The A’s won the game last night, but Eric Chavez took a Damaso Marte pitch right on his hand leaving the game with a bruise and a trip to the X Ray machine.

More news on his condition today.

The White Sox are a much improved team and crush the ball from the right side. If they could get some high on base percentage hitters in front of their power hitters, they may have a lineup that resembles the early season Angels.

Esteban Loaiza wasn’t his sharpest last night as many balls were hit hard, then turned into long outs.

The A’s bullpen was excellent until Chad Bradford stayed in beyond what he is accustomed to. Frank Thomas took him deep to make the score 4-3 A’s. Jim Mecir hung a screwball to Jose Valentin and that tied the score with two out in the ninth.

Justin Duchsecherer who will be the closer before too much longer completely dominated the Sox until Bobby Kielty homered from the right side off of lefty Neal Cotts in the 12th to end the game.

Today it will be quick. Mark Buehrle and Mark Mulder don’t throw games that last more than two hours and change. The weather is good so expect some homers. Buehrle has gotten rocked in the Coliseum before so I expect this one will be the A’s game today.

The Angels must be concerned about Bartolo Colon and Troy Percival. Both got hit hard last night even though the Angels hung on to win the game. How much longer until Frankie Rodriguez is closing for Anaheim?

Today Pedro and Jarrod Washburn under balmy skies in Anaheim. Seems like good weather will agree with Pedro and his one or two relievers that will undoubtedly follow him.

Click below for more!

[Read more →]

The Red Sox take their road show to Anaheim to face a different Angels team than the one that started the season.

With Bartolo Colon on the hill tonight the Angels will bring out the new lineup with Raul Mondesi either in centerfield or DH. Can the Angels slug their way past the AL the way they did earlier in the year? Probably not. The biggest question will be which pitchers will step up and dominate in their starts.

As June begins, starting pitching should be clicking. Colon has not been the stopper that the Angels had hoped. Without an exceptional bullpen, this Angel team would be about six games worse than their 30-20 record shows this morning.

So, the question for Anaheim will the pitching standup? They have enough hitting and play good baseball to compete, but the pitching will tell the story of where they finish this season.

Derek Lowe looked awful yesterday again. The A’s lit Bronson Arroyo up last Thursday. The Sox don’t play as well on the road, this one looks like an Anaheim win tonight.

Bob Brenly is probably going to loose his job this week. Even though management likes him, the losing is wearing everyone down. There are many reasons beyond Brenly’s control for the downturn in Arizona. With the Giants pounding the Diamondbacks every game, things don’t look good for Brenly.

The Giants are riding excellent starting pitching and of course the home run bat of Barry Bonds. No reason this shouldn’t continue until they face Randy Johnson, a pitcher they somehow beat.

If the Giants make it through Colorado, winning that series, then they should be in first place within seven days.

Click below for more. [Read more →]

I watched Arthur Rhodes in Seattle
during the 2003 season and he
is no closer. At best he is
a good lefty to pitch after
the 7th inning in a game
“situation strategy” against
one dangerous lefty hitter.

By Amaury Pi-González
Seattle [Read more →]

Memorial Day marks the first big holiday weekend of the 2004 season.

Time to check in as baseball passes the quarter pole.

The Angels are struggling. Closer Troy Percival has lost his groove. In the past, when Percival blew three or four saves in a ten day period as he has done now, it was due to some physical ailment. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Percival as the next Angel to join the wounded in Anaheim.

Anaheim’s Shane Halter has nine errors and a .239 batting average filling in for Troy Glaus at third base. Arizona still needs pitching and can offer third baseman Shea Hillenbrand for Angel Ramon Ortiz. This is one deal that makes sense for both teams and should happen.

Click below for more “Batter Up”
[Read more →]

Amaury– You are right about the Western Division and the Giants chances. They are starting to look up. This from one who has written them off a number of times already. However, this is not the same club it was a short time back. When the season opened the team was giving us Perez at shortstop and Snow on first. This was the weakest offensive combination in the majors. Today they are playing Feliz at shortstop and Minor on first. Minor, of course, still has to prove himself. We remember what his efforts produced when he was up before and first base then was his for the taking. He didn’t take it.

Click below for more of Ed’s expert analysis.
[Read more →]

Reality shows on television are
among the highest rated today,
but in Major League Baseball
the National League West
is like Survivor every day.

By Amaury Pi-González
Bay Area [Read more →]

The Boston Red Sox once again are a different team at home than they are on the road.

They hit .290 or so at home and .248 at home. I think this disparity will ultimately cost them the AL East title and perhaps a shot at the playoffs because Oakland and Anaheim will fight them for the wild card all summer.

Curt Schilling is the perfect pitcher to beat the A’s. Schilling throws strikes, and he does it on the first pitch with something on the ball. Once the A’s can’t milk the count they are in trouble.

Tim Hudson got knocked around in his previous start against the Tigers although he got the win. The Tigers hit numerous shots off Hudson and last night the Red Sox knocked him around pretty good too.

This happens periodically to Hudson until he finds his sinker and gets the ball down.

Derek Lowe has gotten hammered recently and should be no mystery for the A’s tonight. The Red Sox bullpen will figure heavily in tonight’s game. Same goes for the A’s. Mark Redman goes about six if everything is looking up. Looking up is what happens when Redman pitches because he is the classic fly ball pitcher.

This one has all the markings of a typical seesaw Fenway Park game with the victor being the team with the last reliever who can get some outs. Keith Foulke versus Arthur Rhodes.

The Angels need a game from Bartolo Colon. It’s hard to say what is up with Colon because he always looks out of shape. With a day off yesterday, the Angels bullpen is rested so if he needs help in the sixth inning, it should be there.

Toronto has Carlos Delgado banged up, never a good sign for the Blue Jays. Pat Hentgen is capable of a decent start, but this one looks like the Angels night.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

Marty; For the past month we have been emphasizing the myriad problems the Giants face, with the bottom line being that this is simply a bad ball club which needs a complete overhaul. Perhaps a case can be made for a more optimistic approach to this season?

Click Below for More!
[Read more →]

It is becoming increasingly clear that the Angels will be without some of their top sluggers for an extended period of time.

But how long will that period of time last? How much help do they need right now and at what position?

Troy Glaus is out until September at the earliest. So, they need a third baseman pronto.

They could pick up a centerfielder and then move speedster Chone Figgins to third. Figgins has never played a full season in the majors, so it is unclear what kind of a bat he will be swinging in August. His legs are major league, no doubt.

It makes more sense to trade pitcher Ramon Ortiz to Arizona for Shea Hillenbrand and leave Figgins in center.

Garret Anderson is out with arthritis in his back. It took two months to determine what was wrong with him. He is now on medication. When will he be back? Who knows, but it doesn’t seem to be anytime soon. His back pain has never left him since this condition began in March. He is one hurting Angel and his value to the team in 2004 is questionable.

If I was GM Bill Stoneman, I’d look for an outfielder with some pop as well.

If the Angels make these two moves, then I think they will be right there because their pitching is better than expected from top to bottom. Brenden Donnelly will be back, but not for another month or more. There is no rush because the bullpen is one of the team’s strong suits.

Without retooling the offense the Angels will have trouble staying with the A’s once the summer heats up.

Click below for more! [Read more →]

If the Felipe Alou era does end in San Francisco next season who will be the next manager of the Giants?

I have a suggestion. How about turning the club over to Barry Bonds? Make Bonds the player manager.

Click Below and I’ll tell you why this idea would work!

[Read more →]