Kaleb Cowart’s MLB debut was the news of the day, if only to give us something else to focus on than strictly winning or losing. Otherwise, it was just another game against Chicago, and a chance to have our up-and-down hopes dashed once again. Cowart’s call-up came on the heels of a taut, 2-1 win the prior night, where they won on a couple solo homers, and there were hushed expectations of a possible ignition of something in this sluggish Halo lineup, hopefully spurred by the arrival of the youngblood 3B. And with Garrett Richards on the mound, perhaps it wouldn’t even take that much of an offensive uprising.
Not that the unleashing of some raw, unadulterated Angel power would be unwelcome, though; in the first inning, Kole Calhoun hit a two-run blast to center field, giving the home crowd an almost-instant jolt of gushing enthusiasm. Before they could barely settle down, Albert Pujols was up to bat and sending them right into a froth again as he absolutely crushed a ball from John Danks, White Sox starter, into the deep, deep left field bleacher seats. Angels were up 3-0 after one side, and things were looking quite promising.
Garrett Richards mostly held the White Sox in check, or at least reminiscent to how well the other Angels pitchers had in the previous games. Only difference was there was a bevy of run support for the Halos hurlers this evening, while other evenings didn’t have that factor. After the Angels gave Richards a three run cushion, he gave up an RBI groundout to Alexi Ramirez in the second. This was countered in the fourth inning, however, when Carlos Perez doubled, then ended up scoring from third base on a poor attempt of a throw to first from Chicago 3B Tyler Saladino. The Perez run made the score 4-1 Angels, all while fresh face Kaleb Cowart was understandably quiet at the plate(strikeout and groundout at that point). It’s okay, kid. Take your licks, while the other guys take care of business.
The game went back and forth from then on. The White Sox scored again in sixth on a Jose Abreu double, but in the seventh, Shane Victorino drove in a run on an infield single. The White Sox struck back with an RBI groundout in the eighth, with Richards still on the mound, but at that point, with the score 5-3 Angels, he was lifted for Joe Smith. It was probably the right time to pull him, before the game got out of hand some more, but it was an overall solid seven innings pitched of three run/no walks/lottsadoubleplays baseball for Garrett Richards tonight.
Huston Street did his ninth inning duties as we used to routinely expect from him: swiftly and dominantly. The Angels got their second win in a row, a little revenge against the White Sox, and Kaleb Cowart got his first game jitters out. Tomorrow he’s going to have the friends, family, girlfriend, etc., at the game, so that will be his TRUE debut. At least that’s what I’m hanging my hat on right now. It’s tough to adjust to that big league hitting, but it can come. He’s shown he’s adaptable, and in the meantime, he’s got solid defense and a strong arm.
Texas lost, Baltimore lost, Houston won, Blue Jays won and Yankees won. I’ll take the Rangers and Orioles losses, thank you very much, and i’ll take this mini-winning streak from the Angels. They may make us pray for rain while they’re playing on the road, but they can be terrors under the light of the Halo. Here’s to them getting the sweep tomorrow night.