Angels Draw First Blood from Red Socked

Thoughts on Game 1 … Angels 4, Red Sox 2

• Weaver and Schilling pitched solid games.  Each guy made mistakes that cost runs, but both changed speeds effectively and continually pitched out of trouble.  With these 2 teams at the plate, you can’t complain about your starter only giving up 2-3 runs.
• Defense matters.  Boston probably lost this game in the field, with 3 of the Angels’ 4 runs coming after fielding misplays.  In the bottom of the 4th, Schilling failed to cover 1st on a possible Anderson double play.  Matthews followed with a shot in the left field gap, which Brandon Moss … who replaced Ramirez in LF, after Manny Being Manny got himself thrown out … mistakenly threw the ball to 3rd, allowing Matthews to get to 2nd.  Kotchman then laced a 2-run single up the middle, tying the game.  Then, in the bottom of the 7th, a charging Moss bobbled Figgins’ liner, allowing Mathis to easily tag up from 3rd.  There’s no guarantee that Moss would’ve thrown out the young catcher, but by misfielding the fly ball he rendered the decision moot.
• Conversely, despite an uncharacteristic error in the 9th, Orlando Cabrera continues to flash HUGE leather for the Halos.  His play in the 5th, where he fielded Ortiz’s ricochet off of Figgins and threw out Papi, not only saved a run, it may have been the game’s pivot point.  Click here to watch video clip of Cabrera breaking Boston’s heart ("Cabrera fires to first").
• Did anyone else have Scott Spiezio flashbacks after the Macier Izturis HR?  Gotta love the dink over the short RF wall.  If we’re gonna contend in the playoffs, these are exactly the kinds of contributions we need from the role players.
• Mathis continues to impress.  He’s calling a strong game against quality opponents, he made a few digs in the dirt that kept Red Sox baserunners stationary, and in case you didn’t notice, it was his double that knocked Schilling out of the game and his tag-up that gave the team a needed insurance run.  A few weeks ago, he looked like he couldn’t wait to get back to Salt Lake.  Now, he’s gunning for Napoli’s job and giving the team the depth at catcher it desperately needs.