Meet the Mess

First of all, Mark sent me this. In addition to being hilarious, it's also topical: Frankie blew a 2-run save opportunity and the Mets would go on to get hammered 12-7, courtesy of a DeRosa HBP with the bases loaded and then a Pujols grand slam. Both those guys are on my fantasy team, so I mark that as a win for Marcus.*


Angels 4, Chicago 5

I really disagree with Vlad Guerrero being in the lineup at all tonight, and even more so batting 4th. Vlad, in particular, has always been a rhythm hitter, and generally needs some at-bats to start hitting again after injury. Bringing him directly back to the majors and batting him cleanup against a hot time like the White Sox is monumentally stupid. Granted, he had a decent night, going 1-3 with a walk, but his AB's looked pretty horrible, even for Vlad. Rehab assignments exist for a reason.

I'm also flummoxed by John Lackey's pitching. Two of Chicago's runs came from Gordon Beckham, a rookie who is okay, I guess, but certainly not good enough to be responsible for half of the runs on your linescore. He gave up two solo homers, one to Beckham and another to Carlos "So Overrated" Quentin. Quentin, by the way, is batting .227, so he's probably not even overrated at this point. He's just bad. (Yeah, small sample size, only 50 games this season. Big whoop. His OPS two years ago was .647.) Lackey managed to mix in 7 strikeouts with his 113 pitches.

Players who should've been in the lineup today: Howie Kendrick/Sean Rodriguez and Mike Napoli. Jeff Mathis does not provide the defensive skill necessary to make up for his limp noodle bat.

Texas is still playing, down 2-0 in the 4th. Rooting for Oakland is a strange feeling, but I'd really like to see the Angels in the playoffs.

*Different girlfriends, different NL East associations. There was a time I owned a Mets hat, but I've learned to appreciate the Phillies, mostly for defeating the Dodgers last season. Plus, Philly's much nicer than Queens.