Live Blogging - 8/27 vs. Mariners

7:10 PM: Top of the first, no outs, 0-0:  And it begins again!  As I said in my earlier post, this is probably the most important series the Angels have played so far this year.  I don't like seeing tonight's lineup - still no Figgins & Kotchman.  I tell you, the Angels have been missing these guys the last few games.  Either one of these guys by himself would leave a big hole in the lineup this year - to lose both of them at once has hurt, as the Angels scoring these last few games has shown.  They still split the four-game series with Toronto, who have owned the Angels the last five years, but with them, I feel we could have done better.

And Reggie Willits is on with a lead-off hit & a good at bat!

Great way to start the game!

Ouch... Cabrera hits into a double play...  NOT a good way to start a game...

And Guerrero pops out.  Well, one inning down, nine more to play.

Hopefully Lackey can hold it together and not fall apart like he has his last two starts.

7:23 PM: Bottom of the first, 1 out, 0-0:  Well, at least John Lackey had a no-hitter for one out.  Here's hoping he doesn't start panicking because he has a man on base.

I just learned (via Steve Physioc) that today is "Mariner Monday" in Seattle.  Good for them.  Of course, I should probably mention that Angels fans don't need to be reminded to wear red to the park.  Of course, that's probably because most of them are so new that they don't own an Angels item that isn't red.  Yes, I figured out a way to bash bandwagoners in this entry.

The most interesting thing in that article to me is that there are (or were at press time) tickets available for this series.  Not only have the Mariners had an outstanding season, nipping at the heals of the Angels most of the season, but here they are with a three game series against the AL West leader in Seattle, a chance to finally take the lead in the division (if Seattle sweeps), and they can't sell out the stadium.

I guess you need to win a World Series to get a capacity crowd of bandwagoners (that's twice!)

Inning over.  0-0.

7:58 PM: Bottom of the 3rd, no outs, 3-0 Angels:  Rule of thumb:  DO NOT throw Garret Anderson high fastballs.  Thanks to two mistakes like that, the Angels are up 3-0 on a solo shot and a two-run double by Anderson.  But there's few things quite so nice as jumping out to an early lead, especially against your main competition.  Especially when John Lackey is on the mound.  Now, if he gives up a hit or, God forbid, a run, maybe ho won't panic so much with that little cushion.

I have to give it to Lackey tonight.  He's really on his game so far.  Of course, the mere act of typing that has jinxed him, and the runner he has on first right now will probably be the first of an onslaught of runs he gives up due to my mistake of typing that.  Ichiro is up, and hitting .571 in his last 8 home games against the Angels.  Well, blooper there, so make that a bit higher.  First and third, one out.  See?  What did I tell you?

If you're going to praise John Lackey, make sure you do it AFTER he wins.

8:23 PM: Bottom of the 4th, 1 out, 4-0 Angels:  Wow, how often do you see a Suicide Squeeze nowadays?  Mathis laid down a perfect bunt while Gary Matthews sprinted toward home.  That's why you gotta love this team - they keep on pushing, fighting for one more run regardless of the score.

Baseball in recent years has been more and more geared toward the long ball.  If you didn't have the big bats, you didn't compete.  It's refreshing not only to see a team do the best with what it has, but to gear the team and offense toward "small ball."

As much as people complained about not getting a "big bat" in the off season (present company included), I think by now you have to realize that it wasn't all that necessary.

9:10 PM: Top of the 8th, no outs, 6-0 Angels:  I'm kind of impressed by the fact that I did not jinx John Lackey.  Usually, I'm afraid to even look at the guy, much less talk about him when he's pitching.  Every game he throws he seems so fragile, like he's holding onto the game, the lead, and his pitching ability by a single string, a strand of spider silk made of ice crystals.  So to see him dominate the Seattle Mariners, shutting them out over 7 innings, warms my heart.

This is completely different than I feel watching Frankie Rodriguez.  With Lackey, I feel like I'm watching a toddler inching closer and closer to a rabid chained-up pit bull.  Everything around this dog is a perfect circle of sterile destruction, and I'm watching a two-year-old fascinated by the doggy, scared a bit by the barking and slobbering, but nonetheless inching his was closer and closer to the circle of doom.  My sphincter clenches, I try to look away, and I hope he'll somehow avoid those slavering fangs.

With K-Rod, I feel like I'm watching his mother.  It's a definite sense of fatalistic dread.  It's more like watching the above mentioned toddler's mother.  Rather than the fear and trepidation felt in the Lackey situation, this is watching the mother put the baby down by Michael Vick's pit bull so she can share a hit off a crack pipe with some stranger in an alley.  I get angry and resign myself to the fact that no matter the what happens when Frankie pitches, the chances of it ending well aren't good.

Bottom of the 8th: Wow, Lackey's back out for the 8th...  Gotta love that!  I suppose when you haven't given up a run to a team in three appearances this season, you deserve a shot at the complete game shutout...

But yeah, K-Rod is a disaster in the making.  Ralph Branca.  Donnie Moore.  Bill Buckner.

Soon enough, mark my words, K-Rod will find his name among those.

And Lackey gets through the 8th easily.  8 shutout innings for John!  Only one inning left for me to jinx him!

9:32 PM: Bottom of the 9th, no outs, 6-0 Angels:  And Lackey is back in!  Ooh, one out!  Now Ibanez is up.  To tell you the truth, I haven't been paying attention much to the Mariners when they bat, except Ichiro.  Gotta love Ichiro!  Pop up, two outs!  Lackey is a single out away from a complete game shutout, and what a way to start this series if he completes it.  Grounder to 3rd...  Game over!  Angels win, 6-0!

This is a great, authoritative win for the Angels.  It is now impossible for the Mariners to take the Division lead in this series.  To come into their house and shut them down, dominate them, well, it's gotta hurt Seattle.

And now I'm 3-0 in Liveblogging!

It's just a shame we all had to listen to Hudler and Physioc tonight...  These guys really could be great, but it seems like they'd rather be complete homers than trust the viewer to know how to root.

Rather than announcers, these guys are a **** laugh track.

Goodnight, and have a pleasant tomorrow.