Hey, Sosh.  Umm, I don't mean to tell you how to do your job but, well, I'm pretty sure that pre-game "closer doors" pep talk didn't really work.  That is, of course, unless you were trying to talk the team into continuing to be inept offensively, which I'm pretty sure they would have done without a pep talk.

Rays 5, Angels 1

Let me ask you, Skipper, what is the point of a pep talk to invigorate the team going to accomplish unless you couple it with some actual changes?  Seriously, few managers juggle the lineup more than you do, but in the midst of a pretty length offensive drought, the lineup changes have been relatively minimal.  Especially to the middle of the order.  Especially to the clean-up spot. 

Dammit!  Will you just drop Hunter in the order already!!!!

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Haren is "good to go," Wells hitless in his rehab start, Kazmir shows signs of life and much more...

The Story: Dan Haren is "good to go" for his start on Tuesday.

The Monkey Says: This is certainly good news, but I'm not going to exhale entirely until we see how Haren actually performs.

The Story: Vernon Wells was hitless in his first rehab start.

The Monkey Says: Wells and the word "hitless" is something I think we are all used to by now.

The Story: Scott Kazmir showed signs of life in his third rehab start.

The Monkey Says: His velocity was supposedly up, which is huge news for him, but his command was still pretty bad as he walked five batters, threw two wild pitches and allowed two extra-base hits (on just three hits total) in six innings of work.  I still think he is done, but at least this would suggest he may have a fighting chance of making it back to the majors in some way, shape or form.

Somewhere, Arte Moreno is sulking and elsewhere Scott Boras is chortling.  The bane of Arte's existence, Mark Teixeira, made Moreno regret those dubious free agency negotiations once more as his two homers sunk the Angels in this series and under .500 on the season.

Yankees 5, Angels 3

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New York Yankees (32-24) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (30-30)

Pitching Probables: NYY – Bartolo Colon (3-3, 3.26 ERA)  LAA – Joel Pineiro (2-2, 3.52 ERA)

Game Info: 12:35 PM PT; TV - KCOP; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

I never thought I would see a day where Bartolo Colon was not only back in Anaheim, but back and pitching well for a contender like the New York Yankees.  It seemed like it was just yesterday that the Fat Man was busy losing his velocity and while gaining pounds on the Angels' dime.

Colon is hardly the pitcher he was back in his Cy Young-winning prime, but he has put together a pretty solid season thus far which makes me wonder that if he can pull off an improbably career comeback, might not another wayward Angel ace?  I know this is a total tangent, but I'm talking about Scott Kazmir.

Like Kazmir, Colon was a power pitcher who saw his promising career as an ace circle the drain very quickly after he hurt his arm, thus reducing his velocity.  Colon had some other issues, but he ultimately found a way to commit himself to getting back to the bigs and he did that by learning how to pitch without dominant velocity.  That is something the Halos have to be hoping Kazmir can figure out, but seeing how it took Bartolo a few years to work his way back on a permanent basis, I wouldn't be holding out any hope of Kaz figuring it out before his rehab assignment expires in the next few weeks.

I didn't get to write a preview but if I had I would have surely said something about the need to get to CC Sabathia early in the game or the Angels would be screwed. Hey look, I'm clairevoyant. The Angels decided to return to their usual pattern of getting men in scoring position and leaving them there and CC stemrolled his way through an out shy of a complete game. Meanwhile, Ervin Santana tried his darndest to stay in the fight and except for two mistake pitches that ended up in the seats, he threw a really good game. But alas, great pitching will beat medicroe hitting every time.

Angels 2 Yankees 3

Sorry for the delay. Between a long night at work and a morning full of family commitments, I had a hard time squeezing the game in. Fortunately, Jered Weaver made my life a little easier by being his usual brilliant self and saving me a ton of time. How good was Weaver? He only allowed three hits in seven innings of purely masterful pitching that made me think at times that Jered has been studying a ton of Greg Maddux performances. Last night was pitching at it's finest. It was obvious that The Weave did not have his best fastball, so he relied on a great change-up and gutted out the last two innings to turn it over to the bullpen and pray they would keep the lead for him and for at least one night they did.

Angels 3 Yankees 2

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New York Yankees (31-23) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (29-29)

Pitching Probables: NYY -- Ivan Nova (4-3, 4.67 ERA) LAA – Jered Weaver (6-4, 2.10 ERA)

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

I use to despise the Yankees with all the venom in my heart. I couldn't stand the smug nature of their owner. I hated the pinstripes and the arrogance of he Yankee fans. I hated the fact that when the Yanks were in town the Big A felt like a road game. But something has changed over the past few years. I have transferred that hatred to the Red Sox, rendering the Yankees slighlty less significant a series in my mind. Not sure if that is shared by all Angel fans but I for one feel less enthused to see the Yankes then I used to.