I wish I could write about yesterday’s game, but with it being Memorial Day, I have bigger fish to fry.

Offense
Baltimore
c - Javy Lopez .313/.367/.453
1b - Rafael Palmeiro .281/.398/.450
2b - Brian Roberts .261/.330/.346
3b - Melvin Mora .380/.465/.603
ss - Miguel Tejada .319/.374/.503
lf - Larry Bigbie .263/.326/.429
cf - Luis Matos .244/.293/.369
rf - BJ Surhoff .302/.358/.407
dh - Jerry Hairston Jr. .267/.292/.333
Team - .285/.355/.430

Anaheim
c - Ben Molina .291/.315/.456
1b - Casey Kotchman .238/.279/.286
2b - Adam Kennedy .245/.298/.352
3b - Shane Halter .231/.263/.418
ss - David Eckstein .270/.330/.315
lf - Jose Guillen .314/.377/.535
cf - Chone Figgens .287/.325/.440
rf - Vlad Guerrero .348/.397/.601
dh - Raul Mondesi .000/.333/.000
Team - .261/.337/.441
Red Sox - .270/.359/.440

Offensive Efficiency:
Anaheim - 97.0%
Baltimore - 120.5%
Boston - 97.9%

‘Clutch number’
Anaheim - 19.091
Baltimore - (-19.918)
Boston - (-5.008)

Baltimore’s offense seems to revolve around the walk and the single. Their batting average is the highest in the American League, but as far as runs scored, they rank only 8th.

If the O’s keep up the 120% OE, that will be the highest since I have been tracking by almost 10 points.

Anaheim is third in the league in runs scored, right below the Red Sox. Their offense is probably the opposite of the Orioles, in that they don’t walk very much, and don’t hit many singles. The Halos live off situational hitting (RISP especially), and the extra base hit.

Chone Figgens has 7 triples this year. That’s as many as the Red Sox and Orioles have combined.

Both teams run a lot, with the Orioles 45-56 (80%) and the Angels at 40-55 (73%). Both hit and run a good amount, and both managers aren’t shy in utilizing the sacrifice bunt.

Pitching
Monday - Lopez (-4.785) vs. Lowe (-0.341)
Tuesday - Arroyo (5.471) vs. Colon (3.349)
Wednesday - Martinez (18.286) vs. Washburn (8.246)

Bullpens
Anaheim - 44.138
Baltimore - 26.870
Boston - 52.499

Usage
Anaheim - 2.2 RpG, 1.41 IPpApp
Baltimore - 2.7 RpG, 1.40 IPpApp
Boston - 2.7 RpG, 1.09 IPpApp

Baltimore played the Yankees last week and surrendered 41 runs en route to getting swept by the New Yorkers. Then they promptly held the Tigers to 12 runs in sweeping them. The O’s have been bobbing around 500 since their hot start, and now only sit three games ahead of the Blue Jays.

Rodrigo Lopez was the best reliever in baseball before he got the bump up to the rotation. He gave up 6 runs in 4.7 against Seattle, and 5 runs in 5 vs. the Yankees. So he’s improving, I suppose.

The Orioles rotation is over four runs below replacement level.

The theory that the Angels need one more starter to go with Colon/Washburn/Escobar is being tested by Aaron Sele. Ever since he came back into the rotation, he’s been as good as he was in his first year in Texas. He leads the Anaheim rotation in runs saved.

Many ‘mainstream’ baseball fans think that Bartolo Colon is an ace, including some mentioning him in the same breath as Pedro Martinez. Colon has walked more, struck out less, given up more home runs, saved less runs, and pitched less innings (he would need to pitch 10 on Tuesday to tie Pedro). His ERA is also sitting over 5. Right now, he is legitimately the 4th starter on the Angels.