Let's Get Outta Here

It was kind of nice finally seeing the Angels win in Tampa Bay and being able to watch the ESPN telecast of the game on the big screen in HD.  Although I did have to endure listening to Rick Sutcliffe and his lovefest of the Rays team (it was like he was having a bad Cialis trip and his erection was lasting more than 4 hours).  At one point he said he could see the Rays sweeping all of the season awards since they were that good.  I think Cliff Lee and Josh Hamilton might have something to say about that.  Anyway, I'm sure the Angels felt bad for breaking up his orgy.

Did anyone else notice Jered Weaver's meltdown in the 2nd inning?  He was cruising along, having struck out 3 of the first 5 hitters, until Angels' third baseman Chone Figgins misplayed a foul ball near the stands.  If you were watching the game, you'd have seen Weaver's confidence completely disappear just from the look on his face.  After that play, the Rays scored three runs on four straight hits.  I don't know if it's because he young, or whatever, but Weaver needs to control his emotions if he wants to take his game to the next level.  Things like the Figgins play are going to happen and he needs be able to have it not affect his game.  The Halos answered right back by plating 4 runs in the next inning highlighted by an Erick Aybar triple.  Weaver returned in the bottom half of the inning, having regained the lead and his mojo as he settled down and retired 13 of the next 14 batters.  He finished the night by striking out 9 hitters, a career high, in 6 innings.  But once again, the Angels bullpen wasn't able to hold the one run lead when Jose Arredondo gave up back-to-back doubles in the 8th.  Fortunately Garrett Anderson was able get an infield single to score the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th.  The hit was originally ruled an error, but was later changed, extending Anderson's 22 game hit streak to 23.  Frankie Rodriguez recorded his 48th save of the season, tying his own Angels' record.  K-Rod gave up a lead-off single, which had me thinking, "Here we go again.  Another bullpen blown save".  But Frankie was able to get a couple groundballs to end the game and preserve the win, avoiding another sweep in Tampa.

Daily Notes:

• According to Mike DiGiovanni of the L.A. Times, "When Jose Arredondo gave up back-to-back doubles to B.J. Upton and Carlos Pena to tie the score, 4-4, in the eighth, it marked the sixth blown save in seven games for the Angels bullpen. Relievers also suffered four of the team's five losses this last week."  Also, within this piece, Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett wrote, "A night earlier, Shields struggled with his command, walking two of the four batters he faced and taking the loss as the Angels blew an eighth-inning lead.  Scioscia said he wanted to "stay away from Shieldsy" until he has a chance to work on some things in the bullpen before Thursday's game.  "We've got to get Shieldsy back on track," Scioscia said. "We're going to talk about a couple things tomorrow. … There are a couple things we want to clean up."  Am I the only one worried about the Angels' bullpen?
• Howie Kendrick finally got a night off last night.  Kendrick had started 42 consecutive games at 2B since returning from the DL.  Hopefully the rest will kick-start his bat.  Howie's hitting .226 in August.
• Garrett Anderson's hit streak of 23 games tied Texas' Michael Young for the second-longest in the majors.  The season high is 25 by the Rangers' Ian Kinsler.
• Magic Number: 21