Thursday HaloLinks: The Ace and the Machine

G-Rich says come and get it - Harry How/Getty ImagesAfter the Dodgers had two days of picking on the kids while backed by their two aces, Garrett Richards turned in the best pitching performance of the series, striking out 11 Dodgers in just under 8 innings of work. The offense did it's usual crater job against an unknown starter to cost Garrett the win, but the Dodgers' shaky bullpen once again proved easy pickings for the Angel bats in the eighth, sparing us the humiliation of hearing about a season-series sweep all winter. The Angels are not making the playoffs and the Dodgers will. I think this much we've accepted. We can at least take solace that their pen is still awful and will once again prevent them from getting into the World Series.

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