Post-Game Report: Angels vs. Yankees (9/8/08)

If this game was a small taste of things to come, Brandon Wood is going to have a tremendous career as an Angel.

Wood went 3-4 with two home runs, as the Los Angeles Angels put a royal beating on the New York Yankees and won game one of this series 12-1. The Angels’ magic number is now down to 2, which means they could potentially clinch the division tomorrow night.

Starting pitcher Jon Garland got into some trouble in the first inning, but once he settled down, he shut down the Yankees’ offense en route to winning his 13th game of the year. Garland went 7 strong innings, giving up 6 hits and just one earned run, while striking out 4. Kevin Jepsen, who made his MLB debut tonight, pitched a perfect 8th inning, and Darren O’Day finished out the game in the 9th.

The Halos’ offense was obviously the biggest story of the game, though. The Angels had 13 hits, including 4 home runs – 2 from Wood, and one from both Sean Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero – on the way to winning their 87th game of the year. Mark Teixeira also had 2 RBIs on the night, despite failing to record a hit in the game.

Interestingly enough, there was also a fight during the 6th inning of Monday’s game. In the process of coming home from third on a Mike Napoli single, Torii Hunter bumped into Yankees’ catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who then elbowed Hunter while Torii was headed toward the Angels’ dugout. Hunter then turned around and shoved Rodriguez in the back, which led to both benches clearing. Luckily, no punches were thrown and nobody was hurt. Both Hunter and Rodriguez were ejected from the game, but it was reported that they made amends soon after.

Now, here are tonight’s best…

Top Three Angels’ Performers:

1) Shortstop Brandon Wood had a night to remember on Monday. Wood went 3-4 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs during the game, and also made a couple of great defensive plays. This was Wood’s first multi-homer game in the major leagues.

2) Slugger Vladimir Guerrero showed his true colors on Monday, going 2-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Guerrero hit his 24th home run of the year and raised his batting average to .298.

3) Starting pitcher Jon Garland, once he calmed down, pitch a great game and shut down a powerful Yankee offense. Garland went 7 innings and gave up just one earned run, while winning his 13th game of the year.

Jeff Weaver of the Game: Only two starters – Mark Teixeira and Juan Rivera – failed to collect a hit on Monday, so the Jeff Weaver is going to Juan Rivera. Rivera went 0-3, though he did reach base once via a walk.

Play of the game: Tonight’s play of the game was Brandon Wood’s second home run, which came in the 8th inning. That home run made the score 12-1, but also marked Wood’s first multi-homer game of his big league career.

What to look for next game: Jered Weaver’s start was pushed again, so Ervin Santana will take the hill tomorrow against the Yankees. Santana has a career 5-1 record against the Yankees, despite a very high 4.72 ERA. I’m putting a call on Vladimir Guerrero… Vlad hit a couple of balls really hard tonight, so watch for him to collect a few more extra-base hits on Tuesday.

Next Game: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. (FSN)

(Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports)