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Kansas City Royals (28-36) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (30-35)
 
Pitching   Probables: KC -- Felipe Paulino (0-4, 3.82 ERA)  LAA – Joel Pineiro (2-3, 3.76 ERA)

                                        Game   Info: 6:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

I have chosen to look on the bright side of things. Today is a new day. The sun is shining. The birds are chirping and today is the day the Angels turn it around. There is no way that Joel Pineiro is going to let another chance to get his 100th career win go by. I am supremely confident and 100% supportive of the Angels tonight. Yes sir, you will not get once ounce of negativity out me tonight. Tonight, in the immortal words of the poet Taio Cruz, the Angels will be "Dynamite". (okay so maybe that was a bit much...)
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I briefly fell asleep at least three times during last night's game. Not good quality REM sleep mind you, merely the nodding off I used to do alot in Algebra 2 class during high school. The reason for this sort of restfulness was the security I had in knowing the Angels were merely executing the exact same game plan they have been for a week now. Fall behind early, fail to get the necessary big hit at a key moment, and get shut down by some no name pitcher with a below .500 record. So take heart, I got a really good night sleep...

Angels 2 Royals 4 

                                                                         Game   Info: 7:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM


I have this sinking feelng in the pit of my stomach that things are not going to get any better. Something dark and foreboding is happening in the land of the Halo and right now and I can't seem to see the bottom of the pit. The Angels can't score runs and it seems that the defense is starting to fail them on a nightly basis. The bullpen has been a travesty and lord help up if the starters give up more than two runs. If the Angels don't turn this around and quickly we might be stareing at a very long summer. Not that I am a pessimist or anything...

Good news, Angel fans!  I've finally found an offense more unclutch and pathetic than the Halos' offense!!!

I thought it was an impossible task to unearth something even more inept than the Angels' batting order, but lo and behold I turned on the NBA Finals and... BINGO!  I never imagined that I would have to watch another sport to find even worse execution in the clutch, but sure enough, there were the Miami Heat bricking shot after shot, running unimaginative plays and seeming generally frightened of the ball in the final minutes of the game.

Heck, the Heat even have a ring leader of their awfulness.  Much like Torii Hunter sets the standard for sucking for the Halos with all of his untimely GIDPs, LeBron James hamstrings the Miami offense by hiding from the ball down the stretch and launching long two-point jumpers instead of attacking the rim in the rare instance that the ball does actually find its way over to him cowering in the corner.

Thanks, LeBron.  I don't feel so bad now, especially since you and the rest of the Heat somehow managed to make it this far despite such glaring deficiencies.  I think I might just go ahead and buy my World Series tickets now.

Hey, I think I've seen that look before.  I bet you if he lowered the jersey a little we would all see... THE SCIOSCIA FACE!!!

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Angel frustrations boiling over, Kazmir has another wild outing in minor league rehab, Pirates rumored to have interest in trading for an Angel catcher and much more...

The Story: Mike Scioscia's frustrations boiled over after Wednesday's loss.

The Monkey Says: None of the quotes are actually all that eye-catching, but supposedly you "had to be there" to get the true sense of ire in Scioscia's voice.  The question is what is he going to do about it besides spouting more cliche-riddled rhetoric?

The Story: Scioscia addresses the Angel offensive frustrations once again.

The Monkey Says: New quotes, but made a day later and dripping with the same ire.  It sounds as if Sosh is planning on doubling down on baserunning and situational hitting, which is being made in response to the team's lack of power, but the problem with this strategy is that their situational hitting blows goats right now.  In fact, one could argue that this has been the offensive philosophy all season long, so I really don't see how anything is going to change outside of a few extra stolen base attempts.

He's tried canceling batting practice.  He's tried batting Hunter second.  He's even let Callaspo hit clean-up.  What other crazy ideas does Mike Scioscia have up his sleeve as he tries to do anything and everything to get the Angel lineup to show some signs of life.

Sosh seems to be getting pretty desperate with his moves now, which makes me worry that he might be running out of ideas.  Never fear, The Monkey is here to help with some ideas of his own!

I'm all out of ideas, you got any?

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Angels continue raiding the college ranks on the final day of the draft, the Halos draft Scioscia's son, the 2011 Angels are just like the 1976 Angels (and not in a good way) and much more...

The Story: The Angels drafted almost entirely college players on the third and final day of the draft.

The Monkey Says: That's 41 out of 49 picks coming from the college ranks.  You'vs got to hand it to them, they sure picked a direction and committed to it.  I actually think this is an interesting way to approach the amateur draft.  The Halos have a much better track record of developing young international talent, so it does seem wise to complement that collection of more raw prospects with some more polished American products.

The Story: Mike Scioscia's son Matt was drafted in the 45th round by... the ANGELS!!!

The Monkey Says: No way!!!!  That never happens.  And by never, I mean all the time.  I know this will prompt some to make the inevitable Mike Piazza comparison as he was also drafted late as a favor to Tommy Lasorda, but those kinds of things are one in a million (one in ten million if you account for the persistent steroid rumors that plagued Piazza).