Did last night's game look familiar to you? It should, because it ended the exact same way as the series opener against the Mariners. Mike Carp gave the Mariners the lead with 2 RBI hits both nights, Monday being a homerun and last night being a double. What makes this pill hard to swallow is the fact that Carp got those base hits off of lefties coming out of the bullpen, lefties Scioscia put in to play it by the numbers. What makes that pill even harder to swallow is the fact that both defeats at the hands of Carp cost the Angels 1.5 games in the standings. Last night's game should have been won; the Angels should be 2.5 back of the Rangers. Instead we get a choke job out of the bullpen and more ground to cover while the days slowly whittle away. At the end of the month we'll be looking back at games like this that should have been won, hopefully we'll be looking back with glee as the Angels manage to sneak into the playoffs instead of bitterness and frustration as the Angels miss a playoff berth.

Angels 1 Mariners 2 

The Angels' bullpen seems to have made a collective decision to ruin the team's chances at the post-season and Tony Reagins only seems to be enabling them by refusing to make a trade.  We fans now have no option to sit back and watch the tragedy unfold before us as we wallow in the reliever-induced misery.

But before we designate this year's relief corps as the worst of the worst, let's at least do them the dignity of seeing if they are as bad statistically as they are in all of our minds.  We already know that the Halos lead the American League with 22 blown saves, but I don't think that tells the whole story, so let's take a look at some more advanced metrics that could reveal the real truth.

One of my favorite advanced metrics is meltdowns, which is sort of a more intelligent blown save based on win probability that ignores the whole stupid normal save rules.  In this category, the Angels have picked up 57 meltdowns, which is fourth most in the AL, trailing the Orioles, Twins and Royals who lead at 67.  I suspect it is no coincidence that the three teams below them all suck.

The September 1st, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including all kinds of articles fawning over Mike Trout, Aybar gets hitting advice from Vlad Guerrero, Williams still can't believe he is back in the majors and much more...

The Story: Mike Trout's teammates are in awe of his recent performance.

The Monkey Says: Aren't we all?  There is also a story somewhere that I lost the link to where Torii Hunter pretty much volunteered to DH in 2012 to make room for Trout, so you can tell how highly he thinks of him since I have always assumed Hunter would cut off a limb before willingly ceasing to play the field

The Story: Mike Trout is already happening.

The Monkey Says: I expected some bloggers out there to try and start poking holes in Trout's two-homer night, but it seems that he has won just about everyone over.

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Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim    (73-62) @ Seattle Mariners  (57-78)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Dan Haren (13-7, 3.19 ERA)  SEA – Felix Hernandez (12-11, 3.37 ERA)

Game Info: 7:10 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

For those of you who don't follow Victor Rojas on Twitter or didn't catch the game last night you missed a very interested statistic brought up by Rojas. When the Angels start rookie sensation Mike Trout they are 13-3 in those games played (14-3 after last night). It's no question that Mike Scioscia is one of the best managers in the game right now, but he's always let his stubborn attitude get in the way of winning games. Letting Mike Trout sit during the Texas Rangers series and playing Wells/Abreu was a horrible managerial decision to make, the one game Mike Trout played against the Rangers the Angels won, and Trout homered. The point is, if the Angels want to shoot past the Rangers they're going to have to do it on the back of Mike Trout, not Vernon Wells. It all depends on whether that cracks through Scioscia's thick skull before the Angels play themselves out of the division.

Mike Trout put the big leagues on notice last night that he is already ready to become the kind of star many though he could be by clubbing two homers in a game less than a month after turning 20 years old.  That is one mighty impressive feat from a mighty impressive young talent, but it actually isn't even close to the other things he is capable that we just haven't heard about yet.  The guy is just so multi-talented that there isn't enough space on the internet to catalog all his amazing accomplishments, so I've whittled it down to a top ten list for your reading pleasure.

Bonus accomplishment, breaking the internet's capacity for ridiculous hyperbole.

The August 31st, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Trout and Conger, Walden says he is exhausted by this long season, Dick Enberg and Jose Mota nominated for the Ford Frick Award and much more...

The Story: Mike Trout and Hank Conger will play in the Arizona Fall League this year, with Bryce Harper joining them on the same team.

The Monkey Says: This is kind of odd.  The AFL is typically just a showcase for up and coming prospects, so I'm not sure why Trout and Conger are headed there even though they are already in the bigs.  I guess it could be so the Angel organization can control Conger as he works on his defense, but Trout, I don't really understand that one.  Nonetheless, it will be cool to see Trout on the same team as Bryce Harper (insert joke about how that will be the case in 2020 on the Red Sox here).  Also representing the Angels in the AFL will be their new top prospect Jean Segura and quality pitching prospects David Carpenter, Chris Scholl, Andrew Taylor and Daniel Tillman.

The Story: Jordan Walden claims he is exhausted by the long season.

The Monkey Says: You don't often hear about relievers complaining about workloads, but Walden makes a valid point.  This is only his second season as a reliever, so he is still learning how to manage himself and he also isn't all that far removed from dealing with major arm problems.  This is all the more reason for the Angels to try and trade for another reliable bullpen arm today, before the deadline to make deals closes.  They won't, but they should.

Did everyone get their invitation to the Mike Trout Coming Out Party?  In case you somehow missed it, Mike Trout made a little bit of history my becoming the youngest player in Angels history to hit multiple home runs in one game.  I think it is safe to say that this is the day that Mike Trout's star was born.

Angels 13, Mariners 6

By way of two Vlad-esque golf shot homers, Mike Trout announced his presence in the big leagues with authority.  He may have already hit three home runs in his brief career, but for someone his age to hit two homers in one game in a cavernous ballpark like Safeco, that is something awfully hard to chalk up to sheer luck.  We had all heard about Trout's vast potential, but to see it manifest itself like this so early still comes as a surprise.  Players at his age, even the ones that went on to be legends, almost NEVER perform well, but it looks like Trout is well on his way to bucking that trend.  What makes it even more impressive is that his power was supposed to be his one trait that was going to take more time to develop.

Somewhere in here I should probably issue some sort of small sample size warning, but that is more of a cover my ass statement.  The more we see of Trout, the more and more it is obvious that the sky really is the limit when it comes to assessing hsi potential.  The only question remaining with him now is... wait for it... you know it is coming... here it is........... will Scioscia keep playing him?  Come on, you didn't really think I wasn't going to rain on the parade a little bit did you?

Trout has been unstoppable since being recalled, so he deserves playing time, but with Wells and Abreu starting to produce Scioscia can't risk benching either of them since he doesn't want to sabotage his veterans who are FINALLY starting to get going.  Granted, it is a good kind of problem to have, but it is still a problem and one which I think doesn't have any answers that are going to make many people happy.