\jeff{krimmel}

Way To Go Angels

Wow. I’m impressed. I wrote yesterday that I thought the Angels might struggle to keep tonight’s game with the Chicago White Sox close, given how tired the team must be and how depleted the pitching staff is. To my very pleasant surprise, the Angels were able to nip the White Sox 3-2, resting away home field advantage in the process.

The MLB playoffs tend to go this way, with one team seemingly getting the right hits at the right time. It worked that way for the Houston Astros against the Atlanta Braves, and it worked that way tonight for the Angels against the White Sox. It will be interesting to see if the Halos can nab another one in Chicago, with Jarrod Washburn, still recovering from strep throat over the weekend, slated to pitch Wednesday night’s game two.

I expect the White Sox to bounce back and take game two. It has to be scary for them, though, knowing that they lost to an exhausted Angels team, still without Vladimir Guerrero pounding in runs, though he did have an RBI tonight. It is hard to discern which non-elimination games are the most important, but game twos are a historically good choice. Either the home team won game one and is looking to cement their early series hold on home field advantage, or the home team lost and is looking to keep the series from getting away from them before they can recover. The Angels could deal a very serious blow with a game two win, but I just don’t see it happening.

While the Angels and White Sox are playing game two, the Houston Astros will be opening their series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Both teams belong to the National League Central Division, and as a result they are very familiar with each other. I expect a long and tightly fought series, though my expectations and a quarter will leave you a dime short of a telephone call.