rmjon23
09-26-2008, 08:10 AM
[Wow. Looks like I will be wrong again; I predicted last week that the
Angels would fall just short of 100 wins. Now they just need to win 1
of 3...and more importantly: HFA throughout. I think I DID assert here
that the Angels were the best team in baseball in late May. I had no
idea they would be this good. Let us see what the future holds in
store for us Angels fans. Does anyone else here think Napoli should be
playing more than suddenly-can't hit-at-all-Mathis? Naw, Mike's
probably right. Scioscia, that is...-rmjon23]
Guerrero’s 2 homers lift Angels
AP - Sep 25, 11:07 pm EDT
SEATTLE (AP)—Vladimir Guerrero’s latest big game was so impressive
that Torii Hunter wanted no part of hitting behind him.
Guerrero hit two home runs—including a two-run shot in the ninth inning
— and the Los Angeles Angels moved closer to securing home field
throughout the playoffs with a 6-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners
on Thursday night.
“I don’t know how he gets to those (pitches),” Hunter said. “You
people don’t understand how hard it is to hit behind him after he puts
on a show like that. (Wednesday) he hit a ball that could have been a
home run and it was in the dirt. I saw dirt come off the bat. I
thought, ‘Wow, how can I back up that?”’
With the victory, Los Angeles (99-60) closed in on the best record in
the American League and home-field advantage. Tampa Bay (96-63), which
lost to Detroit 7-5, is three games back with three to play.
The Angels also matched the franchise record for wins in a season, set
by the 2002 team that won the World Series, and extended the franchise
record for road wins to 50.
Jose Arredondo (10-2), who allowed a tying two-run homer to Yuniesky
Betancourt in the seventh, was the winner. Scot Shields got three outs
to earn his fourth save.
Mark Teixeira hit a one-out single off J.J. Putz (6-5) in the ninth
and was replaced by a pinch runner before Guerrero drove the first
pitch from the Seattle closer into the bullpen in left for his 27th
homer and his 36th multihomer game.
“I’ve pitched him there many times and got groundballs pitching up and
in like that,” said Putz, who had held Guerrero to five singles in 15
previous at-bats. “It didn’t even sound good. The guys on the bench
said they thought it broke his bat.
“You can’t really throw him a pitch he doesn’t like—but that is what
makes him so good. He is so strong—a very tough guy to pitch.”
Guerrero, who was 7-for-15 in the series with five RBIs, has a career .
363 average against Seattle with 26 homers and 77 RBIs.
“He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to teams,” Angels manager Mike
Scioscia said. “He’s having a pretty good career against a lot of
teams and a lot of pitchers.”
Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki singled to left in the first for his 1,800th
hit in his eight-year major league career. He is the quickest to that
level for any player starting his career after 1954. He reached it in
1,277 games. Wade Boggs is second best at 1,352 games.
Betancourt then walked and Raul Ibanez singled in Suzuki. With two
outs, Wladimir Balentien doubled down the left-field line to make it
2-0.
Down 2-1 entering the sixth, Guerrero led off with a homer off Randy
Messenger. The ball appeared to bounce off the glove of right fielder
Balentien, into the stands and then back onto the field. Mariners
manager Jim Riggleman came out to protest but was satisfied by umpire
Chuck Meriwether’s explanation without going to a replay for the
second straight night.
Hunter then singled to left, stole second and advanced to third on
Howie Kendrick’s flyout. With the infield in, Gary Matthews Jr. hit a
hard grounder to second baseman Luis Valbuena, who quickly threw home.
But Hunter eluded Kenji Johjima’s sweep tag for a 3-2 lead.
Hunter also singled in a run in the seventh for Los Angeles, which
will host Texas in a weekend series to close the regular season.
“That’s what we been fighting for, getting 100 wins,” Hunter said.
“For this organization, it’s going to mean a lot. For me, it’s going
to mean a lot because I don’t think I ever won 100 games when I was in
Minnesota. We still have a lot of things to fight for, 100 games, home-
field advantage. We have stuff to push for.”
Notes
Scioscia, who has two quality catchers in Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis,
is leaning toward certain tandems for the postseason. “I feel good
interchanging those guys with anybody but the matchups on the pitcher-
catcher end just really points to Ervin (Santana) and Jeff, who do a
great job together, and Mike and John (Lackey).” Lackey and Santana
will likely start the first two games.
Angels would fall just short of 100 wins. Now they just need to win 1
of 3...and more importantly: HFA throughout. I think I DID assert here
that the Angels were the best team in baseball in late May. I had no
idea they would be this good. Let us see what the future holds in
store for us Angels fans. Does anyone else here think Napoli should be
playing more than suddenly-can't hit-at-all-Mathis? Naw, Mike's
probably right. Scioscia, that is...-rmjon23]
Guerrero’s 2 homers lift Angels
AP - Sep 25, 11:07 pm EDT
SEATTLE (AP)—Vladimir Guerrero’s latest big game was so impressive
that Torii Hunter wanted no part of hitting behind him.
Guerrero hit two home runs—including a two-run shot in the ninth inning
— and the Los Angeles Angels moved closer to securing home field
throughout the playoffs with a 6-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners
on Thursday night.
“I don’t know how he gets to those (pitches),” Hunter said. “You
people don’t understand how hard it is to hit behind him after he puts
on a show like that. (Wednesday) he hit a ball that could have been a
home run and it was in the dirt. I saw dirt come off the bat. I
thought, ‘Wow, how can I back up that?”’
With the victory, Los Angeles (99-60) closed in on the best record in
the American League and home-field advantage. Tampa Bay (96-63), which
lost to Detroit 7-5, is three games back with three to play.
The Angels also matched the franchise record for wins in a season, set
by the 2002 team that won the World Series, and extended the franchise
record for road wins to 50.
Jose Arredondo (10-2), who allowed a tying two-run homer to Yuniesky
Betancourt in the seventh, was the winner. Scot Shields got three outs
to earn his fourth save.
Mark Teixeira hit a one-out single off J.J. Putz (6-5) in the ninth
and was replaced by a pinch runner before Guerrero drove the first
pitch from the Seattle closer into the bullpen in left for his 27th
homer and his 36th multihomer game.
“I’ve pitched him there many times and got groundballs pitching up and
in like that,” said Putz, who had held Guerrero to five singles in 15
previous at-bats. “It didn’t even sound good. The guys on the bench
said they thought it broke his bat.
“You can’t really throw him a pitch he doesn’t like—but that is what
makes him so good. He is so strong—a very tough guy to pitch.”
Guerrero, who was 7-for-15 in the series with five RBIs, has a career .
363 average against Seattle with 26 homers and 77 RBIs.
“He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to teams,” Angels manager Mike
Scioscia said. “He’s having a pretty good career against a lot of
teams and a lot of pitchers.”
Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki singled to left in the first for his 1,800th
hit in his eight-year major league career. He is the quickest to that
level for any player starting his career after 1954. He reached it in
1,277 games. Wade Boggs is second best at 1,352 games.
Betancourt then walked and Raul Ibanez singled in Suzuki. With two
outs, Wladimir Balentien doubled down the left-field line to make it
2-0.
Down 2-1 entering the sixth, Guerrero led off with a homer off Randy
Messenger. The ball appeared to bounce off the glove of right fielder
Balentien, into the stands and then back onto the field. Mariners
manager Jim Riggleman came out to protest but was satisfied by umpire
Chuck Meriwether’s explanation without going to a replay for the
second straight night.
Hunter then singled to left, stole second and advanced to third on
Howie Kendrick’s flyout. With the infield in, Gary Matthews Jr. hit a
hard grounder to second baseman Luis Valbuena, who quickly threw home.
But Hunter eluded Kenji Johjima’s sweep tag for a 3-2 lead.
Hunter also singled in a run in the seventh for Los Angeles, which
will host Texas in a weekend series to close the regular season.
“That’s what we been fighting for, getting 100 wins,” Hunter said.
“For this organization, it’s going to mean a lot. For me, it’s going
to mean a lot because I don’t think I ever won 100 games when I was in
Minnesota. We still have a lot of things to fight for, 100 games, home-
field advantage. We have stuff to push for.”
Notes
Scioscia, who has two quality catchers in Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis,
is leaning toward certain tandems for the postseason. “I feel good
interchanging those guys with anybody but the matchups on the pitcher-
catcher end just really points to Ervin (Santana) and Jeff, who do a
great job together, and Mike and John (Lackey).” Lackey and Santana
will likely start the first two games.