Pujols ties Griffey

Now that was how I like to see the games play out. In an astounding and unprecedented offensive display, the Angels crushed the Mariners 11–2 on Thursday and it was a fun game to watch. It actually looked like the Angels were enjoying themselves too. A day after learning that their opening day starter was gone for the season and a day before learning that their clean up hitter was joining him on the disabled list, the Angels put together 15 hits including 4 home runs and going 4 for 14 with runners in scoring position. This was how the team was playing during the first couple weeks of the season and it’d sure be nice to go back to that on a regular basis.

A Win but More Injuries

Sadly though, one of the catalysts of the 11–2 pounding is gonna be unavailable for at least 10 days as Albert Pujols landed on the disabled list today. Apparently he’s got some knee inflammation that he needs a break to let heal but that didn’t stop him from jacking 2 home runs last night, tying Ken Griffey Jr. with 630 for his career. He had a monster of a night going 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs and also tied up Ricky Henderson in 25th place on the all-time hit list at 3,055.

In addition to the historic night from Albert, one of the few remaining starters from opening day pitched pretty damn well. He threw 6 innings of one run ball in his first start since he was on the DL. Hopefully he can stay healthy the rest of the way and anchor what remains of the pitching staff.

I actually took a look at the number of innings the current active pitchers have and was shocked to learn that Skaggs leads the starters with 98 innings, even though he’s been on the DL since July 1st. Heaney is in 2nd place with 96 innings (and he missed 14 games earlier in the season) but those 2 are all that’s left of the 6 man rotation the team was gonna put out on the mound this season. Behind them, we’ve got a rookie who is pitching pretty well, Barria at 66 innings, but then surprisingly relievers hold the next bunch of slots…Ramirez at 53 innings, Parker at 43, and Bedrosian at 41.2. Finally at 22.1 innings is Felix Pena who is today’s starter and who was a reliever until the Angels needed him to start this year. He started the season in the minors until every one of the Angels pitchers imploded. So in reality when I look at the 2018 season for the Angels I think I can sum it up by simply saying that major injuries to the starting pitching severely hurt the team.

Regardless, today I am happy to celebrate the victory yesterday. 11–2 is not bad at all and it was good to see the offense perform to it’s potential. In addition to Pujols, Fletcher had a good game going 2 for 5 and smacking his first home run. I’d gladly give my Player of the Game to Fletcher if it wasn’t for Pujols’ performance. Justin Upton also had a good game hitting a home run and going 2 for 4. On the whole, everyone did pretty well on the offensive side of things and it was a fun game to watch.

Today the Angels head up the 5 freeway to Los Angeles and the 2nd part of the Freeway series. Felix Pena (1–0, 3.63 ERA) goes for the Angels against Walker Buehler (4–2, 3.44 ERA) for the Dodgers and it sure would be nice to see the offense show up a few days in a row.

Daily Ramble 294.2 | Sports – Angels – Pujols ties Griffey