Watch Out Texas, Here We Come.

Its over. Our weekend dismantling of the Oakland A's has come to a close, and the Angels find themselves two and a half games out of first place, with two games in Texas to start a seven game road trip.

Its not going to be an easy trip, with stops in Texas, Chicago to play the ChiSox, and St. Louis, to play the NL Central leading Cardinals. Also, no travel days, at least all these stops are only a few hours flight. Not like the cross-country fun the Angels had on their last trip.

After a 4-2 home-stand, the Angels improved their record to 18-21, and improved their record against Western Division opponents to 6-3. Even if the Angels aren't one of the best teams in baseball, like they have been in years past, they are still clearly ready to defend their AL West crown.

A Few Thoughts:
- Nice to see Bobby Abreu go yard again. Its been a while
- On the off day last Thursday, I thought Texas had a legitimate shot to run away with the West, I thought wrong.
- Good to see Michael Ryan in the lineup again, even if he didn't do much.

Around the League:
Jeff Francis made his first start for the Rockies today since September of 2008. He missed all of last season with arm surgery. He looked incredible in his first start. Although it was against the Washington Nationals, the Nats are no longer the laughing stock of the National League, and have a pretty damn good team. Good to see someone able to recover from that much time off (If only Kelvim Escobar was so lucky).

Wait... We won? This cant be right.

I... I... I dont know what to say. I'm in shock. Not only did we win, but we completely outplayed the other team. 8 runs, 3 home runs, a commanding pitching performance (2 hits allowed).

Jeff Weaver had his best start of the season. Scot "LOL" Shields looked like he knew how to pitch again. Juan Rivera, The OTHER Howard and Incrediboy Ryan Budde all went deep.

Weaver not only had his best stuff of the season, but he also took a no hitter into the 7th (thanks a lot, Ken Griffey Jr.). I honestly only kept the game on because of the chance of a no hitter.

I have nothing bad to say the Angels as a whole today, but is Brandon Wood seriously going to strike out EVERY time he has the bat in his hands? He might as well never leave the dugout. Just give the pitcher a strikeout and lets get on with our lives. I truly hope this Michael Ryan kid can replace him sooner rather than later. Also, I think maybe Ryan Budde should start in place of Napoli for the rest of the season. Good luck to Matt Palmer who is probably going to be spending a good chunk of time in Triple A. But he is used to that, so whatever.

Unfortunately, Jeff Weaver... er... Joe Saunders is on the hill tomorrow. Hopefully we can put up a ton of runs again. We WOULD throw up an 8 spot in a game where we only needed 1.

Angels Record: 13-18
Outlook: Baffled but still catious