First Pitch: 10:05am PDT
Ichiro CF Granderson CF Beltre 3B Polanco 2B Ibanez "LF" Sheffield DH Guillen RF Ordonez RF Broussard DH Guillen 1B Sexson 1B Perez LF Johjima C Rabelo C Ballgame 2B Santiago SS Betancourt SS Inge 3B ---------- ----------
Felix (11-7, 3.96) Bonderman (11-8, 4.73)
According to research on the essential Web site Baseball-Reference.com, the last of only three teams since 1957 with a lead in the league, divisional or wild-card race to have a nine-game losing streak or longer that began as late as Aug. 24 was the California Angels of 1995.
Yeah, those Angels. The Angels that blew a 13-game lead to the Mariners. The Angels that had as their general manager one Bill Bavasi, who 10 years later would say of the experience of watching his team squander their lead and then get eliminated by the Mariners in a one-game playoff, "I don't know that it's a life-altering experience, but it hurt."