rotation in the majors (Lackey, Weaver, Santana, Saunders, Garland). John Lackey was on the DL from the start of the season until late May, and the team won many games without him because Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders were unstoppable.
Speaking of unstoppable, closer Frankie Rodriguez is 28 for 29 in Saves this season.
Monday's pitching matchup pits Jered Weaver (6-6, 4.45 ERA) vs Mike Pelfrey (2-6, 4.24 ERA), who are more similar this season than one might think. After all, both are listed as 6'7".
Both had poor starts to the season, both have been stellar as of late. Weaver won 4 of his last 5 starts. Pelfrey can't buy a win, but has pitched very well in his last 3 starts. Neither have ever pitched against the opposition.
Tuesday's pitching matchup is a dream for baseball fans. A battle of aces in Johan Santana (7-4, 2.85 ERA) vs John Lackey (3-1, 1.83 ERA). Conventional wisdom says this will be a low-scoring game.
Wednesday pits Oliver Perez (5-4. 4.98 ERA) vs Jon Garland (6-4, 4.13 ERA). After an abysmal start against San Francisco on June 2, Perez has pitched quite well in his last 2 starts (Padres, Rangers), giving up 1 ER in each. Garland is definitely the weakest pitcher in the Angels rotation, as righty bats are hitting almost .300 against him this season, and he pitches much better on the road than he does at home (2.93 road ERA, 5.11 home ERA). If the great Ollie shows up, the Mets should be able to win this one.
