Duren, Duren

Call the MLB board of review, or whatever they call themselves.

Hicks might be most useful as a pinch hitter if he's on the roster. That is, if they want to salvage anything from him. With all that experience and power potential one at bat every couple of games might be addition by subtraction.

Jeez, at least four or five blatantly terrible ball/strike calls in half a game. The new normal for umpires.

Three earned runs in five innings. 100 pitches. Not bad on the surface, but it was a struggle.

Nice catch by Ward. That would have been trouble.

Two equally ugly unearned runs.

Is the Hicks experiment going to go on indefinitely?

Now the offense needs at least three runs and shutout pitching to take the lead. A tough task based on how this game is going.

Embarrassing for a major leaguer. Another cheap run allowed by the defense.

75 pitches through 3 innings so far. Control still a problem.

Do umps ever get shown those 3D graphics of pitches they miss? It would be funny seeing their reactions. Or hearing excuses for blatant bad calls. Obviously close pitches have margins for mistakes but multiple times a game we seem to see any number of clearly wrong calls. Maybe challenges would clear up the worst calls.

Getting a lead should have helped Sandoval's confidence. Instead he immediately stops the momentum and we're back to a tie game.

5 starters with averages .167 or worse. This isn't good. Rendon, Drury, Hicks, Moniak, Schanuel. Obviously still early, but some of these guys need to consistently upgrade their game. A hot series or two will help normalize the numbers. But the team is above .500 so at least the bottom line is solid so far.

Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before getting a severe reality check. With all the negativity and scorn he's been bombarded with maybe he's finally become determined to get his career back on track. Hopefully Rendon has put the past behind and can focus on the present. Just the day to day baseball routine. I think expectations at this point are just for a decent, competent season. And no big injuries. No one expects him to recapture his all star form. But if he can be productive at a solid pace in his role it should be a positive for the team. Double digit homers maybe though his power seems reduced so far. More walks than Ks. A return of"Tony Two Bags" in a more modest form. And at least average play in the field.

Game wasn't broadcast on MLB Extra Innings, but tomorrow and the Red Sox series will be. So it's nice to see that they bounced back solidly. Anderson is now the Anderson they thought they were getting. Just took a year to show up. Rengifo has made himself a real solid ballplayer. Hard work, perseverance, versatility. I would slot him in more regularly, but ease him in, depending on matchups and other lineup tweaking. Glad we have been patient with him.

I'd cut Washington some more slack. He's new to this set of players and needs first hand game observation to really get a feel for things. Both individually and how they sync together in the batting order. Nine games are a minimal sample, though important. But conversely, every game counts and can't be wasted on questionable experiments. So it's a fine line. I'd be patient through this week, but when they go on the road I'd hope he can process what he's seen and just play the players who can best be counted on to be steady immediately. Not treating things as a longer term project. And that he tweaks the batting order accordingly.

There have to be reasons he hasn't sold. Especially at his age. Financial? Is keeping the team more beneficial than selling it? Factoring in tax and all other factors. Family legacy? Related to financial. Does he believe that his family will benefit from ownership longer term when he isn't there? Assuming that things like a new stadium and various future partnerships will be part of the post Arte planning. Rather than other forms inheritance can take. Also it would mean that the family name would still have this public presence into the future. Ego/Stubbornness? Having on field failures his whole tenure maybe he just wants to hang on till the team finally succeeds. By whatever criteria that he values. As well as stubbornness in taking advice that contradicted his ideas. Even though they may have helped. Tone deaf? Perhaps he and his inner circle just don't care about public and media perception. These factors are probably all part of the equation in varying degrees. And probably other reasons too that are more private. It's a shame that things have deteriorated incrementally over time. But that's just the way things are.

Hopefully they take the series and keep the momentum rolling. Unfortunately MLB Extra innings isn't televising it. They only show a maximum of 11 games at a time. That ain't one. Next Angel broadcast is Tuesday.

Never in doubt! All pitching was dominant. Opportunistic offense. These are the type of building blocks for a positive season.

Most of the game Angel hitters were patient. Once they got the lead they've been swinging at bad pitches. More work for Laker and Washington still to do.

Outfielders active now. Got away with one hard hit pitch thanks to Trout. Knuckle curve revisited! I think Burt Hooten of the Cubs was the first to popularize it.

Looks like it's all up to the bullpen and defense now in a one run game.

Cimber channeling Herget. Hopefully of 2021 not 2022. Each pitch is an adventure. Control is critical for off speed / oddball delivery pitchers.

Could have been a decisive inning, but the lead now needs to be held by the bullpen.

Yes! Inner diamond problems by Boston and opportunistic play by the Angels.