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Seattle Mariners (48-63) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (62-51)

Pitching Probables: SEA – Blake Beavan (2-2, 3.24 ERA)  LAA – Tyler Chatwood (6-7, 3.93 ERA)

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

Another day, another chance to move into a tie for first place. But the importance of this game is more on the mound than on the standings. Tyler Chatwood has to pitch well. With Pineiro imploding and being yanked from the starting rotation, Chatwood all of sudden is now a fourth starter, a very different role on a pitching staff. He has to be able to not to just keep his team in a few games, but be a legitimate winning pitcher night in and night out and potentially start in the playoffs. So this whole good one game, bad the next thing is going to have to stop. Basically, it's time to take off the training wheels and get busy winning some games.

Ah, extra innings. We hadn't seen you in awhile, but your presence tonight was a welcome one. How the Angels won this game tonight, though, is a bit of a mystery. Jered Weaver was his usual awesome self (as I predicted earlier today, I might add). But the offense was just this side of dreadful. Fortunately, the Halos were playing with what could go down in history as the worst team of all time at swinging the bat in the Mariners. All it took was one well placed hit to win it and keep the Angels in the hunt.

Angels 1 Mariners 0



-- Mark Trumbo had another solid night at the plate. 3 for 4 is a good night for most hitters, but Mark's evening was almost a disappointment since he didn't drive in any runs. But I blame that more on the guys in front of him than on his work. Keep it up Mark - you are rapidly finding a place in my heart.
-- Jeff Mathis is officially the anti-Trumbo. It's getting hard to find words to describe the sheer toture it is to watch him "hit". His average is now a robust .181 with another 0 for the game tonight. Not to mention, he struck out twice with runners in scoring position. But hey, I'm glad Hank Conger is playing well at AAA to get his confidence up.
-- A lot was made about Howie Kendrick's complaint about sitting out games in a round robin effort to get all four of the midgets playing time. Kendrick has been struggling a bit so it was nice to see him get 2 hits tonight. I, for one, think Kendrick should be in the line-up everyday since he is the Angels best pure hitter.
-- I was also glad to see Vernon Wells get the game winner. I think he will be a huge key to any Angels success in winning the AL West and his base hit could be the start of another hot streak.
-- Jered Weaver is really good. Enough said.

Halo Hero


Torii Hunter really should have been the Hero for his 2 run homer that was robbed by rookie Trayvon Robinson (btw, why did the Dodgers give him away? I think we know why they are in bankruptcy at this point...just sad). Still he was 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and scored the game winning run. Torii hit the ball hard all night, which is another good sign for the Halo offense.

Time for Free For All Friday, a time to talk about all the Angels-related topics that slipped through the cracks this week, as well as any other totally unrelated topic you feel like bringing up.

Here are a few topics for you to discuss amongst yourselves:

• I think I already mentioned this, but I don't care because it is just so great.  The Rangers lost two games againt the Tigers thanks to their vaunted rebuilt bullpen.  The first when new acquisition Mike Adams allowed a game-winning homer, the second when slightly less new acquisition Koji Uehara allowed a solo homer of his own that gave Detroit an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth only to have Mike Napoli hit what would have been the game-tying homer in the top of the ninth.  I scoff in your general direction, Texas.
• Now that the NFL is back and I now actually live in a city that has a NFL team, I feel like I should be more excited.  I think the problem is that I always hated USC and now I'm stuck in Seattle and their head coach Pete Carroll.  The hideous uniforms the Seahawks wear doesn't help much either.
• Allow me to be the 8,952,355,353rd person to point out that Hank Conger has been laying waste to Triple-A since he was demoted.  With a .317/.379/.583 slash line, I think it is safe to say that Hank should have his confidence back by now, even if those stats are Salt Lake-inflated.  So when is he going to get called back up?  I know Scioscia wants his defense to improve, and maybe it has in Salt Lake, but even if it hasn't, I don't think the team can ignore the chance to actually get some offense from their catchers finally.  Free Hank Conger!
• I'm considering going to the Red Sox-Mariners game next weekend because I feel like I'm a bad baseball fan if I don't see at least one game a month considering that I live ten minutes away from the stadium.  The problem I am having is a question of etiquette.  Who do I root against?  The Mariners are division rivals, but they are also a laughingstock.  Boston though is just so hateable and has the obvious history against the Angels.  I feel like if I root against both, I'm going to need a Prozac by the end of the game.  What is a monkey to do?
• I'm not sure why the Angels chose to call up Andrew Romine instead of Alexi Amarista.  The Angels don't really need another utility infielder, but they could use an extra outfielder and Amarista can play both the infield and the outfield, plus he can pinch-run.  He seems like the obvious choice.  Besides, don't they realize they are depriving me from making "Amarista is short" jokes again?  I was so looking forward to that.

Or just feel free to bring up a topic of your own.  I don't really care (as long as you keep it clean) because it's Friday.

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Seattle Mariners (48-62) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (61-51)

Pitching Probables: SEA – Jason Vargas (6-10, 4.19 ERA)  LAA – Jered Weaver (14-5, 1.88 ERA)

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

The Angels have a real shot at first place thanks in large part to a favorable match-up over the weekend against the Mariners while the Rangers deal with the Indians in Arlington. This is a key series because after this the team heads out on the road to face the always tough Yankees and Blue Jays who seem to have the Halos number in Canada. So a win here to start the series would be a plus. Good thing we have the Hulk, aka Jered Weaver, on the mound. Seriously, don't make this guy angry, you could end up with a fastball to the left temple.

The August 5th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Pineiro demoted to the bullpen, Abreu can't figure out his slump, former Angel Doug DeCinces busted for insider trading and much more...

The Story: Joel Pineiro has been officially demoted to the bullpen.

The Monkey Says: This was inevitable and definitely the correct choice.  The Angels aren't saying who will take his spot in the rotation, but I really hope it isn't Hisanori Takahashi since he isn't stretched out enough to go deep into to games and also a guy who might be overexposed facing a lineup full of righties, although his platoon splits aren't that bad thus far this year.

The Story: Former Angel Doug DeCinces must pay $2.5 million after getting busted for insider trading.

The Monkey Says: Wow, that is one big chunk of change.  I'm almost more impressed that DeCinces actually has that kind of scratch lying around to be able to pay the fine.

Another night, another Angel win and another Trumbo-mb!  Maybe it is time Scioscia finally recognizes what he has in his slugging rookie first baseman and moves him into a more prominent position in the lineup?

Angels 7, Twins 1

I've remained skeptical on Trumbo most of the season, but after his second big homer of the week, I'm finally coming around.  He's not a great situational hitter.  He strikes out a lot and he doesn't walk much, but when he is hot, I can't imagine any sane person wanting to pitch to him.  Power alone shouldn't make him the Halos' cleanup hitter, as it never did for Mike Napoli, but if with the other options on the roster, why wouldn't he bat fourth?

Compare Trumbo to Vernon Wells and what doe Vernon actually do better than Trumbo?  His average is much worse.  He walks at the same poor rate, but he does strike out a bit less.  He is maybe a marginally better situational hitter and his power, while good, pales in comparison to the Trumbotron.  As far as I can tell, the only reason Wells is batting fourth is because, well, he is a veteran.  Oh, Scioscia, will you ever learn?

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Minnesota Twins   (51-59) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim  (60-51)

Pitching Probables: MIN – Francisco Liriano (7-8, 4.67 ERA)  LAA – Dan Haren (11-6, 2.89 ERA)

Game Info: 7:05 PM PT; TV - KCOP; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

The Angels just missed an opportunity to claim a first place tie with the Rangers last night, all thanks to the self-destructive hand of Joel Pineiro. Thankfully the Rangers still have one more game against the oh so hot Detroit Tigers, who are one game away from sweeping the Rangers. This couldn't play any better into the hands of the Angels, which would push the Rangers to a 4 game losing streak and give the Angels yet another opportunity to take first. I'll chalk up last nights failure to do so as bad luck on the part of Joel Pineiro being allowed to take the mound once again. I don't want to go on another Pineiro rant, but seriously, the guy just kept us from taking first place. He's done it to us earlier in the season and if he stays in this rotation he'll get many more chances to screw us over. 

Thankfully for us Dan Haren is on the mound tonight, someone who can actually get through the first inning without giving up 8 runs. As a matter of fact, Dan Haren has the ability to get through an entire game without giving up a run! That's an ability he's going to need to channel in full force tonight if he wants to give the Angels a strong chance of either taking first or staying within a game of the Rangers.