You know what’s sad? As anemic as the 2011 Angels have been, they might still make the playoffs. The only tough teams left on their schedule is this weekend’s three-game stand against the Yankees and the final three games of the season against the Rangers both at Angel Stadium. more ›

I don’t know if anyone realized that today was Stephen Strasburg’s season debut for the Nationals. Just about a month ahead of schedule from Tommy John surgery and limited to 60 pitches, he really packed the Washington crowd into the stadium. All 29,092 of them. Well, maybe the shitty weather dictated the attendance more than anything else, but still. more ›

There were a couple of lessons to be had in the Dodgers’ 8-5 victory over the San Diego Padres: always take outs when they are given to you, and it’s never over until the 27th out is secured. more ›

Armed with a two-run homer and a double, James Loney’s resurgence continued as he helped the Dodgers defeat the San Diego Padres 4-1. “James, love it,” Manager Don Mattingly said. “He’s been swinging the bat good there.” more ›

I’m confused. The Dodgers are a franchise that is desperate for offense as evidenced yet again in their 6-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on a sunny humid Sunday afternoon. So it made complete sense that they shipped out a top outfield prospect to get a defensive catcher and two pitchers. more ›

USC Trojans defeat Virginia Cavaliers 17-14. USC got real lucky in this game. Virginia shot themselves in the foot the whole game, but particularly in the first half when a missed field goal and an endzone interception could have given them a 10-0 lead. But the Trojans hung on to their two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the first half while adding a field goal in the fourth quarter to get their second win of the game. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat Houston Astros 4-2 (11 innings). After making a great catch then missing a great catch in left field in the bottom of the tenth, Jay Gibbons belted a two-run homer to give the Dodgers the uncharacteristic victory. Lost in this long and droning game thanks to all the pitching changes were Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda’s six innings of one-run work which included getting out a bases loaded jam in the fifth inning. Kuroda actually left the game in line to win, but after Ronald Belisario gave up a one-out double to Brett Wallace in the seventh inning George Sherrill gave up an RBI single to Michael Bourn to tie the game until the fateful 11th. more ›

Seattle Mariners defeat LA Angels 3-1. Howie Kendrick’s ground-rule double in the eighth inning brought home Alberto Callaspo for the game’s first run. But Angels’ relievers Kevin Jepsen (BS, L, 2-4) and Francisco Rodriguez could not hold on to their slim lead as the Mariners essentially paper-cutted their way to three runs. Angels’ starter Dan Haren pitched on the edge for seven innings giving up seven hits and two walks but yielded nothing. more ›

LA Angels Seattle Mariners 5-3. With the aid of the long-ball in the sixth inning, the Angels took the sting of their weekend sweep at the hands of the Orioles by pounding the Mariners. Peter Bourjos and Bobby Abreu hit solo homers and Hideki Matsui hit a two-run homer to break the 0-0 stalemate in the sixth inning. After the Mariners got two back in the seventh inning, the Angels scored once in the eighth inning thanks to a bases-loaded balk by reliever Sean White. The Mariners would get one more thanks to an error by Bourjos and a wild pitch by closer Fernando Rodney, but that would be all she wrote. Ervin Santana (W, 14-9) went 7 2/3 innings giving up only two runs striking out four. more ›

St. Louis Cardinals (48-41) defeat LA Dodgers (49-40) 7-1. Andre Ethier hit a solo homer in the fourth inning. That was about the only thing that went right for the Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw (9-5) only made it through one out in the fifth inning giving up four earned runs on eight hits and three walks while recording only one strikeout - the least amount he’s recorded as a starting pitcher. Throw in a fielding error by Manny Ramirez and a throwing error by Rafael Furcal, and it was just a whole bunch of nothing for the Dodgers. Chris Carpenter (10-3) went eight innings for the Cardinals giving up only that one run while striking out six. With George Sherrill put on waivers and Reed Johnson put on the disabled list to make room for Manny, do the Dodgers have what it takes to overtake the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies for a third consecutive NL West title? more ›

Seattle Mariners defeat LA Angels 8-1. While the Seattle bats woke up, the Angel bats decided to wait until they got home for Monday’s game to appear. In the fourth inning Angels’ starter Ervin Santana gave up an Earl Weaver to Josh Wilson and a solo homer to Michael Saunders back-to-back to give the Mariners the 4-0 lead. Franklin Gutierrez doubled home Ichiro Suzuki in the fifth inning to add on a run. And after a wild pitch by Brandon League on a swinging third strike by Kendry Morales allowed Reggie Willits to cut into the Mariners lead 5-1 in the eighth inning, the Mariners got three more off of Brian Stokes in the home half of the inning to avoid the sweep. more ›

LA Angels defeat Seattle Mariners 8-0. Mariners’ All-Star shortstop Jack Wilson had problems in the field this week, so Don Wakamatsu decided to go with Josh Wilson at short. The Angels pounced on the Mariners in the first innings. With the bases loaded, Kendry Morales hit a bases-clearing double to left field and advanced to third on a throwing error by Josh Wilson. Oops. Morales came home on a Juan Rivera sacrifice fly to spot starter Jered Weaver four runs. Mariners’ starter Felix Hernandez wasn’t kingly getting knocked out of the fourth inning after giving up homers to Rivera, Howie Kendrick and catcher Ryan Budde to give the Angels the 8-0 lead. Weaver would pitch a no-hitter into the seventh inning when Ken Griffey, Jr. singled to right with two outs. Weaver would go 7 1/3 innings giving up two hits and three walks while striking out seven. Scot Shields pitched the remainder of the game yielding only a walk in the ninth inning. more ›

Seattle Mariners defeat LA Angels 3-0. Scott Kazmir, looking to impress his new team in his first outing, did an admirable job through six innings pitching shut out ball. However in the seventh inning he led the inning off by walking Mike Sweeney. After Adrian Beltre flew out to center, Bill Hall doubled scoring Sweeney ending Kazmir's night. Sweeney ended up scoring in the next at-bat when stealing third catcher Mike Napoli made a throwing error. Felix Hernandez however was lights out pitching eight innings while giving up only four hits and three walks. Although King Felix had runners on the basepads all day, he was able to get out of every jam. The Angels lost two of three games in this series and now head over to Kansas City. more ›

Arizona Diamondbacks defeat LA Dodgers 5-3 (10). Yeah the Dodgers lost the game. The newest Dodger as of 9:00 pm Ronnie Belliard made a great impression with the fans by hitting a solo homer in his first at-bat. Manny Ramirez and Matt Kemp hit back-to-back solo shots in the sixth inning. But the DBacks would come back to win it. more ›

The Dodgers continue to be mired in their offensive slump for the second consecutive day and lose the rubber game of their series against the Seattle Mariners 4-2. It was the final game of their interleague schedule where they went 9-9, their first non-losing interleague record since 2004 when they went 10-8. more ›

The Dodgers could not figure out Mariners starter Felix Hernandez going down 5-1. more ›

Denver Nuggets defeat LA Lakers 106-103. Just as the Denver led by double digits in Game 1 and gave the Lakers the victory, the Lakers did the same in Game 2. Down the stretch the Lakers could not snag defensive rebounds giving the Nuggets second chance opportunities. Meanwhile the Nuggets played the Lakers very well defensively by clogging the lanes and forcing the Lakers to take contested jumpers. The Lakers came out on fire taking the ball to the rim and opening a 14 point lead, however on defense they did allow the Nuggets to penetrate. The Lakers started to play sloppy in the end of the second quarter allowing the Nuggets to go on a 14-2 to close the half with a one point deficit. The game would remain close throughout as the teams went back and forth trading punches. While the referees blew some calls, none of that should detract from the fact that the Lakers gave up a 14 point lead. But what's good for the goose is good for the ganders. The series now shifts to Denver on Saturday for Game 3. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat New York Mets 2-1. Neither the Mets nor the Dodgers did anything offensively, but Russell Martin did just enough to drive in the winning run in the eighth inning. The Mets went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position while the Dodgers went 1-for-9, that one on Russell Martin's single in the bottom of the eighth that scored Orlando Hudson from second base. Livan Hernandez pitched seven innings giving up only one run in the first inning for the Mets. Jeff Weaver pitched five innings giving up one run on four hits and two walks. Ronald Belisario came in to pitch in the top of the eighth and gave up two walks and a David Wright fly ball to center field that advanced the runners to second and third. Brent Leach came in and induced two weak grounders that kept the runners from scoring. With the Dodgers scoring in the bottom of that frame it gave him the win. Jonathan Broxton came in and got his 11th save out of 13 chances. The Dodgers have the day off Thursday. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Denver Nuggets 105-103. ESPN is awful. Their announcing teams are unlistenable and their analysts are even worse. Magic Johnson said the Lakers bench played horribly in the first half. Um, the Lakers bench outscored the Nuggets bench 20-2. In fact it was the Lakers bench that helped the Lakers overcome that 13 point deficit. True the Lakers didn't play that well. They came out shooting cold and had lapses on defense. But it's the playoffs and they played well enough to put the dagger in the hearts of the Nuggets. Kobe Bryant scored 40 points while Derek Fisher scored 13 including the three pointer at the end of the first half to give the Lakers a one-point lead. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat NY Mets 3-2 (11). Like Vin Scully said during the bottom of the 11th, the Mets played like the 1962 team known for their ineptitude in every facet of the game. In the top of the 11th with Ryan Church on first and two outs, Angel Pagan hit a ball to right center. Church came storming home and Pagan settled in on third to score the go-ahead run. But both third baseman Mark Loretta and manager Joe Torre noticed Church never touched third base. Loretta tagged third base to get Church out for the final out of the inning with the game still tied at two. After Loretta walked to open up the bottom of the 11th, Xavier Paul hit a fly ball to left center for a sure out except Pagan got in the way of Carlos Beltran. Ball drops, runners on second and third with no out. The Mets intentionally walked Juan Pierre and brought in Beltran to be the fifth infielder. After Furcal flied out to short left, Orlando Hudson hit a grounder sharply to first base. A sure double play ball was over thrown to home, Loretta scored. The Dodgers won on a walk off error, the fifth error given up by the Mets. Yeesh. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat San Francisco Giants 7-2. The week is always rosier when the Dodgers sweep the Giants. Eric Stults getting another start in the placed of injured Hiroki Kuroda went five innings giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts. It's really hard to follow Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw who combined for 24 strikeouts in the first two games of the series. But the bullpen atoned for Wednesday's game with James McDonald, Ronald Belisario and Will Ohman combined for four scoreless innings. So far the pitching is holding up better than expected. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat San Francisco Giants 5-4. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw had the best outing of his young career going seven innings giving up only one run on one hit (a homer by catcher Bengie Molina) on one walk with 13 strikeouts. His 13 Ks were the most by a Dodger lefty since Fernando Valenzuela in 1987. As fabulous as Kershaw was, that's how bad the bullpen and offense was denying him the win. The Dodgers got three walks and two singles in the first inning yet only plated one run. In fact they stranded five runners on base in the first two innings. In the eighth inning, Hong-Chih Kuo and Ronald Belisario combined to give up three runs in relief to give the Giants their first lead of the series. But the Dodgers fight back culminating in James Loney's walk-off walk in the bottom of the ninth. A great win, but still very disappointing for Kershaw not to get the decision despite his great performance. more ›

LA Lakers defeat Utah Jazz 125-112. All day the talk had been whether the Lakers should tank the game so as to try and avoid the Jazz in the first round. All of that was put to rest as the Lakers made a statement against the short-handed Jazz with a flurry of assists. The 39 assists was the most by a Lakers team at the Staples Center. The starters looked great, the bench looked great. It was just a great showing for a team getting ready for the real season to start. The Lakers 65 wins in the regular season is the third best in franchise history tied with the 1986-1987 team that went on to defeat the Boston Celtics four games to two in the NBA Finals. The Lakers will face the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs. more ›

San Diego Padres defeat LA Dodgers 7-5. Yeah the Dodgers lost, but as Vin Scully so eloquently put it, "Who cares?" The Dodgers found out at 2:32 pm that they were NL West Champs. They went through warm ups, batting practice and the game, then the celebration began. Now this is the first celebration I have seen where the players took to the fans. Russell Martin and Manny Ramirez were among the players spraying fans with champagne and beer. Next for the Dodgers is the final series of the season at San Francsico. As for the postseason, the Dodgers could face either the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies or Chicago Cubs in the first round. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat San Diego Padres 12-4. The Dodgers sure know how to pile it on. Tuesday they scored six runs in the first inning. Wednesday night they scored six runs in their final offensive inning. Everyone got in on the action even Jeff Kent, Juan Pierre and Rafael Furcal. Yes Furcal made his first appearance with the Dodgers since Cinco de Mayo and was inches away from hitting an extra-base hit down the left field line only for it to go foul. He would strike out on the next pitch but come in defensively for the ninth inning. The Dodger's magic number is one. The Diamondbacks play an afternoon game against the Cardinals, so it might be possible for the Dodgers to clinch the division before they even get to the park. more ›

LA Dodgers defeat San Diego Padres 10-1. It was over in the first inning when Padres starter Wade LeBlanc got his first out when the eighth man Angel Berroa came to the plate. By then the Dodgers had already scored five runs. Dodger's starter Chad Billingsley came to bat after that with a squeeze play for the second out and the sixth run. While Billingsley had a somewhat shaky performance, he only gave up one run. Meanwhile the Padres managed to get a hit in every inning but just couldn't string together the hits. It's much like it has been all season for them. With the Diamondbacks losing 7-4 to the Cardinals, the Dodgers magic number is down to three. more ›

LA Angels defeat Seattle Mariners 2-1. The Angels had their chances to put away the Mariners getting 10 hits. Vladimir Guerrero tied the game 1-1 in the fourth inning with a solo shot. The Angels got the game winning run in the seventh inning when Jeff Mathis singled and came home on a Reggie Willits single and a fielding error by Raul Ibanez. But that was all that was needed for the Angels to win their 97th game of the season. Ervin Santana was spectacular going eight innings giving up only one run on five hits walking none and striking out nine. The Angels are on their way to win 100 games, the most in franchise history. more ›

LA Dodgers defeats Philadelphia Phillies 7-6. The Dodgers do it again. They comeback from a 6-1 defecit after two innings to tie it 6-6 off of a Jeff Kent two-RBI double in the bottom of the ninth. While they could have shut the door closed, they would go into the ninth inning with a tie game. Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect ninth inning getting two strikeouts, and a familiar hero came up to bat with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Yes, the Nomar Garciaparra that hit a walkoff homerun in that 4+1 homer game in 2006 came up big again with a line-drive homer that carried ever so delicately into the Dodger bullpen. That walk off homer gave the Dodgers the share of the lead in the Loser's Division, and all is well in Chavez Ravine. more ›

LA Angels defeat Seattle Mariners 7-4. The Angels looked like they would suffer a letdown after their weekend sweep over the Yankees by falling behind the Mariners 3-0. But aided with a Juan Rivera solo shot and Vladamir Guerrero two-run shot in the fifth inning, the Angels came back to show who's king of the AL West. They got three insurance runs in the eighth inning and just continue to steam through any and all comers who stand in their way. Just to show how dominant the Angels are, at the All Star Break they had a six game lead in the division. As of this victory the Angels have a 15 game lead, and at 75-43 have the best record in baseball. In related news, the Angels flagship station AM 830 KLAA (which is owned by the Angels) will be a radio affiliate for Notre Dame Fighting Irish football. more ›

Colorado Rockies defeat LA Dodgers 2-1. Matt Kemp missing the pitch on a hit-and-run leading to Juan Pierre being caught stealing second to end the inning and only one base runner to make it to second base (scoring the lone run) adds up to yet another Dodger loss at the hands of the worst team in baseball. I was privileged to be at the game to witness starter Clayton Kershaw's awesome curve ball. But no run support equals no win unfortunately. I am not looking forward to this four-game series against the Cubs starting tomorrow. more ›