Lackey pitches, I get injured

Angels 10, Seattle 6

The Angels offense is a lot like the Lakers: better outside Texas. The Halos managed to beat Jarrod Washburn who, outside the Angels, is pitching completely out of his mind. After a series where they managed to hit like two extra base hits the whole three games, they came back with 4 doubles and 3 homers as the power behind their 15 hits. Kendry Morales is the proud owner of two of the home runs, earning 3 RBI and helping me forget about Mark Teixeira.

Torii Hunter had a couple spectacular plays in the outfield. He seems to save the nice catches for Seattle, with two tonight to add to the game-saving over-the-wall catch on Richie Sexson (?!) last year. The name Sexson conjured images of a Mariners team not entirely composed of scrubs, but then again, maybe that's really what the '07-'08 Mariners were.

John Lackey looked mediocre, about what you'd expect from a guy making a rehab start. My only problem with his start was the RBI base hit he gave up to Ken Griffey Jr. in the fifth. He had two out, Ichiro at second, and a 3-2 count, and continued shaking off Napoli before throwing a very hittable fastball. Griffey is an overpaid singles hitter...try and avoid throwing him a fastball.

At one point, Lakcey and Napoli got crossed up, with Lackey throwing a slider instead of a fastball, which thoroughly confused Naps. The entire process was sorta neat, though, in that Napoli started tracking the ball up and away only to have to drop his glove and move inside to catch the slider. It was a cool example of a typical hitting approach, which is sitting on the fastball and adjusting to an offspeed pitch, and something you don't really get to see that often in a way which makes it so clear.

I refuse to admit that Russ Branyan is a good player, and his failed pickle play (in which he dropped a ball trying to tag a picked-off Chone Figgins) didn't prove contrary to my beliefs. That said, the guy can hit, and I'd prefer that the Angels start treating him like a power hitter and throw soft and away.


Jeff's Team 0, Other Team 8 (two periods)

Floor hockey, my newest attempt at becoming an athlete through intramural co-ed sports. The mercy rule was 7 goals after two, so we only played a pair of periods.

Jeff suited up as goalie, and actually had a reasonably good game. Outside one, maybe two goals, he got beat on tough shots. With a street hockey ball, shots tend to stay high so most of the goals tend to hit the top of the net on their way in. We have another game tonight where I'll be in net, so I'm looking at more of a stand-up style than my usual butterfly as an attempt to cover more of the top of the net.

I played forward last night, at least for the most part, and actually really enjoyed myself. Stick checks are legal, so I was having a good time with that, and taking faceoffs was pretty entertaining. I also managed to get launched over the barrier and into the scorer's table at one point, and took a couple sticks to the knees and feet, both of which are now really sore. It's also a lot harder to slide on plastic tile than it is on ice, so the outside of both of my knees are pretty torn up. I have newfound respect for hockey players who accumulate 30 minutes of ice time in real games, as I was pretty gassed after 2 minute shifts. I'm looking forward to relaxing in net.