Dan Haren Injury Masks Angels Bigger Weaknesses

Final Score in Anaheim: Red Sox 6, Angels 3

Did I ever tell you the story about Mo Vaughn in 1999? On Opening Day, his first game as an Angel after signing a big offseason free agency contract, on the 2nd batter of the game, he sprained his ankle on the dugout steps fielding a foul ball.

Well tonight, Dan Haren made his Angels debut and partied like it was 1999 alright. Haren took a line drive off of his right wrist in the 5th inning and left the game without even throwing a pitch. He was diagnosed with a contusion although no X-Ray was taken. Haren will visit the Angels team doctor Lewis Yokum on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, even with world class starting pitching, the team's glaring holes in their offense, defense and relief pitching added up to an atrocious evening of baseball against the weakest Boston Red Sox team the Angels have faced in any of the past 12 years. Clay Buchholz tried his best to hand the game to the Angels but they refused to do anything more than the occasional single. Terry Francona tried to give the game away by putting some really washed up reliever and the Angels climbed aboard a 2-run HR by Hideki Matsui to complement their earlier solo HR by Bobby Abreu, but gutless grounding out by Howie Kendrick and Erick Ayabr and just about everyone else was laughably overshadowed by Fernando Rodney coughing up a bomb to David Ortiz when all the terribleness and misfortune of the contest seemed like it could be washed away.

Nothing else to say... Angels tied with Oakland, 7.5 games behind the Cocaine Cowboys. Biggest deficit of the season. We're just not that good, folks, but I doubt this is news to any of you...

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