The Los Angeles Angels now know their starting pitchers for the first four games of their series against the New York Yankees. On Wednesday, manager Mike Scioscia said that John Lackey will pitch Game 1, Joe Saunders will pitch Game 2, Jered Weaver will pitch Game 3 and Scott Kazmir will pitch Game 4.
Lackey will face a lot of pressure in Game 1. If the Angels want to advance to the 2009 World Series, they will need to quiet the confidence that the Yankees currently hold. To do so, Los Angeles really needs to win the first game of the …read more

Heading into the 2009 baseball postseason, many experts predicted that the Boston Red Sox were ready to roll to another World Series title. Following a Game 2 loss against the Los Angeles Angels, that talk is all but dead. The Angels have a stranglehold on the series following Friday’s 4-1 victory.
For the second straight game, starting pitching was the key for the Angels. That fact is ironic considering that the Angels’ weakness all season long was supposedly their lack of starting pitching. Friday’s star was Jered Weaver, who went 7.1 innings while giving up only two hits, two walks and …read more

Alex Rodriguez smashed two home runs for the New York Yankees on Saturday, however those two homers weren’t enough for the Yankees to beat the Los Angeles Angels. In a slugfest, the Angels powered their way to a 14-8 victory.
In the top of the first inning, Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run blast off of Jered Weaver. Rodriguez hit another homer in the top of the 8th.
But the story was the overall production from the Angels lineup. Bobby Abreu and Mike Napoli each had three RBIs, while Gary Matthews Jr., Howie Kendrick and Brandon Wood knocked in two RBIs apiece.
After the …read more

What to watch on a Friday?

Yankees at Red Sox, 4:05 p.m. PT — You’ll be watching this one whether you want to or not. It’s what pays the bills, eh? Chien-Ming Wang goes against Clay Buccholz.
Angels at Mariners, 7:10 p.m. PT — Jered Weaver and Felix Hernandez… Vlad and Ichiro!… Monkeys and mooses (meese?)… This one’s got it all. Here’s your game of the day.
Padres at Dodgers, 7:40 p.m. PT — Jake Peavy and Brad Penny hook up for the second time in a week. The big story — at least among people who don’t know much about baseball — …read more

Rich Lederer at Baseball Analysts is running a three-part series on the best young players in baseball today. The first installment discusses 24- and 25-year-olds, while the second covers 22- and 23-year-olds. No huge surprises here, but I have to give a special shout-out to fellow b5 blogger Hunter Pence for showing up at #12 among 25-year-olds, right between Jered Weaver and Casey Kotchman.