Angels 4, Orioles 3

Some observations from section 29, row G, seat 5 at today's rubber-match between the Angels and Orioles:

A well pitched game on both sides. I enjoyed that.

Jeremy Guthrie throws some serious heat. With a fastball in the mid to high 90s he was perfect his first time through the Angels batting order. He has the potential to be a front-end of the rotation kind of starter as he had 6-innings of 1-2-3 efficiency.

John Lackey also packs some mean heat. And a good slider. And as a veteran he managed to get the win even though Guthrie clearly out pitched him today. The Orioles' pitching staff didn't allow any walks, whereas Lackey issued 3 free passes. But his only real mistake pitch was the one Jay Payton barely muscled over the left field wall for a 2-run home run in the second inning.

When the Angels' offense wasn't being retired in order they were making their hits count. 4 hits, 4 runs scored and no runners stranded. That made all the difference in the world with a 1-run margin.

The game-ending double-play was swift and exciting with the potential tying run cut down at the plate by Vladimir Guerrero. It looked like catcher Mike Napoli may have been injured on the play as he had to be helped off the field.

Angels player of the game: (RP) Francisco Rodriguez - WPA +.383
1.1IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO, 0HR

Angels lowest contributor of the game: Gary Matthews Jr. - WPA -.104
0/4, 0R, 0HR, 0RBI, oBB, 1SO

Orioles player of the game: Jay Payton - WPA +.296
2/4, 1R, 1HR, 2RBI, 0BB, 1SO

Orioles lowest contributor of the game: (2B) Brian Roberts - WPA -.358
1/2, 1R, 0HR, 0RBI, 0BB, 0SO

John Lackey: 7.1IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 5SO, 1HR - W
Scot Shields: 0.1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO, 0HR - H
Francisco Rodriguez: 1.1IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO, 0HR - SV

Jeremy Guthrie: 8.0IP, 4H, 4R, 4ER, 0BB, 7SO, 2HR - L
Chad Bradford: 0.2IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO, 0HR
Jamie Walker: 0.1IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1SO, 0HR

Go Laundry Go!

Between fantasy baseball, moving around the country, obsessing about pitching and being disillusioned with my "favorite" team, the whole concept of rooting for a team has weakened somewhat. But it's hard to shake one's team loyalties (even if, as Seinfeld pointed out, team loyalty is akin to rooting for the laundry because the players change teams so much). And I've developed a 5-5 system with top 5 favorite teams to root "for" and bottom 5 teams to root against. The other 20 teams fall into some opaque, fluid morass between #6 and #26.

Leather, Runs and Repeat team #5: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Spending some time in this team's local market had them growing on me. (I'm not sure the Orioles will do the same now that I live in their zip code.) I did get to spend some time working with Angels' broadcaster Steve Physioc and it's hard not to share his genuine enthusiasm for this club. Watching Vladimir Guererro step up to the plate 500 - 600 times a year is a real joy.

Leather, Runs and Repeat team #4: Toronto Blue Jays. My first major league hometown team. My first game attended was the Rangers@Blue Jays at the old Exhibition Stadium. With Halladay, Burnett and Chacin as the 1-2-3 starters I think this the team with the best rotation in the AL East and they have a shot at putting a good scare into the evil empire. They did manage to take second in the division last year. And that was with significant injury problems in that starting rotation.

Leather, Runs and Repeat team #3: Philadelphia Phillies. I'd always been favorable to this team. But once they added my favorite pitcher (Jamie Moyer), along with Freddy Garcia after making a great run last year - in spite of seemingly dismantling at the trading deadline - I was hooked. I really think this is their year.

Leather, Runs and Repeat team #2: Minnesota Twins. The rise to take the division title on the last day of the regular season last year was the story for me. And along the way I was hooked on watching how they play. I remember a great series they played at home against the Chicago Cubs and another good series on the road against the Chicago White Sox. Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer are the new M&M boys.

Leather, Runs and Repeat team #1: Seattle Mariners. In spite of their efforts to shake all the fair weather fans I can't shake the team that first hooked me. The Carl Everett deal last year was a bad idea. Now they've followed that up with a trio of terrible off season moves: trading Rafael Soriano away for Horacio Ramirez, picking up the (almost Everett proportions of immaturity) Jose Guillen and installing Jose Vidro as the new DH. And yet I still pull for them to at least finish ahead of Texas in the standings.