Final Score in the Dallas Suburbs: Angels 8, Rangers 10
Angels fans will tell themselves that It was just one of those games where nothing went right, and they better hope this is the case, because if the Texas Rangers are as dominant as they were Friday night at home, the division will be all theirs.
A final push in the 9th inning by the Angels against the scrubs of the Texas bullpen cannot gloss over a disappointing start to the team's ten game road trip. Two seemingly meaningless runs given up by Shane Loux in the bottom of the 8th inning to make the game 10-3 turned out to be the difference on a night when every grasp at getting into the game by the Angels seemed to be a greased pig with no handles. With the tying runs on base and two outs in the 9th, Howie Kendrick took a first pitch belt-high fastball and then grounded out to 2nd base on the 3rd pitch of the at-bat.
When the game still mattered (in the 2nd inning) the Angels loaded the bases with one out on a walk and two singles. Howie Kendrick then took a first pitch strike that had HIT ME tattooed all over it. He weakly grounded into a double play on the next pitch and that was pretty much the ball game.
But hey, I heard some idiot say that Kendrick was going to be a future batting champion one day, and I am just an idiot parrot, so let's all hang in there and pull for old Hesitatin' Howie.
All Star Joe Saunders was lit up by the Texas bats and Texas Semi-Ace Kevin Millwood benefited from two of the three Angel double plays in the game. Saunders didn't have to worry about his pitch count as he was delivering meatballs on the first pitch to Texas hitters who mashed them into spaghetti RBIs.
Shane Loux made his first relief appearance of the season, and in the 9th inning the team staged a semi-comeback against the bottom end of the Rangers bullpen (Kendry Morales hit a 3-Run jack after Bobby Abreu had hit a double to plate two runners) to make it interesting, but the only real highlight of the night was Erick Aybar's line-drive HR after the game was a joke. Just inside the foulpole, it came after Jeff Mathis had been picked off base. It was that kind of night for the Angels.
