In Case You're Missing It...

[Chief Rum]

...great pitcher's duel on Sunday Night Baseball between AL West rivals Angels and A's.

Kelvim Escobar picthed two-hit shutout ball through six, but had to leave because this is his first start coming off of the disabled list (he struck out Chavez for his 7th strikeout to get his final out).

The A's threatened in the top of the seventh, putting runners on first and third with no outs, but Scot Shields got out of it. And now Steve Finley just finally touched up Joe Blanton, who had been pitching a shutout through six himself, with a one-run shot to rightfield.

Baseball purists would love this one. :)

[MikeVic]

Bah, not as good as the Clemens/Mulder matchup a couple of days ago... ;)

[Chief Rum]

Bah, not as good as the Clemens/Mulder matchup a couple of days ago... ;)

lol...there's always a better matchup somewhere. Don't mean it ain;t worth watching. :)

K-Rod is going to come in in the ninth if anyone wants to see his wicked stuff again (hopefulyl he will do better tonight than he did Friday).

[Galaxy]

The Rays-Sox game is quite interesting.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Hudson vs Clemens the other day was awfully good too.

[DeToxRox]

I watched Sunday Night Baseball tonight. Damn impressive. The A's staff will be filthy as always.

[Chief Rum]

I watched Sunday Night Baseball tonight. Damn impressive. The A's staff will be filthy as always.

lol...as an ANgels fan, I feel compelled to note that, while I tend to agree with DeRox's statement, it was the Angels pitching that proved the better this night. :)

But then the A's had to put down a better lineup, so maybe that evens out. ;)

[DeToxRox]

lol...as an ANgels fan, I feel compelled to note that, while I tend to agree with DeRox's statement, it was the Angels pitching that proved the better this night. :)

But then the A's had to put down a better lineup, so maybe that evens out. ;)

Ha the Angels are the better team, but from a staff (starters only) the A's will be the best in the league in a year or two.

That said, the Angels have a great pen, and very nice lineup, along with very good starting pitching, so I can't see them losing the AL West.

[Chief Rum]

Ha the Angels are the better team, but from a staff (starters only) the A's will be the best in the league in a year or two.

That said, the Angels have a great pen, and very nice lineup, along with very good starting pitching, so I can't see them losing the AL West.

Yeah, the staff is a bit of a question, which is why there was a lot of talk about going after Pavano and Clement in the offseason. There are few Angels pitchers with the potential for dominance that we see in Harden, will probably see in Blanton and have seen in Zito.

Tonight's starter, though, is one of them. I would throw out Escobar against all but the very elite pitchers in the league. Now if Lackey and Washburn could learn to be more consistent, we would have a very solid four (with Colon as well). Unfortunately, I don't see that happening, at least not until the second half (both Lackey and Wash are better after the break), so this division figures to remain close for a good while yet.

[sterlingice]

I guess it's time to activate Escobar off my fantasy DL and get his ass into a game. Wanted to see how he would do first, tho.

SI