Tampa Bay Rays defeat LA Angels 6-4. It seemed conceivable at the beginning of the season that the Angels would be fighting for the best record in baseball with a team from the AL East in August. The inconceivable part of this is the team they are fighting with is the Tampa Bay Rays. The Angels went into St. Petersburg trying to withstand the Rays who had swept the series back in May at......

Toronto Blue Jays defeat LA Angels 4-3. One mistake was all it took for Ervin Santana to get the loss. In the sixth inning, Santana threw a pitch down the middle of the plate and a batter like Lyle Overbay knows what to do with it. It went out of the park, and that's all it took for the Canadians to salvage a game in the series. Notable Notes Dodger's pitching prospect Clayton Kershaw......

So the guys are in Vero Beach now, and now my sphincter pulsates in anticipation for March 31: Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. This spring training should prove very interesting despite Jeff Kent opening his yap. Here are some story lines to follow: Tommy Lasorda will manage eight exhibition games. While Joe Torre takes a split squad to Beijing to play the San Diego Padres on March 14 and 15, Lasorda will have the remaining......

Fire crews are optimistic, but not yet looking to declare victory over the multiple blazes that have burned over 500,000 acres and displaced millions. We agree, it's best to be sure before declaring victory too soon. One blaze that has partially kept officials from declaring an end to the madness, the Santiago fire in Orange County, is expected to be contained by Friday. But it could take years to rebuild charred neighborhoods. Seven people......

Ducks 4, Kings 1 - After Los Angeles shocked Anaheim 4-1 in Saturday's season opener in London (yes, London), the defending champs showed who really is king. Despite 10 goals in two days, British fans were reportedly most excited about a good ol' fashioned hockey fight. Welcome back, NHL. Welcome back. A's 3, Angels 2 - The AL West champion Halos hit a skid when they clinched the pennant, but they saved face in their......

Rockies 10, Dodgers 4 - Los Angeles was swept by Colorado. Again. At home. Where's the heart? Where's the effort? When we looked at the schedule before the season, it looked like LA would be able to propel itself into the playoffs with a bunch of late games against the lowly Rockies. Instead, the Rockies have made a wild card charge on the shoulders of the Boys in Blue. They've won 11 in a row,......

Fuck Bill Plaschke. Fuck TJ Simers. Fuck the LA Times. Fuck Grady Little. Fuck Ned Colletti. Fuck Frank McCourt. Fuck Jeff Kent. Fuck the Dodgers. When I read Plaschke’s column Wednesday morning that basically put Matt Kemp in the hangman’s noose, my blood started to boil. How does he have the unmitigated gall to scapegoat Kemp and let the veterans have a free pass just because they have “experience”? This entire mess became public......

After I declared the Dodger season over last week, they go and make me look like a complete asshole by winning the next four games in convincing fashion. But thanks to the Giants, I didn’t look like a complete asshole. As the Dodgers won game after game, the Giants tanked game after game against the wild card leading Padres. With each win instead of inching closer to the postseason, they were merely jogging on......

Angels 18, Orioles 6 - Anaheim and Baltimore have combined for a whopping 39 runs in the past two game. The Halos had 18 last night, thanks to 13 walks and 3 errors given to them by the Orioles. Baltimore was so bad on defense that their offense hammered Kelvim Escobar for 6 earned runs in 5.1 innings and he still got the W. Vladimir Guerrero went yard, as did Brandon Wood -- for the......

Giants 4, Dodgers 2 - Jeff Kent's two solo shots gave the Dodgers a lead, but it fell apart on a three run pinch-hit blast by San Francisco's Ray Durham in the eighth. Los Angeles went 7-2 against the Giants this year, both losses coming in this weekend's series. With just 18 games to go this season -- all against division rivals -- the Blue Crew sits 5.5 games behind NL West leader Arizona and......

Dodgers 6, Astros 2 - Too bad the Dodgers weren't playing double or nothing. The Blue Crew split the series against Houston 2-2. In the final game, they turned four double plays. Second baseman Jeff Kent hit three doubles, including one for a two runs. His counterpart, Craig Biggio, also had a couple hits. Angels 4, Blue Jays 3 - LAnaheim avoided a sweep thanks to a home run by Gary Matthews, Jr. and a......

What will it take for the Dodgers to score a run? I’ll give Grady Little some credit in tweaking the lineup a little in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Reds. Juan Pierre was the leadoff batter with Rafael Furcal hitting second. Andre Ethier was put in the fifth spot, and Luis Gonzalez was given the night off. But that’s about all the credit I’ll give him for now. Something that absolutely confuses me is......

Angels 10, Red Sox 4 - LAnaheim has won the first two games in a clash of baseball's best records. Gary Matthews, Jr. shone with 4 RBI, 3 runs, and 3 hits in five at-bats. He hit a homer in the 8th and robbed another from Boston's Coco Crisp. Joe Saunders allowed four runs on eight hits, but still got the win on just 5 and 1/3 innings of work thanks to a five run......

Angels 13, Tigers 4 - The Angels got back on track this weekend, hammering NL Central leader Detroit for 34 runs in a three game sweep. Anaheim reached double-digits in each game and had 12 runs by the end of the third inning on Sunday. Chone Figgins had three runs in the finale and every starter scored at least once. Rockies 9, Dodgers 6 - Los Angeles couldn't sustain a 9th inning rally and dropped......

Angels 7, A's 6 - Francisco Rodriguez blew a save opportunity despite a three run lead. Fortunately, he was saved by Maicer Izturis' RBI single with two out in the bottom of the ninth. Vladimir Guerrero took the day off and while the Halos generated plenty of offense without him, none of the 15 hits left the park. The team's recent home run slump coincides with Vlad's, who hasn't gone yard in 24 games despite......

Dodgers 10, Houston 2 - Los Angeles has been consistently inconsistent since the All Star break, and didn't show true dominance until going on the road. Chad Billingsly improved to 7-0 with a complete game, and even held the Astros scoreless until the final out. The Dodgers also looked good at the plate, with 3 RBIs from both Luis Gonzalez and James Loney. Jeff Kent (who scored on a wild pitch) had four hits before......

I don’t know what more needs to be asked of Brett Tomko. He went six innings and gave up five hits and an unearned run (thanks to Juan Pierre’s fielding error in the first inning) with only one walk and three strikeouts in Friday night’s 4-1 loss against the Mets. For a pitcher who a week ago had his confidence at an all-time low and decided to start pitching his cutter which he hasn’t......

What in the world is going on? On Tuesday night the Dodgers give up 15 runs to the Phillies, and now on Thursday night the Mets get 13. I was going to write off Tuesday’s game as a fluke. It happens, and the Dodgers just had to forget it and move on. Now I sense some bells starting to ring. Prozac gave up eight earned runs in only three innings pitched. Actually the only......

Angels 3, Devil Rays 0 - LAnaheim avoided the sweep in Tampa and ended a three game losing streak. Kelvim Escobar's fifth straight win came on 7.2 innings of scoreless work. The Halos had three doubles in the game, but haven't gone yard in 114 innings. Mets 13, Dodgers 9 - The Dodgers slipped into a first place tie with San Diego, but it wasn't due to a lack of offense. The team had 19......

Dodgers 10, Phillies 3 - Imagine how good the Dodgers would be if Jason Schmidt were healthy. On Monday it was another All Star, Brad Penny, who notched his 11th win of the season and gave the Blue Crew their 5th in a row. Jeff Kent and Matt Kemp each contributed a three-run shot. The Phillies trailed by as many as nine en-route to their MLB leading 10,001st franchise loss. Beckham Watch - There's drama......

Thank heavens baseball is back. Despite my week of partaking in bacchanal debaucheries there was a void akin to eating empty calories. But enough about me. To open up the second half of the baseball season, the Dodgers and the Giants present the tale of two games. Friday night, the Dodgers held on to a slim 3-1 lead going into the ninth inning when the Dodger’s bats came alive for six runs to put......

The Dodgers are all right. I know there were some people who were annoyed with the fact that I constantly harped on the Dodgers horrible offense in May and June. It’s too early in the season worry about it, and the Dodgers are in the top of the division, right? Well the Dodgers finally brought up the youngsters from the farm and got them in the lineup. James Loney and Matt Kemp have given......

The inning was like getting a proctology exam when you have a gigantic hemorrhoid. At least that’s what I said during the Padre’s six-run fourth inning that lasted about 45 minutes. Little did I know about Malingering’s incident with Luis Gonzalez’s foul ball which now makes me very thankful that my seats of choice are in the top deck. I guess you can say Viejito still has some pop in him. The Padre’s 7-6......

Which team has the best record in the National League? Two teams share this distinction: the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yes, the same Los Angeles Dodgers team I ripped in my last post has the best record in the National League. Actually I take that back. This is not the same team I ripped the other day. In Friday’s 6-3 win against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Grady Little posted this......

Brewers 9, Dodgers 5 - When your dad is a baseball icon, how do you step out of his shadow? If you're Tony Gwynn, Jr. and Prince Fielder, you pick up a bat and pummel the Dodgers. Actually, Milwaukee has been pummelling everybody lately -- the Blue Crew were just the latest victim. Gwynn capped a big sixth inning for the Brew Crew with a two run double, and Fielder went yard twice to tie......

The Dodgers lost to that pitcher. Let me just say that he is one ugly man. That’s all. You can come up with your own insults. Trust me, my friends and I made up plenty ourselves. Back to the game. There is only one word to describe the pitching performance of Brett Tomko: PATHETIC. Another word to describe Grady Little’s managing decisions: ABHORRENT. Before I could settle in and focus on the game, Tomko......

D.C. United 2, Chivas USA 1 - The MLS gets no respect. ESPN and SI.com lump it in with their general soccer coverage. Yahoo! Sports has them listed just below the WNBA. They might not party like their Euro counterparts, but LAist.com is willing to give Chivas USA top billing tonight. So here it goes ... after a scoreless first half, winless D.C. United found the net twice (the second on a penalty kick) and......

Padres 3, Dodgers 2 - Jeff Kent drove home a run in the first and the third, helping Los Angeles jump out to a 2-0 lead against San Diego's Greg Maddux. Then Maddux started to pitch more like, well, Maddux. He retired the final 14 batters he faced and went home with the W against his old team (you may remember he wore blue, albeit briefly). Angels 3, White Sox 0 - Gary Matthews Jr.'s......

Ducks 4, Wild 1 - After a wild finish in Minnesota, the teams kept up the bad blood with a pre-game confrontation during warmups. Players crowded the ice with no officials around, but ultimately no blows were thrown. Once the game got started Anaheim got on a roll. They outshot the Wild 39-27 and clinced the first round of the playoffs. Dodgers 8, Rockies 1 - After resting several key players the day before, the......

Hornets 86, Clippers 83 - Sports fans talk about "meaningless games" towards the end of the regular season. Those are contests held after a team is already in or out of the playoffs and seeding isn't a major issue. It's a common indicator of an exciting team in baseball. In this year's NBA playoff chase, the Clippers didn't play a single meaningless game. They did play roughly one meaningless quarter. Despite taking a solid lead......