Lakers, Spurs to split next two
May 23rd, 2008, 3:38 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Michael Lev, staff writer
Here are some weekend predictions to tide you over until we resume posting regularly on Tuesday — starting, of course, with the Lakers:
LAKERS WIN GAME 2, SPURS WIN GAME 3
There are two ways to look at what happened in Game 1: The Spurs squandered away a game they should have won … or the Lakers won a game they shouldn’t have despite not playing their best ball. I lean toward the latter and thus expect a better Lakers performance in Game 2 — and corresponding 2-0 series lead. The series will get interesting in Game 3. The aging Spurs need the energy from their home crowd and the ache-soothing comfort of their own beds, and they’ll get both over the weekend. I see them bouncing back to win that game and the next, a la the preceding series against the Hornets.
ANGELS TAKE 2 OF 3 VS. WHITE SOX
The White Sox are hot, having won eight in a row, but their starters are pitching over their heads. The Angels, meanwhile, are due to start hitting again after displaying little pop in Toronto. With Chone Figgins back in the lineup and “setting the table” (portly Mike Scioscia’s new favorite pet phrase), look for the Angels’ middle-of-the-lineup bangers — Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Garret Anderson — to rediscover their power strokes in the homer haven known as Cellular Field.
DODGERS SWEEP CARDINALS
Yes, that’s right, sweep, and it has nothing to do with my personal feelings about Tony La Russa. (OK, maybe a little. He’s friends with Bill Belichick and Bob Knight, and what’s that they say about the company you keep?) On the due-to-rebound front, I submit Dodgers starters Derek Lowe and Brady Penny (matching 5.34 ERAs). On the due-to-stumble front, I submit the entire St. Louis Cardinals, who are getting a lot of miles out of a lot of players who aren’t as good as their early-season stats suggest. I suppose La Russa deserves some credit for that — but that’d be a compliment, and I’m not going there.
