Remembering a Fallen Angel

It was an emotional night at Angel Stadium on Friday, as the Angels remembered their fallen teammate, Nick Adenhart. There was a brief ceremony before the game with the Red Sox, as Torii Hunter (above) and John Lackey held up his number 34 jersey in front of the pitcher's mound as both teams lined up along the foul lines. There was a moment of silence. It was very touching and well done.

With the number 34 etched at the back of the mound, the Red Sox and Angels took the field, as there was a game to be played. It was another night when the Red Sox offense did not show up, and they fell behind 3-0 in the second. Tim Wakefield got off to a rotten start. He loaded the bases in the first but got out unscathed, but had no such luck in the second. To his credit, he settled down and pitched six innings, allowing just three runs.

But with the score 3-1, Justin Masterson came in and had nothing, and the Angels expanded their lead to 6-1. Jered Weaver pitched very well for the Angels, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing just the one run. The Red Sox tried to fight their way back into it, scoring two runs on Chone Figgins' throwing error to make it 6-3.

But that was as close as the Red Sox would get, as the Angels prevailed on a very difficult and emotional night for everyone involved.

This morning, the Red Sox find themselves 1-3 and looking up at everyone in the AL East. Today, Brad Penny makes his debut for the Red Sox in a nationally televised game on Fox against Joe Saunders.

BTW, just wondering: Why did the Red Sox debut those new "alternate" jerseys before the regular new road jerseys last night? Wouldn't make more sense to debut them today, when today's game will be seen nationally? Can't say I'm crazy about those alternate ones, and I like thos "hanging sox" hats even less. But I do like the hanging sox on the sleeve of the new road uniforms.