I know it comes as a shock but the Angels played yet another extra inning game. That makes 11 this season, tops in the majors. There is plenty of blame to share for this defeat but I am going to place the bulk of it at the feet of Manager Mike. Scioscia should have seen this coming and pulled Pineiro after six innings. Joel was okay but by no means dominant. I know it's hard to trust the collection of stiffs that make up the bullpen, but I think it would have been better to give them a four run cushion to blow rather have what happened last night happen. After the disaster of a seventh inning, the Angel offense returned to form for the rest of the game and the Braves were able to steal themselves a victory. Glad I stayed up late for that...

Angels 4 Braves 5

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Atlanta Braves (25-22) @ Los Angeles Angels Anaheim (23-23)
Pitching Probables: ATL -- Tommy Hanson (5-3, 2.35 ERA) LAA -- Joel Pineiro (2-0, 1.98 ERA)
Game Info: 7:05 PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

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The Angels will try to put together a winning streak behind Pineiro, who has been sensational sense joing the rotation from the DL early in this year. I would hope that the Halos saved some of their run scoring mojo from last night and can try to apply it to another hot pitcher in young Tommy Hanson. I'm not going to to even try to tell you about Hanson since I barely follow the National League, but his Wikipedia page says he's good, so it must be true.

 

See this is why I love the Angels. They can stink up the joint for the better park of the week then with one game can look like they will march to the World Series without any trouble. How can one team both frustrate and enliven me so. Okay, so maybe I'm overstating this win a bit, but it was awfully nice to see such a complete win. At least, the part I actually got to see. I lost out on the first three innings due to my cable companies stubborn refusal to show all Angel games in HD. So what I got when I recorded the game was the fourth inning on. But have no fear I will recap as if I saw the whole thing...

Angels 9 Braves 0

I remember the day, way back when, when we were all excited to see Jordan Walden get his shot in the majors. I remember seeing him dominating and hoping I could see the day where Walden would be the Angels full time closer. I envisioned K's upon K's, saves upon saves, and wins upon wins for that kid. I remember when Walden was giving the full-time closer gig and exploding with pure joy and enthusiasm. Walden may be the closer of the future, but he definitely isn't the closer of the present.

I hope you've shaped up by the time this goes live.

I present to you a question of etiquette at the grocery store, specifically Trader Joe's.

Maybe I'm just socially retarded (a strong possibility), but I never know what to do when checkout at Trader Joe's.  Unlike most grocery stores, there is only one person working the register, meaning that person must function as both the cashier and the bagger.  I'm all for streamlining and multi-tasking, but this tends to leave me in an awkward position.  You see, when I buy a whole bunch of groceries, the person at the register has to scan all the items and they just start piling up there on the counter while I sit idly by.

The helpful side of me says that the right thing to do is to help the cashier by starting to bag the groceries myself.  It is just the polite, considerate thing to do.  However, it presents a logistical problem.  Since not all of the items have been pulled out of my cart, I can't really properly stack things in the bag without risking having to rearrange things later or wind up with a heavy item potentially smashing a smaller item, so that make me just want to wait until the cashier is done.  But if I wait until the cashier is done, then they'll just bag the groceries themselves, right?  But if I just stand there with my thumb up my butt and let the cashier do everything, that makes me kind of a dick, I think.  I really don't know what to do.

Well, I could just shop at Gelson's instead.  Yeah, that sounds eaiser.

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Atlanta Braves (25-21) @ Los Angeles Angels Anaheim (22-23)

 Pitching Probables: ATL -- Tim Hudson (4-3, 3.03 ERA) LAA -- Ervin Santana (1-4, 4.85 ERA)

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

With interleague play upon us we get to see teams that normally don't grace the hallowed ground of Angel Stadium. Or, to put it another way, a chance to lose to a whole new set of teams.

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Kazmir could go out on rehab soon, Kendrick nursing a stiff hamstring, Angels never were really interested in Kevin Millwood and much more...

The Story: Scott Kazmir's official rehab assignment could begin soon.

The Monkey Says: And so the end game begins.  Kaz will have 30 days to return to the majors once his rehab begins or he must be released.  However, Scioscia's comments sure don't sound like he has much confidence in Kazmir's ability or attitude.

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The Story: Howie Kendrick is dealing with a stiff hamstring.

The Monkey Says: He appears to have hur himself when he got caught stealing in yesterday's game.  The Halos initial reaction is that it wasn't a major concern, but with the way this offense is going, they can't afford to be without one of their few productive batters.

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The Story: The Angels were never interested in Kevin Millwood, despite reports to the contrary.

The Monkey Says: It really doesn't matter because Millwood signed with Boston.  However, it is interesting to see the Angels even be associated with such a rumor.  Whether or not they actually talked to Millwood is immaterial, the point is that the public percetion is that the Halos are searching for some rotation help.