A whole lotta talk about the weather in the Bronx, but so far, the sheets of rain have not fallen from the skies. The tarp is not on the field, and while it's still just as cold as it was 24 hours prior during Game 1, it looks like the game will get started on time. Whether it finishes today, is another story entirely because the rain is expected to get heavier into the night.

Thanks MLB, for scheduling this 3rd game between the Angels and Red Sox at 9 in the fucking morning on a friggin Sunday. 

Watching the Angels on TV dominate the Boston Red Sox by a final score of 5-0 was something to behold. John Lackey pitching 7.1 IP of shutout ball against the potent Red Sox offense.  Torii Hunter was the hero of the game with a 3-run BOMB off of Jon Lester into the centerfield rockpile which would end up being all the offense the Angels needed to win the game, though they managed to tack on another 2 runs off reliever Takashi Saito in the bottom of the 7th. Darren Oliver pitched the final 1.2 IP to loooock it up for the Halos.

But watching Game 2 at Angel Stadium, with 40,000+ fans, with not nearly as many Boston fans as you'd think (maybe because they were a lot quieter?) was an awesome experience.

• We had a fantastic pitcher's duel between one of the best postseason pitchers of the decade in Josh Beckett, and Jered Weaver, a solid #2-#3 pitcher in the Angels rotation who managed to keep Boston at bay the entire game.

• Boston struck first in the 4th inning when Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning with a triple to deep centerfield, one of the few balls that Torii Hunter could not track down. 2 batters later, Victor Martinez singled him home. That was all the runs the Red Sox would muster.

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• The Angels struck back in the bottom of the 4th when Bobby Abreu got to 1st with a leadoff single. Torii Hunter then hit a bullet towards the left side but it was caught by a diving Mike Lowell, making a fantastic play.

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• The next batter, Vladimir Guerrero singled to rightfield while Abreu took off for 2nd, allowing the Angels to do what they do best. Run from first to third. Angels slugger Kendry Morales was next at the plate, hitting a line shot to J.D. Drew in rightfield, far enough for Bobby Abreu to tag up from 3rd and tie the game at 1.

• Weaver and Beckett continued to duel, with Beckett's pitch count more efficient, but Weaver was matching him on overall results. Weaver only gave up 2 hits in the entire game, both in the 4th inning. The only other baserunners allowed by Weaver were 2 scattered inconsequential walks to J.D. Drew and Jason Bay.

• The Angels finally chipped away at Josh Beckett in the bottom of the 7th when Vladimir Guerrero took, of all things, a leadoff walk on 5 pitches to start the inning. In a key managerial decision, Angels skip Mike Scioscia chose to pinch-run for his cleanup-hitting DH with Howie Kendrick, as the Angels had yet to run the bases on Jason Varitek as had been rumored to occur any time he was catching. It's a decision that paid off in spades. Kendrick successfully stole 2nd base after the first out had been made by Kendry Morales flying out to centerfield

• Juan Rivera couldn't get Kendrick home though, as he then grounded out to 3B Mike Lowell. Next batter Maicer Izturis, a .370 career BA against Josh Beckett, and a .327 hitter with runners in scoring position, got the job done. Mighty Maicer hit a shot up the middle into shallow centerfield that scored Howie Kendrick to give the Angels the 2-1 lead.

• But the Angels weren't done. Izturis then stole 2nd base, easily beating the throw from Varitek. Mike Napoli would get hit in the shoulder by a Josh Beckett pitch and took 1st base. Beckett thought Napoli didn't make an effort to get out of the way, but home plate CB Bucknor felt otherwise.

• By the way, as horrible as his Boston-screwing calls were at first base in Game 1, CB Bucknor didn't have any major problems behind the plate, giving all pitchers a consistent and somewhat liberal strike zone.

• With Izturis on 2nd, and Napoli on 1st, and still 2 out, Erick Aybar came to the plate. This would've probably been the time for Boston manager Terry Francona to go to the bullpen, but he stuck with Josh Beckett one batter too many. Erick Aybar launched a shot into deep centerfield for a triple, scoring Izturis and Napoli and giving the Angels the 4-1 lead.

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• At this point in the game, Terry Francona had seen enough from Josh Beckett and brought in ex-Met closer Billy Wagner to stop the Angels' rally. He did so, getting Chone Figgins turned around to bat righty, striking him out.

• Despite a pitch count over 100, Jered Weaver came out for the 8th inning, promptly striking out J.D. Drew before it was time for his standing ovation from the Angels fans. Mike Scioscia went to the bullpen, bringing in lefty Darren Oliver for his 2nd straight game. Oliver struck out pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie but gave up a single to Jacoby Ellsbury.

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• Scioscia went to the pen again, this time to righty Kevin Jepsen to face Dustin Pedroia. Jepsen induced a weak chopper short of the mound on the third base side. Jepsen made a nice fielding play and threw out Pedroia to end the 8th inning.

• Billy Wagner began the 8th inning for Boston by giving up a leadoff single to Bobby Abreu, and Tito had to keep the Angels from getting going again. So he brought in closer Jonathan Papelbon to stop things. Torii Hunter flied out to Ellsbury in CF. The Sox then pitched out first pitch to Howie Kendrick, throwing out Bobby Abreu trying to take 2nd base. Kendrick then struck out and we moved to the bottom of the 9th.

• Jepsen remained in the game to start the bottom of the 9th with the Angels' 3-run lead intact. Victor Martinez led off by flying out to Torii Hunter in centerfield for the first out. Kevin Youkilis hit a double into the left-centerfield gap, and then it was time for Angels' manager Mike Scioscia to bring in closer Brian Fuentes to face lefty David Ortiz.

• Though Fuentes has been very shaky this season despite a MLB-leading 48 saves, he's at his best when facing lefty hitters. Ortiz lined out to LF Juan Rivera for the 2nd out. Fuentes got ahead of Jason Bay on a 1-2 count before losing him to a walk With runners on 1st and 2nd, the tying run came up to the plate in the form of Mike Lowell.

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• With fans of both teams on edge, Mike Lowell hit a flyball to deep centerfield, but not deep enough. Torii Hunter caught it with ease and the Angels won Game 2 of the ALDS by a final score of 4-1. Just another Halo victory!

This was Josh Beckett's first postseason loss since Game 3 of the 2003 World Series against the New York Yankees.

Through the first two games, the Angels' starters have given up a total of 1 earned run on 6 hits with a 0.61 ERA. The scary Angels bullpen? A 0.00 ERA.

If there's any team capable of coming back in the postseason, it's Boston. They were on the winning side of the 2004 ALCS against the New York Yankees (aka: the biggest collapse in baseball history) when they came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 4 straight games and win the ALCS before sweeping the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series. The Red Sox were also down 3 games to 1 against the Cleveland Indians in the 2007 ALCS before taking the next 3 of that series and then sweeping the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series.

Boston has also been down 2-0 in the ALDS 4 times before. And twice, they came back to win 3-2. They did so against the Cleveland Indians in 1999, and the Oakland A's in 2003. The other two times? They were swept in 3 games by the Chicago White Sox in 2005, and the Cleveland Indians in 1995.

The odds still do heavily favor the Angels at this point though. Since the current playoff format was implemented in 1995, teams going up 2-0 in the Division Series have won it 31 of 35 times.

These were the first two consecutive postseason wins for the Halos since Games 2 and 3 of the 2005 ALDS against the Yankees.

Considering the Angels already faced the best starters on Boston's staff in the first two games, the advantage should shift even moreso to the Angels with Scott Kazmir starting against Clay Buchholz. 

Buchholz has looked stellar for Boston during the regular season except for the last two starts of the season in which he got destroyed by both Toronto and Cleveland.  Buchholz has never pitched in the postseason.

Since coming to the Angels just prior to the August 31 trade deadline, Scott Kazmir has posted a 1.73 ERA in 6 starts for the Angels, going 2-2 with the club. He went 10-9 on the year with a 4.89 ERA, although he was pitching injured for much of 2009 and spent some time on the DL as well.

More importantly, Kazmir has been very successful throughout his career pitching against Boston. During the regular season, he has an 8-7 record with a 3.59 ERA over 130.1 IP in 23 starts. His career record at Fenway Park is equally impressive, going 6-4 with a 3.05 ERA over 73.2 IP in 13 starts.

In the 2008 ALCS against Boston while pitching with Tampa, Kazmir made 2 starts against the Red Sox. The first in Game 2 at Tropicana Field did not go so well, as he gave up 5 earned runs in 4.1IP, 2 of them solo homers by Dustin Pedroia, and another solo blast by Kevin Youkilis.  However, opponent Josh Beckett also lasted just 4.1 IP, and he gave up 8 earned runs in that game. Neither Beckett nor Kazmir were involved in the decision in that game which was won by Tampa in 11 innings by a final score of 9-8.

Kazmir's 2nd start in the 2008 ALCS went a lot better as he pitched Game 5 in Fenway Park. Kazmir pitched 6 innings of shutout ball on 2 hits, 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. Tampa's bullpen blew that game and the Rays lost by a final of 8-7. Kazmir did not get the decision but was in line for the win until he left the game.

If the first two games of this 2009 ALDS favored Boston because of the starting pitching which didn't pan out, then Game 3 of the series certainly favors the Angels if Kazmir can outduel Buchholz and whoever else Francona throws out there, as all hands will be on deck for the Boston pitching staff for the remainder of this series.

Here's hoping that Kazmir does so, sweeps the Red Sox, and the Angels move onto the ALCS to likely face the New York Yankees.

Every year, MLB begins their All-Star game balloting near the end of April, which is far too early. I advocate for voting only after June 1, as you simply cannot elect players to the All-Star game based on less than one month of baseball.

Game 2 of my liveblogging baseball doubleheader. Wheeeeeee!!!!

What a sports-intensive weekend. Unlike a lot of American men, I don't spend my Sundays worshipping the TV when it's time for the NFL season. I prefer college football, but even then, I can only watch so many college football games on a Saturday before my brain fries.

But April is a great month for sports, which would be a lot better if the NBA wasn't part of it. Basketball is truly the most...boring...sport....ever. Yes, I'd rather watch toddler bowling.

However, we got baseball, and we got hockey playoffs galore. And then there's always a plethora of MMA to be found.

I won't get into too much detail about all of the games, considering a lot of it is old news at the point I'm writing this, so a brief summary should suffice.

So, this weekend began on:

Friday, April 24:
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium

Shane Loux took the mound for the pitching-decimated Angels against Mariners ace Erik Bedard.

Loux pitched pretty well for 4 innings, only getting stung by a Russell Branyan solo blast in the 2nd inning.
Then the 5th inning came, and Loux just died. Ichiro led off with a single. Endy Chavez, single. Griffey, single. Beltre just missed a grand slam with a double off the left-centerfield wall, scoring Ichiro and Chavez. Russell Branyan then walked to load the bases. Jose Lopez hit a chopper towards 3rd for a single, scoring another run.

By this point, it was 5-0, there were no outs, and Loux had come apart. Manager Mike Scioscia went to the bullpen, but another 2 runs scored before the Angels could get out of the inning.

Erik Bedard pitched fantastic for Seattle, only giving up 1 hit in the first 4 innings, a double to Erick Aybar which was also the Angels' sole baserunner. He gave up a dinger to Mike Napoli in the 5th, and the Angels scored twice more in the frame to bring the score to 7-3, but Bedard still had a healthy lead and pitched into the 7th inning before Shawn Kelley finished out the game for the Mariners.

So the Angels lost by a score of 8-3, and here are some photos from my less-than-good seats in the rightfield loge.

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What was supposed to be a pitchers duel was anything but. But what a wild exciting game. The Yankees sent AJ Burnett to face Boston's Josh Beckett, and this was one of those games you figured would be a low-scoring affair. If only.

The Yankees went up 6-0 on Boston by the time the 4th inning was over, and there was no reason to think that the fairly solid AJ Burnett would surrender this lead. Then Boston began their comeback, scoring 5 runs in the bottom 4, with 4 of those runs coming off a Jason Varitek GRAND SALAMI.

But this game was only getting started. In the 6th, Boston scored 3 runs going up 8-6 on the Skanks.

Then in the next inning, Johnny Damon hit a 2-run homer to tie the game at 8.

Boston then goes ahead 9-8 in the bottom of the 6th.

And then the lead switched AGAIN in the top of the 7th when the Yankees went up 10-9.

With all the back and forth in this ballgame, it was just super fun to watch. Mind you, I love a pitcher's duel more than anything. The best games are the 0-0 games that go into extra innings, but when both teams score a bunch of runs back and forth in every inning, that's pretty damn exciting as well.

When it was all said and done with, Boston outslugged the Yankees by a final of 16-11. There were 28 hits in the game, 6 of them home runs (3 for each team).

NHL Playoffs:
Game 5: Anaheim Ducks vs. San Jose Sharks

With the Ducks already possessing a 3-1 lead in this best of 7 series, every game was now a "must-win" for the Sharks, and with their backs to the wall at home in the HP Pavilion (aka: Shark Tank), the Sharks put up the early 1-0 goal at 7:25 in the 1st from Co-Captain Joe Thornton. The Sharks went up 2-0 in the 2nd.

But hold on, the Ducks came back with 2 of their own in the 3rd period thanks to Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, and the game went into OT.

The Sharks stayed alive in the series when Co-Captain Patrick Marleau jabbed in a goal past Anaheim goaltender phenom Jonas Hiller at 6:02 of the first OT period to win the game 3-2.  Even still, the winning goal was ultimately pushed past the goal line by the leg/skate of Hiller. Unfortunate, but so it goes.

This was another great game in what has been a thrilling series, thanks to the unlikely 8th seed Ducks taking it to the team that had the best record in the NHL regular season.

Sunday, April 26th, 2009
NHL Playoffs:
Game 6: New York Rangers vs. Washington Capitals

With the Rangers up 3-1 in this series, they didn't have Coach John Tortorella on the bench because he was serving a one-game suspension for losing his mind and throwing water at Capitals fans behind the Rangers bench.

What followed from Rangers' GM Glen Sather was one of the most laughable reactions in the history of the sport. Sather complained that Washington Capitals security should be disciplined. Why? Because Washington Capitals fans were verbally harassing/abusing the Rangers bench from their seats, and CHILDREN were able to hear this.

Apparently Sather has never been to one of his own team's games, or at least never sitting in the MSG seats, where this kind of behavior, and FAR worse, occurs every single game. The Rangers proved themselves to be a classless organization from top to bottom. A coach who benches Sean Avery (the scummiest player in all the league) because he wanted to set an example about keeping your emotions in check during the game, loses his cool because of the verbal taunts from Capitals fans. Sean Avery may be a giant piece of shit, but he can be pretty effective when he's able to taunt and agitate the opposition into taking stupid penalties, so as long as Avery doesn't take them himself. In Game 4, he did. But for Tortorella to go after Caps fans, who never threw any objects at the Rangers bench or did anything PHYSICAL to provoke Torts, proves he's as big of a dick as Avery. And then Sather's letter, hoo hee! Whattalaff!!!!

I hope the Capital fans rip the Rangers bench (verbally, of course) even moreso during Game 7 so they can make Tortorella's head literally explode.

The Rangers got destroyed on MSG ice this game by a final of 5-3, and while the final score sounds close, it's misleading. The Capitals made Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist look very very mortal, going up 3-1 in the first. 5-1 in the 2nd, and held on to a 5-2 lead until a 3rd Rangers goal scored with 6 seconds remaining in the game.

I can't wait until Game 7, even if I won't be able to actually watch it. The Capitals will have home ice, and they're not losing to this joke of a Rangers team, who should never have won 3 games in this series to begin with.

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox

This ESPN Night game was actually the pitcher's duel that we were supposed to get on Saturday between Beckett and Burnett. This time it was Andy Pettite against Justin Masterson. Masterson, normally a reliever for the Red Sox, pitched a second start for Boston in place of Daisuke Matsuzaka. And he pitched brilliantly.

Masterson scattered 6 hits over 5.1 IP, walking 1, striking out 4, and giving up 1 earned run off a Hideki Matsui sac fly.
Boston's bullpen of Hunter Jones, Michael Bowden and Takashi Saito (pitching in place of closer Jonathan Papelbon, who needed some rest) stymied the Yankees for the rest of the game.

But the real story of this game?
Jacoby Ellsbury STOLE HOME! I would put the video up here but MLB will just yank it off YouTube, so... you should be able to find it quite easily in other places. :-)

In any case, with a 2-1 score in the bottom of the 5th, Andy Pettite pitching to J.D. Drew with a 1-0 count and bases loaded, Ellsbury stole home in what has to be one of the craziest plays in this early season. But Ellsbury is so fast, Pettite is a lefty pitching from the stretch, third-baseman Angel Berroa wasn't holding Ellsbury on, and the Yankees were caught completely off-guard. Posada made the tag on Ellsbury just after he had touched the plate, and the Red Sox went up 3-1.

J.D. Drew then doubled to rightfield, scoring David Ortiz, and that was all the offense the Sox needed to SAHHHHWEEEP the New York Yankees in 3 games.

With the Rangers and Yankees losing, Sunday was a very very very good day.

And finally, to top it off:
Monday, April 27, 2009
NHL Playoffs:
Game 6: Anaheim Ducks vs. San Jose Sharks

Hiller if ya hear me!! The Ducks won by a final score of 4-1, taking the series from the NHL-best San Jose Sharks in 6 games, and most importantly, doing it on home ice in front of a rabid crowd at the Honda Center (aka: The Pond).

You knew this was going to be a helluva physical game when 2 seconds into the game, immediately after the puck was dropped, centers Ryan Getzlaf and Joe Thornton went at each other in a fight. Thornton may have won that fight, but he did not win the war.

The Sharks took the 1-0 lead in the middle of the 1st period, making one wonder if Hiller was going to be ok this game. Luckily, that was the only goal that Jonas Hiller let in. Hiller outclassed San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov during the entire series. In this game, he stopped 36 of 37 shots. While Hiller has emerged as the top goalie on the Ducks team, with J.S. Giguere now serving as his backup, Nabokov still had far superior statistics with the Sharks during the regular season.

But finally with this 1st round series of the postseason, Jonas Hiller proved that a hot goaltender with a defense that has never looked better (Pronger, Niedermayer, Whitney, Beauchemin, Wisniewski), is going to be able to stop a high-powered offense that outshot Anaheim the entire series by a ridiculous amount.

Despite all that, Jonas Hiller posted two shutouts during the 6 game series.

A fantastic series, a huge upset, and perhaps a sign of things to come. Still, the Ducks have a tough road ahead of them as they'll face the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference semis. The Red Wings are well-rested, having easily swept the Columbus Blue Jackets in 4 straight games. But the Ducks could just be the Cinderella team once again.

So far it's been a rotten postseason for So Cal baseball. The Dodgers and their hordes of low/no-class Raider fans and gang members still looking for fights and crimes to commit at sporting events are happy, but Angel fans are most certainly not, and with good reason.

Despite possessing the best regular-season record in baseball at 100-62, also the best record in franchise history, the Angels find themselves in an all-too familiar situation down 0-2 to the Boston Red Sox in the 2008 ALDS.

In my predictions post, I neglected to mention that these two teams had also faced each other in the 1986 ALCS in addition to the 2004 and 2007 series. Since trailing 3-1 in the 1986 ALCS, Boston has won 11 straight playoff games against Los Angeles, including first-round sweeps in 2004 and 2007 en route to World Series championships. On Friday, the Red Sox set a record for most postseason victories (11) in a row over one opponent.

Game 2 of this Angels-Red Sox series was probably the most exciting postseason game this year, with the Angels down 5-1 early in the game. They continued to score a run here and there until finally tying the game 5-5 in the 8th inning off of Jonathan Papelbon, only to have their closer Frankie Rodriguez give up a 2-run blast to J.D. Drew in the top of the 9th, which gave Boston the 7-5 victory.

With the Angels entering Fenway Park in an elimination game, things do not look good, especially when they're about to face the best currently active postseason pitcher in Josh Beckett. He posted a 1.20 ERA winning all four of his postseason starts last year. Beckett, who was also named MVP of the 2003 World Series with the Florida Marlins, is 6-2 with a 1.73 ERA in 10 career postseason games. If Curt Schilling was still pitching for Boston, this would be even more frightening than it already is.

If there's any "good news" about Beckett as far as the Angels are concerned, it's that he hasn't pitched in 2 weeks due to back problems. Still, he's healthy enough to pitch tonight.

Joe Saunders will be pitching for the Angels tonight. Saunders has had a great regular season (17-7, 3.41) in 2008, but this is his first postseason start and it's on enemy grounds.

Manager Mike Scioscia has a big task ahead of him, and this could be a big task in years to come when the Angels can't shake the rally monkey off its back.

But, that's why they play the games. So, onto the liveblogging!

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(All times Pacific)

Top of 1st Inning:

4:29pm: Chone Figgins lines the first pitch he sees down the rightfield line, which is touched by at least one fan as the ball bounced into the seats and then back out into RF. Figgins ends up with a ground-rule double.

4:34pm: Garrett Anderson strikes out looking at a curveball go by him on a 3-2 count. 1 out.

4:38pm: Mark Teixeira strikes out swinging. 2 outs.

4:39pm: Vladimir Guerrero takes a walk as Josh Beckett throws him primarily outside pitches that even Vladdy can't be coaxed into chasing.

4:42pm: Torii Hunter needs to put the Angels ahead right now. With Beckett pitching, there's not going to be a whole lot of opportunities.

4:45pm: With a 2-2 count, Jason Varitek has a quick talk on the mound with Josh Beckett about getting their signals straight.

4:46pm: Torii Hunter hits a grounder right between 1st and 2nd base. 2B Dustin Pedroia is able to knock the ball down but Josh Beckett is late to first as Torii Hunter makes it to 1st base. Pedroia holds onto the ball keeping Figgins at 3rd base. Bases loaded and 2 outs for Juan Rivera.

4:48pm: Juan Rivera swings 3-0 but fouls it back. 3-1 count. Rivera better not swing again.

4:49pm: Juan Rivera takes my advice and takes a bases loaded walk. Chone Figgins scores. Angels go up 1-0. Beckett has thrown 27 pitches so far.

4:50pm: The Chicago White Sox just won game 3 over the Tampa Bay Rays by a final score of 5-3. The White Sox are still down 2 games to 1.

4:51pm: Mike Napoli grounds out to SS Jed Lowrie who flips to 2B Dustin Pedroia for the force at 2nd. 6-4. 3 out.

Bottom of 1st Inning:

4:52pm: Leadoff hitter Jacoby Ellsbury scalds a 0-1 pitch down the 1st-base line but it's stopped by a diving Mark Teixeira who makes a great play to save an extra-base hit. Tex takes it to the bag himself for the out. 1 out.

4:55pm: On an 0-1 pitch, Joe Saunders hits Dustin Pedroia on the right shin. Pedroia takes his base. The Boston crowd drunkenly chants "MVP" at Pedroia.

4:56pm: David Ortiz skies the first pitch he sees to deep straightaway center, but Torii Hunter brings it down. 2 outs.

4:58pm: Kevin Youkilis grounds to SS Erick Aybar, who flips to 2B Howie Kendrick for the force. 6-4. 3 outs.

Top of 2nd Inning:

5:02pm: Howie Kendrick leads off for the Angels, and he is not having a good postseason at all. With a propensity to strike out way too much for a good hitter, Kendrick has been swinging at junk lately and Boston knows it.

5:03pm: Howie Kendrick grounds to 3B Mike Lowell. Lowell's throw to 1st is poor as it bounces, but Youkilis fields it without a problem. 5-3. 1 out.

5:05pm: Erick Aybar hits a weak chopper down the 1st base line right into the glove of a charging Kevin Youkilis who tags Aybar out as he tries to spin out of the baseline. 2 outs.

5:07pm: Chone Figgins takes a 3-2 pitch into centerfield for a single.

5:09pm: With Garrett Anderson batting, Chone Figgins steals 2nd base on a swinging strike 1. Varitek's throw bounces into Pedroia's glove.

5:11pm: Garrett Anderson works out a walk. Runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out. Mark Teixeira comes to the plate and the Angels need to crack Beckett open.

5:12pm: Mark Teixeria grounds out to 3B Mike Lowell who throws onto 2B Dustin Pedroia for the force play. 5-4. 3 outs.

Bottom of 2nd Inning:

5:16pm: Jason Bay grounds out to 3B Chone Figgins. 5-3. 1 out.

5:19pm: Mike Lowell strikes out swinging. 2 outs.

5:21pm: Jed Lowrie works out a walk.

5:25pm: After fouling off a number of pitches, Jason Varitek lines a 3-2 pitch into leftfield for a single. Jed Lowrie stops at 2nd base.

5:26pm: Coco Crisp is up with runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 out. Crisp has very good numbers against Joe Saunders at .294 (5 for 17) with 5 of those hits consisting of 4 doubles and a homerun.

5:28pm: Joe Saunders walks Coco Crisp on 4 straight balls. Bases are now loaded for Jacoby Ellsbury.

5:31pm: In the ultimate in shitty defense, Jacoby Ellsbury hits a sky pop to shallow centerfield which should have been caught by either CF Torii Hunter or 2B Howie Kendrick. But instead, no one catches it and 3 runs score. That's unfuckingbelievable. Since no one touched the ball, Ellsbury gets a single. Red Sox go up 3-1.

5:33pm: Dustin Pedroia grounds out to SS Erick Aybar who flips to 2B Howie Kendrick for the force. 6-4. 3 out.

Top of 3rd Inning:

5:36pm: Vladimir Guerrero hits the first pitch from Josh Beckett down the leftfield line for a leadoff double.

5:38pm: Torii Hunter can't hold his check swing on a breaking ball in the dirt and strikes out. 1 out.

5:42pm: Juan Rivera fouls out to 1B Kevin Youkilis. 2 outs. Amazing how this Angels team reminds me of the Mets in that they can't convert runners in scoring position into a run.

5:44pm: Sure enough, TBS provides the data that backs up my feeling. The Angels are 7 for 50 with runners in scoring position over the last 6 postseason games (this year and last).

5:46pm: With Mike Napoli batting, Vladimir Guerrero moves himself over by stealing 3rd base on a 2-2 pitch which ended up being a ball.

5:47pm: Mike Napoli BOMBS a 3-2 breaking ball pitch over the Green Monster for a 2-run HR. Angels tie the game up at 3 a piece.

5:48pm: Good 'ol Howie Kendrick strikes out on 3 pitches. If the Angels somehow manage to win this game, I sure hope Kendrick is NOT playing 2B during Game 4. 3 outs.

Bottom of 3rd Inning:

5:51pm: David Ortiz flies out to CF Torii Hunter. 1 out.

5:53pm: Kevin Youkilis draws a walk.

5:55pm: Jason Bay flies out to RF Juan Rivera. 2 outs. TBS is showing the replay of the 3-run single that fell in between Howie Kendrick and Torii Hunter earlier. It sure looks like Howie Kendrick was the one who royally fucked up considering his glove was in the air and was closer to the ball. Plus Torii Hunter never called him off, but Kendrick stopped pursuing the ball just steps away from him. Ridiculous.

5:56pm: Jason Varitek flies out to RF Juan Rivera. 3 outs.

Top of 4th Inning:

5:59pm: Erick Aybar lines out to CF Coco Crisp. 1 out.

6:02pm: Chone Figgins has Josh Beckett's number tonight as he singles to RF.

6:04pm: Garrett Anderson puts a ride into a shot that goes to the warning track in straightaway CF, but Coco Crisp makes the catch just short of the wall. 2 outs.

6:07pm: Mark Teixeira hits a weak grounder to 1B Kevin Youkilis who fields it closer to the infield grass in between bases, tosses to Josh Beckett covering first but Beckett misses the base with his foot and Teixeria beats it out for an infield single. Chone Figgins to 2nd.

6:08pm: Josh Beckett is up to 87 pitches at this point, and there is action in the Red Sox bullpen with Manny Delcarmen throwing.

6:10pm: Jason Varitek goes out to the mound for his 53rd meeting with Josh Beckett.

6:11pm: Vladimir Guerrero takes 4 straight balls for a walk. The Angels again have bases loaded with 2 outs. Pitching coach John Farrell goes out to the mound to make sure Beckett is ok, and give Manny Delcarmen a little more warmup time.

6:12pm: Torii Hunter hits a ground ball up the middle but it's fielded by 2B Dustin Pedroia, who tosses to SS Jed Lowrie at 2B for the force. 3 outs. Angels leave 'em loaded again.

Bottom of 4th Inning:

6:16pm: Jed Lowrie scalds the first pitch he sees past a diving 3B Chone Figgins into leftfield for a leadoff single.

6:19pm: Jason Varitek grounds into a 5-4-3 DP. 3B Chone Figgins to 2B Howie Kendrick to 1B Mark Teixeira. 2 outs.

6:20pm: TBS broadcasters note that Manny Delcarmen is no longer warming up and that Josh Beckett will likely come out to pitch the 5th.

6:21pm: Coco Crisp grounds out to 3B Chone Figgins. 5-3. 3 outs.

Top of 5th Inning:

6:23pm: Beckett is back for the 5th even though he'll be passing the 100-pitch mark after this inning. Still, it's a tie game and he's getting the big outs when they count.

6:24pm: Juan Rivera strikes out swinging at the high heat. 1 out.

6:26pm: Mike Napoli turns on a Josh Beckett high fastball and it just clears the Green Monster wall and into the seats for a solo HR. The Angels go up 4-3. TBS announcers Buck Martinez and Chip Caray note that this is the first time Napoli has ever faced Josh Beckett. Looks like Napoli has his number.

6:27pm: Howie Kendrick manages to smash a single past a diving SS Jed Lowrie into centerfield.

6:29pm: With Howie Kendrick running on the pitch, Erick Aybar drives a ball into right-centerfield but Coco Crisp tracks it down. Crisp tries to double off Kendrick at first, but the ball hits Kendrick and deflects into foul terrritory. Kendrick stays at first as Kevin Youkilis goes after the ball. 2 outs.

6:32pm: Josh Beckett strikes out Chone Figgins. 3 outs.

Bottom of 5th Inning:

6:36pm: Jacoby Ellsbury hits a ball to the Monster wall but LF Garrett Anderson overruns it by an inch and the ball goes off his glove, hits the wall and Ellsbury ends up at 2nd with a leadoff double.

6:39pm: Dustin Pedroia fouls out to C Mike Napoli just a foot away from the Red Sox on-deck circle. 1 out.

6:40pm: TBS sideline announcer Craig Sager reports that Josh Beckett is done for the game.

6:42pm: Joe Saunders strikes out Big Papi David Ortiz with the high heat. 2 outs.

6:45pm: Kevin Youkilis crushes a pitch off the centerfield wall for a double that scores Jacoby Ellsbury from 2nd and ties up the game 4-4. 12 of Boston's 15 runs in this ALDS series have come with 2 outs. Jose Arredondo begins to warm up in the Angels' bullpen.

6:50pm: Jason Bay walks, and that's it for Joe Saunders.

6:53pm: Jose Arredondo is on in relief to pitch against Mike Lowell with runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out.

6:55pm: After working a full count, Mike Lowell lays off an outside corner fastball which happens to be strike 3. 3 outs.

Top of 6th Inning:

6:59pm: The flamethrowing Manny Delcarmen is in to pitch for Boston. Garrett Anderson leads off.

7:00pm: Garrett Anderson hits a broken bat grounder to 1B Kevin Youkilis. Youkilis races to the bag to beat Anderson by sliding into it to avoid a collision. 1 out.

7:02pm: Mark Teixeira hits a grounder at 1B Kevin Youkilis who takes it to the bag without a race. 2 outs.

7:05pm: Vladimir Guerrero grounds out to 2B Dustin Pedroia. 4-3. 3 outs.

Bottom of 6th Inning:

7:10pm: Jose Arredondo gets Jed Lowrie to strikeout swinging at a 3-2 fastball.  1 out.

7:11pm: Jason Varitek strikes out looking. That's 3 Ks for Arredondo. 2 outs.

7:14pm: Coco Crisp grounds out to 2B Howie Kendrick. 4-3. 3 outs.

Top of 7th Inning:

7:18pm: Torii Hunter strikes out swinging. 1 out.

7:20pm: Juan Rivera grounds out to SS Jed Lowrie. 6-3. 2 outs.

7:21pm: Mike Napoli gets hit by Manny Delcarmen's first pitch. The ball grazes his jersey, but that's enough to give him first base. It's doubtful that it was intentional since the Sox can't afford to be allowing baserunners in a tie game.

7:22pm: Howie Kendrick slaps a single past 1st base into RF and a jumping Mike Napoli trying to avoid the ball. Napoli to 2nd. That's all for Manny Delcarmen.

7:24pm: Lefty setup man Hideki Okajima is on in relief for the Red Sox.

7:25pm: Erick Aybar hits a broken bat weak grounder right at 3B Mike Lowell, who steps on third for the 3rd out.

Bottom of 7th Inning:

7:29pm: Reggie Willits replaces Juan Rivera in RF as a defensive replacement. Not like Rivera was doing much with the bat anyways other than taking the bases loaded walk that scored the first Angel run.

7:31pm: Jose Arredondo throws 4 straight balls to Jacoby Ellsbury, giving him a dangerous leadoff walk. Darren Oliver and Scot Shields get up in the Angel bullpen. Pitching coach Mike Butcher goes to the mound to talk to Arredondo, noting that Ellsbury is a dangerous basestealing threat.

7:34pm: Arredondo throws back to 1st base 3 times in a row to keep Ellsbury honest before throwing a pitch for strike 1.

7:35pm: Dustin Pedroia flies out to shallow center where Torii Hunter is there to make the catch. 1 out.

7:36pm: That will be all for Jose Arredondo with lefty David Ortiz coming up. Angels manager Mike Scioscia brings in lefty reliever Darren Oliver, knowing that Ortiz's numbers against lefty pitchers this year are not good.

7:40pm: With David Ortiz batting, Jacoby Ellsbury steals 2nd base easily but slides so hard that he comes off the bag and Erick Aybar keeps the tag on him without pushing him off the base. A huge 2nd out for the Angels.

7:41pm: David Ortiz works out a walk on a 3-2 count. And that's it for Darren Oliver with righty Kevin Youkilis coming up. Righty Scot Shields comes on in relief for the Angels.

7:44pm: Scot Shields strikes out Kevin Youkilis. 3 outs.

Top of 8th Inning:

7:51pm: Chone Figgins lines a ball into right-centerfield but CF Coco Crisp easily tracks it down. 1 out.

7:53pm: Garrett Anderson grounds out to 1B Kevin Youkilis who tosses to Hideki Okajima covering first just in time to get Anderson out. 3-1. 2 outs.

7:55pm: Mark Teixeira lines a ball at 3B Mike Lowell that deflects off of his glove into leftfield for a single. That's all for
lefty Hideki Okajima as righties Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter will bat next for Los Angeles. Red Sox manager Terry Francona makes the call to the bullpen for righty Justin Masterson.

8:01pm: Justin Masterson gets Vladimir Guerrero swinging at a 3-2 fastball that Vlad can't connect on and he strikes out in a big spot. *sigh*  3 outs.

Bottom of 8th Inning:

8:05pm: Jason Bay skies a flyball into the leftfield corner where LF Garrett Anderson is there to make the catch. 1 out.

8:06pm: Mike Lowell grounds out meekly to 2B Howie Kendrick. 4-3. 2 outs.

8:07pm: Scot Shields strikes out Jed Lowrie on 3 nasty breaking balls. 3 outs.

Top of 9th Inning:

8:09pm: I'd be surprised if Jonathan Papelbon doesn't come on to pitch the top of the 9th for Boston. Still, he pitched 1.1 innings on Friday night in Anaheim, so who knows.

8:11pm: Justin Masterson remains in the game, as there's no need to go to Papelbon yet. Torii Hunter hits a grounder down  the leftfield line, LF Jason Bay fields it and throws to Dustin Pedroia at 2nd base to easily get Torii Hunter who is out by a mile. Hunter's hurt knee clearly slowed him down on the basepaths since he normally would get to 2nd without a problem. 1 out.

8:13pm: Lefty Kendry Morales is in to pinch-hit for RF Reggie Willits. He grounds it to 1B Kevin Youkilis who makes the toss to a covering Justin Masterson for the out. 3-1. 2 outs.

8:15pm: Mike Napoli hits a broken-bat grounder past the mound to 2B Dustin Pedroia. The shattered bat just misses Justin Masterson, but Pedroia makes the throw to 1st for the out., 4-3. 3 outs.

Bottom of 9th Inning:

8:19pm: Scot Shields remains on the mound for the 9th. Lefty J.D. Drew, aka: Hero of Game 2, is on to pinch-hit for Jason Varitek's spot.

8:20pm: J.D. Drew strikes out swinging at the high heat. 1 out.

8:22pm: Coco Crisp takes a 3-2 pitch into centerfield but right at Torii Hunter. 2 outs.

8:23pm: Jacoby Ellsbury skies a flyball into RF, but Gary Matthews Jr., now playing RF although the announcers never mentioned that, makes the catch. 3 outs. We're going to extra innings.

Top of 10th Inning:

8:25pm: Jonathan Papelbon is now in to pitch for Boston. Backup catcher Kevin Cash replaces Jason Varitek behind the plate.

8:27pm: Howie Kendrick tries to bunt his way on but it goes right to 3B Mike Lowell, almost on a fly. Lowell makes the throw to first. 5-3. 1 out.

8:28pm: We're told that current Angels postseason roster is 2 for 48 against Papelbon. *gulp*

8:29pm: Make that 2 for 49, or is it 2 for 50? Erick Aybar grounds back to Papelbon. 1-3. 2 outs.

8:33pm: Fenway explodes as Chone Figgins strikes out looking. I hate Jonathan Papelbon. 3 outs.

Bottom of 10th Inning:

8:35pm: Frankie Rodriguez is on to pitch in relief for the Angels. I know it's not an ideal situation for K-Rod, but he cannot blow this one.

8:37pm: In Frankie's last two postseason appearances, he gave up game-winning HRs. Friday night to J.D. Drew, and in last year's ALDS Game 3 clincher to Manny Ramirez.

8:38pm: Dustin Pedroia strikes out swinging. 1 out.

8:42pm: David Ortiz has a nice at-bat against K-Rod before walking on a full count.

8:44pm: Kevin Youkilis sees a fastball, changeup, (0-2 count) fouled-off fastball, fouled-off fastball, curveball lined to CF for a base hit single. David Ortiz moves to 2nd base. This would be a good time to pinch-run for David Ortiz but it isn't happening.

8:48pm: Jason Bay strikes out swinging at K-Rod's breaking ball. 2 outs.

8:49pm: TBS Announcer Buck Martinez also wonders why Ortiz isn't being pinch-run for with Mark Kotsay still available on the bench.

8:50pm: 3-2 count to Mike Lowell with 2 outs will allow David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis a headstart on the bases.

8:52pm: Mike Lowell walks as he doesn't swing at a low and outside fastball. Alex Cora is in to pinch-run for Mike Lowell at 1B.

8:53pm: Bases loaded. 2 outs. Frankie Rodriguez vs. Jed Lowrie, now batting lefty. The Fenway fatifhful get very very loud.

8:54pm: Even louder when Frankie can't find the strike zone with 2 balls.

8:55pm: MIRACLE! Jed Lowrie flies out to RF Gary Matthews Jr. 3 outs! Frankie is pumped, although the Angels need to take this momentum and score some motherfucking runs in the 11th. Frankie threw 30+ pitches that inning, so it's questionable if he can pitch the bottom of the 11th.

Top of 11th Inning:

8:58pm: Defensive adjustments for Boston. Jed Lowrie moves over to 3B in place of Mike Lowell, Alex Cora replaces Lowrie at SS. Jonathan Papelbon stays in for another inning.

9:01pm: Jonathan Papelbon strikes out Garrett Anderson on a 3-2 fastball. 1 out. Both team's bullpens have been fantastic. If only Howie Kendrick had caught that Jacoby Ellsbury fly ball back in the 2nd inning, the Angels would've already won the game!!!

9:04pm: Paul Byrd is warming up in the Red Sox bullpen, preparing for some long relief if necessary.

9:05pm: Mark Teixeira works a 3-2 count and manages to walk. The first walk given up by Papelbon since July 5. Holy crap.

9:06pm: Vladimir Guerrero hits the first pitch back up the middle into CF for a base hit. Teixeira goes to 2nd base.

9:08pm: Torii Hunter flies out to RF Jacoby Ellsbury. The runners do not advance. 2 outs.

9:10pm: Javier Lopez joins Paul Byrd in the Red Sox bullpen.

9:11pm: Gary Matthews Jr. strikes out swinging at the high heat, to the surprise of no one. 3 outs.

Bottom of 11th Inning:

9:14pm: Jered Weaver is in to pitch in long relief for the Angels. He has not pitched a game since September 23.

9:15pm: Mark Kotsay is in to pinch-hit for catcher Kevin Cash.

9:16pm: Mark Kotsay strikes out swinging at a 3-2 pitch. 1 out.

9:17pm: Coco Crisp lines a ball into CF for a single.

9:19pm: Jered Weaver strikes out Jacoby Ellsbury looking at an outside pitch, but the ump gave Weaver the call. 2 outs.

9:20pm: Jered Weaver throws over to 1st base several times to keep Coco Crisp from taking 2nd base. They even pitchout on the first pitch to Dustin Pedroia, but Crisp doesn't go.

9:22pm: The next pitch is a strike, but Coco Crisp steals 2nd base on the pitch with ease. A base hit to the outfield should win the game for Boston. All the more important for Weaver to get Pedroia out right now.

9:23pm: Dustin Pedroia rockets a ball right at 3B Chone Figgins who fields it and throws to first for the 3rd out. 5-3. WHEW!!!!!!!!

Top of 12th Inning:

9:26pm: Lefty Javier Lopez is in to pitch for Boston. David Ross is in behind the plate at catcher.

9:27pm: It's amazing that with 13 hits through , the Angels have only been able to score 4 runs. And by amazing, I kinda mean pathetic.

9:29pm: Mike Napoli shoots a grounder through the hole between 3rd and SS for a leadoff single. Howie Kendrick should be up here to bunt.

9:30pm: Howie Kendrick bunts the first pitch down the 1st-base line where it is cleanly fielded by Lopez, who throws over to 1st base for the out. 1-3. Napoli successfully moves to 2nd base in scoring position. Can the Angels CONVERT?!?!!?

9:31pm: This game has now gone past the 5-hour mark. But what a great game it is. Even greater if the Angels an score right now.

9:32pm: Erick Aybar bloop singles a ball to centerfield! Mike Napoli scores easily from 2nd base, Angels go up 5-4. FINALLY!!

9:33pm: Martinez and Caray note that the Angels could use some insurance since they'll be facing Ortiz, Youkilis and Bay in the bottom of the 12th.

9:34pm: Chone Figgins strikes out looking at an inside fastball. 2 outs.

9:35pm: Garrett Anderson grounds an 0-2 pitch through the hole on the right side for a single to RF. Aybar goes to 3rd on the base hit.

9:36pm: Mark Teixeira grounds an 0-1 pitch to SS Alex Cora, who flips to 2B Dustin Pedroia for the force out. 6-4. 3 outs.

Bottom of 12th Inning:

9:39pm: Jered Weaver is still pitching for the Angels. David Ortiz has some wicked hahd numbers against him too, batting .471 (8 for 17) with 3 HRs over his career.

9:41pm: David Ortiz takes a 3-2 count and turns it into a leadoff walk. However, now there's no one that can pinch-run for Ortiz, and a double-play ball is super important.

9:42pm: Apparently Sean Casey is the only person left on the Boston bench, but he is no faster than Ortiz.

9:43pm: Another 3-2 count, now to Kevin Youkilis....

9:44pm: Kevin Youkilis skies a ball to CF Torii Hunter. 1 out. There is a heavy layer of mist that has settled upon Fenway Park.

9:46pm: Jason Bay strikes out looking at an inside fastball. FUCK YEAH! 2 outs.

9:47pm: Alex Cora slaps a grounder back at 3B Chone Figgins who makes a great play, turns around, fires to first and throws out Cora. 5-3. 3 outs. ANGELS WIN!!!!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------

Your winners in a thrilling heart-attack-inducing game, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by a final score of 5-4 in 12 innings.

With their backs up against the wall, the Angels held on to beat the Red Sox despite some shoddy defense. They didn't let Josh Beckett own them, and Mike Napoli certainly didn't, with 2 bomb shots off of Beckett.

But this game meant a lot for the Angels. Winning meant avoiding elimination. Winning meant avoiding getting swept for the third time in a row by the Red Sox. Winning meant stopping the 11-game postseason winning streak that the Red Sox had over the Angels that dates back to 1986. Winning meant everything to LAA.

Tomorrow's game 4 at Fenway will be a game 1 rematch of Jon Lester vs John Lackey, hopefully with a very different
result.

The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by a final score of 5-4 in 10 innings. This was one of the most exciting ballgames I've seen this season, not just by the Mets either.

There were a lot of highs and lows, depending which team you were cheering for. And not one, but two improbable comebacks by the Mets late in the game. This is not a team known for high-drama comebacks this season. All the more reason why it was one of the best Met victories of 2008.

Here are the key points:

• Jose Reyes led off the game with a single, stole 2nd, and went to 3rd on the high throw by Angel catcher Jeff Mathis. Marlon Anderson popped out to shallow left, which didn't allow Reyes to score. But David Wright grounded out 4-3, to allow Reyes to score. This was the third consecutive game in which the Mets scored first, in the first inning.

• In the 3rd inning, Jose Reyes just missed a HR to right-center that caromed near the top of the wall. He ended up with a triple instead. Marlon Anderson hit a sac fly to left which scored Reyes, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.

• Carlos Delgado led off the 4th inning with a 400+-ft line drive HR just to the right of straight-away centerfield. THAT is the Delgado we know and love. He needs to show up more often. The Mets were now up 3-0.

• Oliver Perez was great for the first 3 innings of the game. In the 4th, the Angels tagged him for a run, but no biggie.

• Until the bottom of the 5th inning.The Angels started to hit Perez, scoring 3 runs off of a string of Angel hits, which put the team up 4-3.

• The play that got Oliver Perez out of the 5th inning was a combination of solid Met defense, and a huge baserunning mistake by Torii Hunter.  With Hunter on 1st and Vladimir Guerrero on 3rd, 1B Robb Quinlan hit a groundball to David Wright at 3B. Wright threw home to catcher Ramon Castro who made the tag on Guerrero for the out, since he was running on contact.

• Then, Torii Hunter was caught napping. Seemingly thinking that Vlad was the 3rd out, Hunter began slowly jogging from 2nd base towards the Angel dugout. However, Ramon Castro wasn't napping and threw down to 2nd base where the Mets caught Hunter in a rundown for the 3rd out. 5-2-4-6-5 on the scorecard. Torii Hunter's gaffe with 2 out while he was still in scoring position, was a foolish mistake, which in some ways, cost the Angels the game.

• The 6th, 7th and 8th innings were relatively uneventful. For the Mets, Perez finished up pitching in the 6th, Joe Smith pitched the 7th, Scott Schoeneweis pitched the 8th. For the Angels, Garland finished up pitching the 6th, Darren Oliver pitched to 1 batter in the 7th before he was then successfully relieved by Jose Arredondo, Scot Sheilds pitched the 8th. No runs were scored during these three innings.

• The 9th inning, is where things got extremely interesting. The Angels bullpen is known to be superb, one of the best, if not the best in the Majors right now. Not just because of ace closer Frankie "K-Rod" Rodriguez, who had been 28 for 29 in saves this season. Also because of premiere setup man Scot Shields, and very good pitching from ex-Met Darren Oliver, and rookie Jose Arredondo.

• K-Rod doesn't blow many saves. He's only blown one in 2008 so far, and that happened on April 7 against Cleveland, a game which the Angels won anyways. And the Mets weren't exactly hitting up a storm against Jon Garland or the rest of the Angel bullpen. K-Rod got leadoff batter Ramon Castro to pop out. Jose Reyes, already with a single and a triple in the game and 2 runs scored, poked a single just over the head of 2B Howie Kendrick into rightfield. With Fernando Tatis at the plate, one kept expecting Jose Reyes to steal 2nd, but it never happened. Tatis struck out swinging, and there were now 2 out with David Wright at the plate.

• During the at-bat, Frankie threw a wild pitch which catcher Jeff Mathis let get away from him, so Reyes took 2nd on the pitch. In the clutch moment of the game, David Wright golfed a single into leftfield which scored Reyes from 2nd, tying up the game 4-4. Angel fans were stunned. Their closer doesn't do this. But tonight, he did. Even Met fans were stunned. After all, in the 9th inning this season, David Wright was 1-for-20. Rodriguez then managed to get Carlos Beltran to ground out, and we went to the bottom of the 9th.

• Duaner Sanchez pitched a 1-2-3 inning against the Angels. In a move one could (and I do) question that Mike Scioscia did not make, with 2 out and no one on base, he let switch-hitting LF Reggie Willits face Sanchez. Except Willits was 0-for-2 on the day with 2 BB, and does not have HR power at all. This would've been a smart spot for lefty Garrett Anderson to take over since he does have HR power and could win it with a walkoff. Reggie Willits was not going to be able to bunt the ball over the rightfield fence. Sure, you could say that Willits was hitting there so he could get on base and score the winning run with his speed. But he would have to count on the batters behind him to drive him in. With G.A. up at that point, one swing could win the game. And if he failed, Anderson then plays his normal position of LF. Ultimately it was obviously Scioscia's decision to make, and it wasn't a terrible one, just a questionable one. Maybe Garrett Anderson was unavailable and this move couldn't have been made in the first place.

• Onto the Top 10th, Justin Speier was now pitching for the Angels. He retired Carlos Delgado and Trot Nixon. With 2 out, former Angel Damion Easley was at the plate. In one of the most unbelievable moments, Damion Easley hit a solo blast into the LF bullpen to put the Mets ahead 5-4. This was made only more unbelievable because as Easley came up to the plate, an Angel fan behind us said, "Easley is going to hit a homerun," and I looked at him like he was crazy. I replied, "You're calling an Easley homer? I'd be surprised if he gets a base hit here." And low and behold, the man behind us was dead-on. In fact, he was in shock at his own HR call. Not even Damion Easley's own mother would've predicted that to happen.

• Understand that it's made even MORE unbelievable because over the past 3 years, when the Angels lead in the 8th inning or later, they have a record of 201-2. That's a testament to their bullpen and then some. That record now stands at 201-3.

• The Bottom 10 was Billy time. Howie Kendrick hit a chopper to 3rd base that was bare-handed by David Wright, who threw down to Tatis at 1st just in time to get Kendrick. Vladdy flied out to Endy Chavez in RF, and Torii Hunter struck out swinging for the big big big Met come-from-behind victory against one of the best teams in baseball.

• This was also, Jerry Manuel's first victory in the manager's role.
  

The team's march towards .500 continues...

Game 2 of the 3-game interleague series between the New York Mets, now managed by Jerry Manuel, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, ended with the Angels beating the Mets 6-1 behind the insanely great pitching of John Lackey.

While this was billed as a big-time pitching matchup, a battle of staff aces, Johan Santana doesn't pitch well against the Angels, and even less so when he's at Angel Stadium. Santana was 2-3 with a 4.05 ERA in 10 games - eight starts - against the Angels. After tonight's loss, make that 2-4 in 11 games, 9 starts against the Angels. I don't know the ERA offhand but it's definitely gone up.

Here are the key points of the game:

• Angel John Lackey was great. He scattered 6 Hits in 7.2 IP, walking 1, striking out 7, and the only run he gave up during the game was when David Wright hit into a double play, scoring Damion Easley, who replaced Jose Reyes after was pulled from the game by Manuel after he seemed to tweak his hamstring running to first on a leadoff single. I'm told that on TV, Reyes was shown throwing a tantrum in the dugout after being removed from the game. Apparently he thought it was just a temporary thing, but Jerry Manuel thought otherwise. All I could see from my vantage point was when Reyes threw the helmet, but no one knew what had happened.

• The Mets defense was terrible. They would've lost the game either way, but they committed 3 charged errors, and probably committed another 2-3 during the game that didn't make the official scorecard. Carlos Beltran could've nailed Vladimir Guerrero at the plate, but his throw to Brian Schneider was on the first base side of homeplate, allowing the Angels' 3rd run to score in the 1st inning.

• Johan Santana didn't pitch well, and earned the L in this game on his own. 4 of 5 Angel runs were scored on 8 hits in 6 Innings. Santana walked 2 and struck out 5. Angel catcher Jeff Mathis also connected on a solo blast in the bottom 6.

• Aaron Heilman pitched again tonight, and was perfect in the 7th. Heilman quite possibly saved last night's game by striking out Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter with 1 out and runners on 1st and 3rd. The Mets led 8-6 at that point, so it was imperative to escape the inning.

• Claudio Vargas pitched the 8th, gave up an unearned run thanks to some more poor defense by Fernando Tatis and Luis Castillo, but at that point the game was pretty much over anyways.

The teams will meet tomorrow night in the rubber game of the series when Oliver Perez faces Jon Garland. Initially I thought this matchup favored Garland since he doesn't pitch very well at home, and has not looked anything remarkable lately. Then I heard that the Angels record against lefty starters is something like 12-3 this season, and with Perez' propensity to walk batters even in his GOOD starts, the Angels are a team with speed that will create problems for Perez.

This may end up being a battle of which pitcher sucks less. Considering the Angels scored 6 runs each in the first two games, the Mets pitching staff is going to have to come through Wednesday night, or the team will continue to slide, no matter who the manager is.

The MLB All-Star game is a little over a month away. Voting began on May 1, which is way too early to make All-Star picks, but as of June 10, with the latest results available, and the timing right, here are my votes and analysis for the 2008 All-Stars.

Keep in mind that there is still a lot of baseball left to be played between now and the end of the initial voting period which ends on July 2. Player performances can drastically change over that time period, so a ballot submitted then could look a lot different than one submitted on June 10.

American League:
1B Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Kevin Youkilis (Boston)            926,758
2. Justin Morneau (Minnesota)     678,037
3. Jason Giambi (New York)        437,656
4. Carlos Pena (Tampa Bay)        296,769
5. Paul Konerko (Chicago)           270,410

My Pick: Justin Morneau (Minnesota)

Kevin Youkilis is practically neck-and-neck with Justin Morneau in stats across the board, so either one is a fine choice.

The Angels' Casey Kotchman should be getting more votes than he has, leading all AL 1B in BA (currently .307) and has been consistently good all season. The Tigers' Carlos Guillen is also a good pick, but he's since been moved out of 1B for the defensively-challenged Miguel Cabrera, who this year would be a terrible pick at any position.

Paul Konerko isn't remotely reasonable in that spot when he's been hitting under .220 practically the entire season, and doesn't have the power numbers that a Jason Giambi has to justify the votes. Carlos Pena is also a bad choice here, as he has more HRs than Konerko, but similar BA. Pena leads all AL 1B in strikeouts, and is also on the DL. A terrible choice.

2B Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Dustin Pedroia (Boston)          809,114
2. Ian Kinsler (Texas)                  512,894
3. Robinson Cano (New York)      512,045
4. Placido Polanco (Detroit)         333,336
5. Brian Roberts (Baltimore)        233,752

My Pick: Ian Kinsler (Texas)

Red Sox nation may be stuffing the ballots here, but these results are completely absurd. Kinsler has better stats than Pedroia across the board to the point that it's ridiculous to vote for anyone BUT Ian Kinsler at this point. Brian Roberts would be a better pick than Pedroia, but still not close to Kinsler.

Robinson Cano is having a terrible year and doesn't even belong in the top 5. This category is a joke if Kinsler doesn't win. There's not a single justifiable reason for anyone else to get it.

SS Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Derek Jeter (New York)            1,218,881
2. Michael Young (Texas)               533,582
3. Edgar Renteria (Detroit)              365,269
4. Julio Lugo (Boston)                     281,408
5. Orlando Cabrera (Chicago)          271,702

My Pick: Michael Young (Texas)

Derek Jeter is in this spot for two reasons. One, legacy at the position. Two, the All-Star game is in Yankee Stadium, so he's getting a LOT of hometown voting. But again, the fans are completely wrong and should be ashamed for voting this way.

This is a terrible pick when Michael Young's numbers trump Jeter's across the board in the same way Kinsler's stats obliterate the entire field at 2B.

The Rangers' middle infield is clearly getting short-changed in the voting because they're not a major market like New York or Boston, even though Young and Kinsler are the ONLY reasonable choices at these two positions.

3B Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Alex Rodriguez (New York)         1,109,916
2. Mike Lowell (Boston)                     584,563
3. Miguel Cabrera (Detroit)                 379,813
4. Joe Crede (Chicago)                      334,024
5. Scott Rolen (Toronto)                     204,472

My Pick: Alex Rodriguez (New York)

A-Rod's stint on the DL makes his stats this season seem on the weak side. What, ONLY 10 HRs? But he's still the best pick at the position.  Mike Lowell also spent time on the DL this season, but his stats don't compare to A-Rod's in the least.

Miguel Cabrera isn't at 3B anymore, and even if he were, doesn't have the stats to warrant the votes.

The only other slightly reasonable pick at 3B is Chicago's Joe Crede, who leads all AL 3B with 14 HR and has a very good .291 BA.

C Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Jason Varitek (Boston)               681,451
2. Joe Mauer (Minnesota)               630,372
3. Ivan Rodriguez (Detroit)               505,645
4. Jorge Posada (New York)            445,455
5. Victor Martinez (Cleveland)          321,063

My Pick: Dioner Navarro (Tampa Bay)

Based on stats, there are only two reasonable choices at what is a fairly weak field of catchers. Joe Mauer, and the Rays' Dioner Navarro, who despite a .349 BA leading all catchers, and has been hitting well over .300 all season, doesn't crack the top 5, which is ridiculous.

Varitek is a poor choice here, as he is every year. Red Sox Nation continues to try and flood the All-Star team with their players, even when very few of them should be involved.

Both Rodriguez and Varitek get votes based on how they performed 7 years ago, instead of in 2008. Jorge Posada spent a fair amount of time on the DL this season, and while he is hitting .311, hasn't played enough this year to matchup with Mauer and Navarro's stats.

DH Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. David Ortiz (Boston)                   1,261,879
2. Hideki Matsui (New York)             672,267
3. Jim Thome (Chicago)                   403,881
4. Gary Sheffield (Detroit)                 192,557
5. Frank Catalanotto (Texas)             188,622

My Pick: Hideki Matsui (New York)

David Ortiz is a great pick except he's on the DL and may be done for the season. Gary Sheffield is also on the DL, but is not a good pick at all this year.

Jim Thome has very good power numbers but that's about all. He's hitting .212 and strikes out at a very high rate.

Matsui is hitting .323 with 6 HR, 29 RBIs and a 1-to-1 BB/K ratio. With Ortiz out of the mix, no one else should get a vote except for Hideki Matsui.

OF Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Manny Ramirez (Boston)              1,179,884
2. Josh Hamilton (Texas)                     922,220
3. Ichiro Suzuki (Seattle)                     696,176
4. Vladimir Guerrero (Los Angeles)       610,877
5. Bobby Abreu (New York)                 545,852
6. Magglio Ordonez (Detroit)               512,245
7. Johnny Damon (New York)              444,973
8. Melky Cabrera (New York)               439,893
9. Torii Hunter (Los Angeles)                421,694
10. Grady Sizemore (Cleveland)           410,465

My Picks: Josh Hamilton (Texas), (write-in) Carlos Quentin (Chicago), Manny Ramirez (Boston)

Josh Hamilton is having an amazing season so far, 17 HR, 69 RBIs (wow), and .315 BA. Clearly deserves the vote.

Carlos Quentin is an unfortunate victim of not being on the ballot, so he's not getting the votes. He'll definitely make the team thanks to the players' voting, but fans should be writing him in at a faster clip. If I could write-in Milton Bradley (Texas) as well, I would.

And Manny Ramirez is a fine choice this season based on his numbers.

There are a good number of options for the AL outfield. I have no quarrel with guys like Ichiro, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu making the top 10.

There are still people on the list though, who shouldn't be. Vladimir Guerrero is having a very mediocre season. Melky Cabrera is good, but is no All-Star. Torii Hunter isn't having the season that other better players are.

Pitching:
Fans of course, don't get to vote for pitchers in the All-Star game. But here are my 10 picks in case the players need some guidance. J 5 starters, 5 relievers, in no particular order. 

Starters:  Cliff Lee (Cleveland), Roy Halladay (Toronto), Ervin Santana, (Los Angeles), Scott Kazmir (Tampa Bay), Jose Contreras (Chicago).

Relievers:  Mariano Rivera (New York), Frankie Rodriguez (Los Angeles), Jonathan Papelbon (Boston), George Sherrill (Baltimore), Joakim Soria (Kansas City)

So, in conclusion, my AL ballot:
C: Dioner Navarro (Tampa Bay)
1B: Justin Morneau (Minnesota)
2B: Ian Kinsler (Texas)
SS: Michael Young (Texas)
3B: Alex Rodriguez (New York)
DH: Hideki Matsui (New York)
OF: Josh Hamilton (Texas), (write-in) Carlos Quentin (Chicago), Manny Ramirez (Boston)     

Overall, the fan voting is leading to some absolutely terrible choices so far at 2B, SS and C positions, picking 3 guys who don’t belong starting.

Onto the National League Ballot!!!

National League

1B Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Lance Berkman (Houston)            1,046,249
2. Derrick Lee (Chicago)                     771,516
3. Albert Pujols (St. Louis)                   700,777
4. Ryan Howard (Philadelphia)              368,012
5. Prince Fielder (Milwaukee)               317,039

My Pick: Lance Berkman (Houston)

Berkman is the best pick of them all by far, although I wouldn’t necessarily spit on someone for voting for Pujols, Lee, or San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez.

Ryan Howard doesn’t deserve to be on the All-Star team with a .214 BA. Prince Fielder isn’t putting up the numbers that other more worthy candidates are.

2B Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Chase Utley (Philadelphia)     1,284,961
2. Mark DeRosa (Chicago)            589,637
3. Kazuo Matsui (Houston)            523,335
4. Dan Uggla (Florida)                   366,848
5. Orlando Hudson (Arizona)          333,998

My Pick: Chase Utley (Philadelphia)

Up until recently, no one was even remotely close to being a reasonable option OTHER than Chase Utley.

Florida’s Dan Uggla has experienced an offensive surge which is still short of Utley’s numbers, but would make a good option as a backup. DeRosa is a good hitter but doesn’t have the power of Utley or Uggla.

SS Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Miguel Tejada (Houston)             726,835
2. Hanley Ramirez (Florida)             607,528
3. Ryan Theriot (Chicago)                583,433
4. Jose Reyes (New York)               498,007
5. Jimmy Rollins (Philadelphia)         442,885

My Pick: Hanley Ramirez (Florida)

Up until he went on the DL in early May, Rafael Furcal of the Los Angeles Dodgers was having an All-Star caliber start to his season. Alas, he’s been out for over a month now and there’s no definitive timetable on when he’ll return.

With the current field of shortstops, it’s really a 2-man race and the fans have it right for once. Miguel Tejada and Hanley Ramirez are the best options. Jose Reyes has improved greatly from his slow April, but he’s still not as good a choice as Ramirez or Tejada.

I give the edge to Hanley because of the power numbers (14 HRs compared to Tejada’s 7), but don’t find Tejada to be a bad pick since he’s been hitting hover .300 most of the season.

Ryan Theriot and Jimmy Rollins are good choices, but not the best. Atlanta’s Yuniel Escobar is at the same level.

3B (Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Chipper Jones (Atlanta)            1,110,171
2. Aramis Ramirez (Chicago)           726,973
3. David Wright (New York)              655,105
4. Ty Wigginton (Houston)                359,989
5. Mark Reynolds (Arizona)              292,702 

My Pick: Chipper Jones (Atlanta)

Open and shut. Chipper Jones is hitting .420 on June 10 and leads all NL 3B with 15 HRs. Any other vote is retarded. Seriously. And I HATE Chipper Jones.

C (Current Leaders (as of June 10, 2008)
1. Geovany Soto (Chicago)          969,853
2. Brian McCann (Atlanta)           578,276
3. Yadier Molina (St. Louis)         458,084
4. J.R. Towles (Houston)             367,248
5. Russell Martin (Los Angeles)   350,694 

My Pick: Brian McCann (Atlanta)

Brian McCann and Geovany Soto are the top 2 in the voting, and either one would be a good choice at starting catcher. Currently McCann has the better numbers, but they’re so close, either one would be fine.

Yadier Molina is hitting .295, but older brother Bengie Molina is hitting .333 with better overall numbers. Bengie isn’t in the top 5 votegetters.

J.R. Towles might be the most ridiculous pick ever, with a .145 BA. Embarrassing.

Russell Martin is hitting very well but doesn’t have the power numbers of Soto or McCann. He still should be higher in the voting than Molina or Towles.
 

OF (Current Leaders (as of June 9, 2008)
1. Alfonso Soriano (Chicago)               1,088,866
2. Kosuke Fukudome (Chicago)             918,262
3. Ken Griffey Jr. (Cincinnati)                 775,759
4. Carlos Lee (Houston)                         587,027
5. Carlos Beltran (New York)                  518,838
6. Ryan Braun (Milwaukee)                     514,913
7. Matt Holliday (Colorado)                     507,628
8. Hunter Pence (Houston)                     500,857
9. Pat Burrell (Philadelphia)                    487,131
10. Rick Ankiel (St. Louis)                     478,136

My Picks: Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Alfonso Soriano (Chicago), Ryan Ludwick (St. Louis)

This is an interesting result that the fans have put together. Kosuke Fukudome has become a fan favorite of the Cubs and had a very good start to the season but has cooled off considerably. He’s probably good enough to be a reserve OF, but in no way should be a starter.

Ken Griffey Jr. is a nostalgia pick but doesn’t have the numbers to warrant being here.

Carlos Beltran is a ridiculous choice unless you’re voting for the best defensive CF of the bunch. Otherwise, he has no business on the team having the nothing season he’s having.

Matt Holliday would probably be one of my picks if not for him being on the DL.

Carlos Lee’s BA isn’t good enough to warrant so many votes, although Astros fans are clearly voting in big numbers when guys like J.R. Towles, Kazuo Matsui and Carlos Lee are garnering as many votes as they’ve gotten.

A lot of absurd people in the top 10 here, as opposed to the AL’s top 10, which are mostly good picks.

Pitchers:
5 starters and 5 relievers, in no particular order.

Starters: Edinson Volquez (Cincinnati), Tim Lincecum (San Francisco), Brandon Webb (Arizona), Ben Sheets (Milwaukee), Ryan Dempster (Chicago).

Relievers: Billy Wagner (New York), Brad Lidge (Philadelphia), Kerry Wood (Chicago), Matt Capps (Pittsburgh), Brandon Lyon (Arizona).

So, in conclusion, my NL ballot:
C: Brian McCann (Atlanta)
1B: Lance Berkman (Houston)
2B: Chase Utley (Philadelphia)
SS: Hanley Ramirez (Florida)
3B: Chipper Jones (Atlanta)
OF: Ryan Braun (Milwaukee), Alfonso Soriano (Chicago), Ryan Ludwick (St. Louis) 

Overall, the fans have put together much better picks for the NL starters except in the Outfield, with only Alfonso Soriano being deserving of starting in the current top 3 votegetters.