Angels win their first

Angels 3, Oakland 0

Hard to find too much to complain about. Howie Kendrick went 2-4 with 2 RBI (one of those on a homer to right center) and Joe Saunders pitched 6.2 shutout innings to earn the win. Fuentes picked up his first save in an Angels uniform with minimal theatrics, in his pitches or his celebration. Scot Shields and Jose Arrendondo both worked perfect relief, Arredondo coming in to strike out Jack Cust in the seventh and Shields pitching the eighth.

It feels normal, and it feels nice.

More disappointing were the debuts of Kendry Morales and Bobby Abreu. Abreu had a hit but two strikeouts, and Morales went 0-4. Kendry did, though, snare a hard liner over his head for an out and looked much better on defense than he has in his previous stints in Anaheim. I'd much prefer Scioscia leave Abreu in the DH slot, but Rivera's not much better, so I guess it's something of a tossup to find defensive proficiency between the outfielders.

I missed the first three innings, but did catch Kendrick's homer. Howie's biggest challenge will be staying healthy, but if he can, there's no reason he won't be able to live up to the lofty projections he's generated since his draft. His BABIP has always been insanely high because he's a line-drive hitter, and, much like the Angels and their pythag record, exceeds his projected BABIP every year.

The A's are actually pretty likable this year. Nomar Garciaparra, Orlando Cabrera, Jason Giambi, and Matt Holliday are all pretty fun players, so my typical dislike for idiots like Bobby Crosby and Daric Barton is tempered by their presence.

If they continued on this pace, the Angels would finish: 162-0 (1.000)


Miscellaneous:

• That's what they get for not coming home to Anaheim.
• The Mets got a 1-2-3 one-run save from Frankie, a good start in NY. We'll see what they think of him once he remembers how much he likes the BB.
  
• Ken Griffey Jr. hit his first home run as a Mariner (again). He'll be on the DL in 4 weeks.
  
• If North Carolina didn't have argyle on their uniforms, they'd have no redeeming qualities. I look forward to Tyler Hansbrough's extremely medicore NBA career. Congratulations on the NCAA championship, though I have never seen such bored fans outside BC.
• Brad Thiessen intends to keep up his blog throughout his professional career, or at least the start of his professional career. He's currently living with current Pens and former Husky teammate Joe Vitale in Wilkes-Barre.
  
• Next car: Yea or nay?