Angels Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory as Rangers Walk Off

I could type a few sentences here about how Jered Weaver was fantastic yet again for the Angels (and he was), but I’m going to cut to the leverage chart that I took some artistic liberties with first.

There I was, driving home from work listening to Terry Smith and Mark Langston when Geovany Soto hit his walk off home run. I literally laughed out loud. I don’t know why I found it funny. Maybe it’s because I am slowly but surely accepting the fate of a team that was supposed to be a juggernaut from start to finish this season. Maybe it’s because I half-expect something to go wrong when the Angels are ahead. Maybe it’s because I’m a jerk and I find humor in other people’s misery. Whatever the reason, I couldn’t help it. I just laughed.

Back to Weaver. Jered was once again on top of his game as he worked seven innings allowing one run on five hits while walking one and striking out six. He left the game in line for the win. He should have won. He deserved to win. And this is where I feel bad about laughing. Jered Weaver deserved a far better fate than receiving an “ND” on his stat table.

Everything was looking great after five innings. J.B. Shuck hit his first career home run and got the silent treatment for it in the dugout. Josh Hamilton finally came through in Texas with a two-run single that drove in Mike Trout and Erick Aybar. A 3-0 lead? Weaver dealing? this one is in the bag.

The Rangers got on the board with two out in the sixth on an Ian Kinsler RBI single. That run snapped Weaver’s scoreless innings streak at 19.2, and gave me yet another reason to despise Ian Kinsler. The Rangers inched closer in the eighth when that damned Kinsler drove in another run, this time by way of a sacrifice fly, making the score 3-2.

Under normal circumstances, I generally feel quite confident when Ernesto Frieri comes into the game. But nothing about this season has been normal, and tonight was more of the same.

A.J. Pierzynski led off the ninth with a home run, reminding me that I need to update my Pierzynski Voodoo doll sometime in the near future. Sorry, guys, that one’s on me. Then, after getting David Murphy to ground into a double play, the proverbial cherry was placed on top of the crap cake with a Geovany Soto walk off home run.

Tomorrow is another day, and the Angels will be back at it, whether I laugh at them or not, sending C.J. Wilson to the mound against creepy mustache aficionado, Derek Holland. Game time is at 5:05 PM PST. Light up the fail-o, I’m sure it can’t be hard to find the switch.