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Y E S T E R D A Y…

Angels 4, Royals 0: It’s always a good night when you accomplish something that hasn’t been done since Warren G. Harding was President. The Angels became the first team since 1920 to have a pair of teammates start 6-0 as Ervin Santana pitched a dominant, complete game shutout to join Joe Saunders at 6-0. Win number 6 would not have come to pass if the Angels offense hadn’t broken out in the top of the 9th with a Casey Kotchman RBI single and back-to-back homeruns from Garret Anderson and Brandon Wood. The Angels just have that look, ladies and gentlemen, and mind you, this is all without their ace John Lackey & future All-Star 2B Howie Kendrick. Yikes.

Dodgers 5, Mets 1: Meanwhile, So-Cal’s “other” team has strung together nine victories in 10 games after a disastrous start to the season. Stop me if this sounds familiar, but the stars of the game were Matt Kemp and Rafael Furcal, who both homered. Note to self: When I have a potential All Star OF it’s a good idea to play him every day. To quote the Guinness guys: “Brilliant!”

T O D A Y…

Angels at Royals (5:10 p.m. PST, FSN): The Angels look to take another series tonight as they send blue chipper Nick Adenhart looking to improve upon a 22.50 ERA he earned by getting shelled in his first big league start. And he better, because according to Scioscia, the Angels 2nd ranked offense has not reached it’s peak. Now some (me) would blame that on the fact that Howie Kendrick has been injured and Vlad & GA have started a bit slow, but Scioscia won’t accept such excuses. Luckily, the team is blessed with a glut of young prospects, including the potentially great Brandon Wood.

Mets at Dodgers (7:10 p.m. PST, PRIME HD): The Dodgers send Hiroki Kuroda to the hill in hopes of making it 10 of 11 tonight. They’ll once again look to the NL Player of the Week, Matt Kemp, to keep the good times rolling. Looks like after an adjustment period, Joe Torre has got this team playing up to his potential — something that guys like Grady Little and Jim Tracy couldn’t seem to do.

N E W S W O R T H Y…

• Some guy named Kobe Bryant is going to take home his first MVP trophy. Although I believe CP3 should’ve won it based on this year ALONE, it is not outrageous to give it to Bryant, who by all means should’ve won at least one already.
• That Bynum should be back by March statement is looking more ridiculous by the day as Bynum will once again have his injured knee examined.
• What do you do when you post the 2nd worst record in the NHL? Well, if you’re the LA Kings, you raise ticket prices. Good times.

C O L U M N S…

• Some had declared Rafael Furcal’s massive contrast a bust. Those individuals are doing 180s so fast they’re getting whiplash. Mark Whicker explains how the Dodgers shortstop is playing at an All-Star level so far this season. And there are no signs of him slowing down.
• Steve Dilbeck of the Daily News shows us why Los Angeles isn’t the City of Angels, but the City of MVPs.
• SportsHubLA.com Column of the Day: Black Mamba has gone from getting booed on opening night to beloved MVP of the National Basketball Association. How did this come to pass you ask? Mark Heisler of the LA Times was there for every step of the way.

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