Between helping launch a new website and coming to the defense of Vernon Wells, I'm too tired to write a full article today.  But I'm not too tired to cobble together some random thoughts.  Monkeying Around to the rescue!

You call that a first pitch?  Lazy ass monkey.

 @

Cleveland Indians  (8-3) @  Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim    (6-5)

Pitching Probables: CLE – Carlos Carrasco (1-1, 5.68 ERA)  LAA – Ervin Santana (0-1, 3.68 ERA)

Game Info: 4:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports Prime; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

This is a key spot for the Halos, if they can win another series and take that momentum on the road it will make a phenomenal difference in the outcome of this short road trip. Going in on the heels of a 2 game win streak will keep the Angels fired against the White Sox. Plus, this is the Indians we are talking about after all, the Angels won't let them come into our house and stomp all over us. Not gonna happen.

I've teased it for weeks now and it is finally here.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: The Outside Corner.  What is it?  You'll have to go there to find out, but I promise you, it is definitely winning.

What is the Outside Corner?

Daily Links for the LA Angels including Morales advances his running therapy, Willits called up and Pettit sent down, the Rangers lose Hamilton for two months (hooray!) and much more...

I worried before the game that his emergency relief appearance this last weekend might have a lingering effect on Dan Haren, but he proved in a big way tonight that those worries were completely baseless.

Angels 2, Indians 0

Instead of suggesting that Haren might be off his game because of one inning of relief work as I did in the game preview (umm, oops!), I am now changing my tune entirely and wondering if he should pitch in relief between starts all the time.  He didn't just dominate the red-hot Indians tonight, he toyed with them and kept them from getting anything at all going but for one flare that went for a base hit.

What I loved about this display of dominance is what it forebodes for the rest of the season.  There is obviously a lot of baseball left to be played this year, but with the way both Weaver and Haren are pitching so far, the Angels can be very, very scary the rest of the way and even scarier in a best-of-seven series (if you see what I'm hinting at).

And kudos to Mike Scioscia for leaving Haren in there to finish out this gem.  He got crap in the media for letting Weaver throw 125 pitches the other night, but he didn't back down to the public pressure and made the exact same decision by letting Haren pitch the ninth and finish the game with, you guessed it, 125 pitches thrown.  The lesson?  Pitch counts are for pansies.

@

Cleveland Indians (8-2) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (5-5)

Pitching Probables: CLE – Fausto Carmona (0-1, 9.00 ERA)  LAA – Dan Haren (2-0, 1.15 ERA)

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

In his first start after his emergency relief appearance, we get to see if that little cameo might have thrown Haren off his game and undermined a great start for the ace.

Twitter Trend Tuesday was fun and all, but the fact of the matter is that it didn't exactly draw eyeballs to the ol' blog and that doesn't make my Bloguin Overlords happy.  So, I have a new idea: Trout Watch Tuesday!  What could be better than a weekly check on the messiah of the Angel farm system, Mr. Mike Trout.  The minor league season just started last week, so let's see how our boy Trouty fared in his Double-A debut.

Trout is #1 both on the prospect lists and in our hearts.