The Blue Crew

Living in Anaheim and being an Angels fan, it is natural that Dodgers fans look at the Angels as their rival team to beat. Especially since the Angels changed their name to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim under Arte Moreno.

"You're not an LA team!"

Growing up I watched both squads but took more of a liking to the Angels since I went to more of their games and they were close to my hometown in Placentia.

I do not hate the Dodgers, only when Dodgers fans start talking crap on how the Angels are horrible or how they do not belong in the same breath as the Blue Crew.

Well unfortunately for Dodger fan, it looks like they have lost their gas in the chase for the NL West and NL wild-card chase.
Yes, they have had injuries throughout the year, most notably to their pitching staff, but so has every MLB club in the majors.

Today they dropped both games of their doubleheader to the Colorado Rockies to put them four games out of the NL wild-card and 5 1/2 out of the NL West.

But Dodger fan do not be too hard on yourself. San Diego and Arizona both have had great years in a tough division.
The year may have been a lot different if they had Matt Kemp and James Loney starting all year long to provide much needed bats in their lineup.

Loney, who is batting .325, has 13 RBIs in his last 11 games, while Kemp is batting .340 in 87 games this year.

So what went wrong? Like I said, injuries to their starting rotation is probably the first reason to look at, but you can also look at their lack of offensive production when it counted most.

Losing Jason Schmidt to season-ending surgery in June definitely was a big hit to the rotation. And finding a reliable fifth starter proved to be a tough task to overcome before opting to obtain Esteban Loaiza and David Wells to finalize their pitching staff late into the season.

Keep you head up Dodgers fans, the near future looks bright with emerging stars of Andre Ethier, Loney, Kemp, and young pitcher Chad Billingsley.

Plus, you have another LA team that is sure to make the playoffs this year.

Quick Baseball Fix - Lets Get It On!

How do the Tampa Bay Devil Rays do it? After blowing two consecutive games to the Red Sox, the Devil Rays were at it again; this time giving up five runs in the bottom of the eighth in their 8-7 loss to the Mariners.
Keep your head up Joe Maddon.

The Dodgers showed they still have some life in them by beating the San Diego Padres 6-3 and move within 1 1/2 games of the NL wild card. David Wells beat his former team by outpitching Greg Maddux to improve to 3-0 since joining the Dodgers.
Nice pick up Ned Colletti. That is the type of move you have to make in order to keep your team's hopes alive for the postseason.

The Arizona Diamondbacks are next up for the Dodgers, and the Padres will play the Giants.
My Phillie Phanatic dream is still alive, as the Phillies won to keep up with the Dodgers and stay 1 1/2 games out of the wild card. They will face the New York Mets this weekend.

And I know I promised not to talk about the NL Central for a while, but I am breaking my promise: the Cubs won on the Brewers off day to give them a 1/2 game lead in the division.

And finally, guess what? The Yankees and Red Sox series if here! Tune to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN News, ESPN Classic for full coverage this weekend. They also bought out a time slot on the Food Network and will be showing a showdown between the Soup Kitchen International's clam chowder and the Christopher's Restaurant and Wine Bar's chowda'!

Beisbol de Septiembre

The highlights from Tuesday night:

Vladimir Guerrero returned to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim lineup on Tuesday, and decided to drop a pair of two-run home runs on the Baltimore Orioles on the way to a 10-5 victory. Guerrero needs one more home run to reach 25 home runs for the 10th consecutive year. Gary Matthews Jr. injured his ankle in the victory and is expected out for the final five games of their road trip.

And their division rival the Seattle Mariners decided that they no longer want to compete for the AL West division title or the AL wild card, by dropping their second consecutive game to the Oakland A's. The Angels magic number is now ten to clinch the AL West division and to ensure that I will be attending the AL playoffs.

Meanwhile, their Los Angeles neighbor Dodgers, lost to now 17-game winner Jake Peavy and fell 3.5 games behind in the NL wild card race. They now share the same record as fellow NL West team, Colorado Rockies, after Esteban Loaiza lost his first game at Dodger Stadium since being traded. Oh, and Loaiza was booed when he was left in the game in the third inning following a mound visit from pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. Peavy has not lost to the Dodgers since Sept. 2003.

The Milwaukee Brewers are now in sole possession of first place of the fickle NL Central race after the Cubs lost to the Houston Astros in 11 innings. The Brewers moved into a one game lead by way of defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-1.

Have I mentioned that the Yankees and Red Sox play each other this weekend? Trust me, you will find out.