SURPRISE?

Three out of four is no slap in the face.  Especially for a team that usually isn't too phenomenal in road series.  And to start out on a road series at that...

Guerrero's situation right now vaguely reminds me of a scene from A League of Their Own:

"Hey Kit, lay off the high ones"

"But I like the high ones" (to be read in a horrible southern accent)

"Mule"

"Nag"

He's free swinging, for sure.  I'm guessing the Twins' scouting report said something to the effect of  "fastballs, of high velocity, up in the zone, or even up out of the zone, inside of the plate or outside, so long as it's high."  And so far, they've got him swinging on pretty much anything high, in our out of the strike zone.  His plate discipline has been pretty poor this series, but I'm sure it'll calm down soon.  But man, if any of those hits had made it to his bat... damn. He was swinging with every ounce in him, nearly turning himself around every time.

If I haven't said so yet, that number two spot is going to be great for Matthews.

And Napoli's power has been kinda the deciding factor on why he's getting more starts than Mathis.  Mathis is definitely the superior defensive player (that ball in the dirt that got away from him today.... who knows? Maybe The Wall could've stopped it... I dunno...) and has definitely improved his bat since his first few starts last year (he's making regular contact, advancing runners, and getting on base, which is a plus), but Napoli's got two homers already.  And I'm even surprised and impressed.  I hope it continues.

Hunter's first home run as an Angel had him smiling all day long.  It was actually kinda cute.

The likelyhood of winning today was not all that great.  Think about it.  It was an away game.  It was a day game.  It was the last game of the series.  It was on turf, not a familiar substance to grass-prone teams like the Angels.  In the past, this is not the scenario you would hope to see Ervin Santana thrown into.  Usually, this would cause him much psychological turmoil.  

But he went against odds today, for sure.  You could tell by his body language the moment he stepped out onto the mound, that he was in it to win.  He seemed to have put the demons behind him, at least for this game (and lets at least have hope that it'll be for good this time), and came out and really went at it.  He kept the tempo of the game up, finding a nice rhythm for each at-bat.  He stumbled a bit in the sixth, but in all, he was solid.  I'm definitely happy with what's been going on so far.

Only game four, but already here's where we sit with everyone else:

- leading the AL West 3-1 (.750)

- second in the AL in team ERA (2.06)

- no hit batters (by pitches) and only one home run allowed (leading the AL)

- leading the AL in team batting average (.278)

- leading the AL in at-bats

- second in runs and home runs

- leading in hits and doubles

- second in RBIs, and second in slugging

The only issue right now that they're talking about on the team website is the team's fielding percentage.  Sure, there have been a couple errors, most on some pretty routine plays.  It happens.  It's still early, and if they can steady themselves now, the rest will surely catch up.  At least for now the errors have not caused major damage.  So far, the pitching staff has kept everything in stride.

Other Stuff:

I think I'm going to play Kotchman as my starting first baseman from now on.  

I'm giving Morneau one more series to get it together.  If not, he's going out on waivers.  He's killing my average with all these 0-4 stints.  

... And I think I'm going to keep Gary in there too, he's got some pop right now... did I say that number two spot is benefitting him? YES!

... And damn it Jimmy Rollins, start doing something so I don't have to feel like I wasted my first round pick on you.  GAH!