Wednesday Halolinks: Angels Spoil Cubs' California Vacation, I'm Sorry

First off, let me apologize for spoiling anyone's fun by posting the photo from Sunday night's "Game of Thrones" episode. I figured if you hadn't heard what had happened by Tuesday, you probably didn't care. Heck, I live in Smalltown, Wisconsin where the coolest guy in town drives a Chevy Van with a warlock painted on the side, and we heard about the Red Wedding. Sorry if I screwed up your GoT experience.

Second, to be fair to everyone, here are some spoilers I didn't let out o the bag yesterday:

SPOILER ALERTS!

Titanic: The frickin' ship hits a goddam ice berg! I'm like, "Holy fuck, where'd that come from!"
Crying Game: The chick's a dude. I'm like, "Holy fuck, where'd that come from!"
Game 6, 2002 World Series: Angels comeback and win it. Speizio cranks one down the right field line, Glaus puts them ahead. Yeah, I know, hard to believe, but the Halos at one time knew how to win when it counts.
World War II: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor! We still kick their ass (eventually)!
The Sixth Sense: He's dead.

No he didn't...

The Bible: He dies.

Anyway, here are today's Halolinks...sans spoilers:

• Why didn't anyone mention it was "Turn Back the Clock" night? Thank you Mr. Pujols for reminding us what kind of awesome ballplayer you were a few years ago: Pujols' blast helps Angels end skid - Yahoo! Sports. "Pujols' home run likely buoyed the Angels' spirits as well, as Los Angeles appeared destined for yet another loss to a sub-.500 team on the heels of being swept in by the Houston Astros the previous four-game series. However, instead of a five-game losing streak and more head-scratching, the Angels earned their first win in June."
• It's not like the Cubs are anything like that juggernaut team from Houston: Angels 4, Cubs 3 - FOX Sports. "Pujols, who has hit 54 of his 484 career home runs against Cubs pitching, is batting just .244 with 35 RBIs in 57 games. After he struck out in the third inning, he was soundly booed by the crowd." In all fairness, apparently Pujols is dealing with a lot of pain in his foot: Chicago Cubs at Los Angeles Angels - June 4, 2013 | MLB.com LAA Recap
  "I just couldn't do it, man," Pujols said. "I just felt too guilty. He was fighting with me on it, and I was like, 'No, no, please, don't do it.'" 'It' being going on the disabled list.
• I'm liking this Weaver-Vargas one-two punch thing they've got going on: Cubs-Angels Preview - Yahoo! Sports. "After going 0-3 with a 4.85 ERA in five starts during April, the left-hander went 5-0 with a 2.30 ERA in his six starts in May - all Los Angeles victories." I loved me some Kendrys Morales, but Jason Vargas' recent performance has all but erased that sting.
• Dude. Really? Gentlemanly Angels Fan Runs Away, Allows Flying Bat To Just Miss Woman. "This has kind of become a thing in recent years, hasn't it? A man and a woman are seated next to each other at a baseball park. They are enjoying themselves, relaxing to the game's gentle rhythms, when all of a—HOLYSHITIT'SCOMINGRIGHTATUSRUNFORYOURLIVES!"
  
• WTF? Where's my spoiler alert for this one? Why hasn't anyone mentioned this to me before?? And here I thought playoff baseball was in my future. The Angels Hit Rock Bottom - FanGraphs Baseball. "Against the other six teams making a playoff run this year, the Astros have four wins and 28 losses. That is a .125 winning percentage. Against the Angels, they are 7-3. The Astros have won a third of their game against the Angels, who have only represented 17% of their schedule."
• Here's an interesting Rob Neyer post: 130 Pitches: A Baseball Mystery! - Baseball Nation. "Clayton Kershaw threw 132 pitches in a game last month, and Anibal Sanchez and Yu Darvish have each thrown 130 pitches in a game this season. But the 130-pitch outing largely died out in 2001, and it's hard to figure out exactly why."
• Did you hear, there's some steroid stuff going on. No, seriously...some pretty big-named players...Major League Baseball might suspend about 20 players, including Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, as part of Miami investigation - ESPN. "Major League Baseball will seek to suspend about 20 players connected to the Miami-area clinic at the heart of an ongoing performance-enhancing drug scandal, including Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, possibly within the next few weeks, "Outside the Lines" has learned. If the suspensions are upheld, the performance-enhancing drug scandal would be the largest in American sports history." I'm like, "Holy fuck, where'd that come from!"
• Major League Baseball eyes penalties for players linked to clinic - angels.com. ""I've already addressed everything related to the Miami situation," Braun said. "I addressed it in Spring Training. I will not make any further statements about it. The truth has not changed. I don't know the specifics of the story that came out today, but I've already addressed it, I've already commented on it and I'll say nothing further about it." That kind of reminds me of this...
  
  Cheech: Now, young man, I have talked to you, and talked to you, and talked to you until I'm blue in the face, and I'm done talking to you!
  Chong: Good, does that mean you're done spitting on me, too?!
  Cheech: Shut up, I'm not done talking to you!
• The Worst Baseball Writing of THIS Month - Baseball Nation. SPOILER ALERT: It's not me.