Angels: April 2008 Archives

Ervin Santana has allowed one unearned run on three hits through six innings and is looking to run his record to 5-0 and match Joe Saunders for the nice month.

Frank Tanana and Saunders are the only Angels to be 5-0, Tanana doing it in 1978. Should Santana win tonight, he and Saunders would be the first duo to go 5-0 in April since Aaron Sele and Rick Helling did so for Texas in 1998.

Despite saying "my stuff's been pretty good," about his first two rehab appearances, John Lackey acknowledged that "my stamina and arm strength are not totally there yet."

"It might be better (to make two more rehab starts) just so I'm not held back once I get here," he said.

Lackey, out with a strained right triceps, is scheduled to make a third rehab start for Class A Sunday and throw about 75 pitches. He will then make a final start at extended spring training and remains on course for his season debut May 14.

Prized prospect Nick Adenhart will make his major-league debut tomorrow night for the Angels, sources have said.

Adenhart, 21, was 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA for Class AAA Salt Lake, "video game numbers" Gary Matthews Jr. said.

Though the team has not made an official announcement, Manager Mike Scioscia said that tomorrow's pitcher won't be Nick Green.

Adenhart pitched on Sunday, so he will be going on short rest for the first time in his career, he said.

Adenhart, reached by phone this evening, said he threw about 100 pitches on Sunday, so it's likely the Angels aren't looking for more than about 5 innings from the kid tomorrow night.

More on last night's victory, led by lefty Joe Saunders. Because it certainly wasn't led by the offense.

The 2-0 win was first time the Angels won while collecting three hits or less since Sept. 3, 2006 at Detroit (3 hits in a 2-1 at Detroit).

Thanks to Eric Kay in the Angels communications dept. for the tidbit.

Ervin Santana looks to go 5-0 on the season, joining Joe Saunders. Oakland sends left-hander Dana Eveland (3-1, 2.48) to the mound for the 7:05 p.m. game.

The Angels have won 11 of their past 16 games. Fifteen games this season have been decided by two or fewer runs with the Angels holding a 9-6 edge. Of the previous 40 meetings between the Angels and A's, 27 have been decided by two or fewer runs.

That's the left-hander's record after an Angel loss. He tossed eight scoreless innings in Tuesday's 2-0 win over the Oakland A's.

"He would have liked to go out for the ninth," manager Mike Scioscia said, but noted the team has one of the best closers in the game in Francisco Rodriguez, so there wasn't much of an argument.

"You always ask," Saunders said of pitching the ninth.

Lefty Joe Saunders is 11-1 after an Angels loss. That's probably the most encouraging stat for Angel fans following Monday's 14-2 loss to Oakland.

Figgins, 2B
Matthews Jr., LF
Guerrero, RF
Hunter, CF
Aybar, SS
Quinlan, 1B
Anderson, DH
Mathis, C
Wood, 3B

The Angels will try and rebound from their 14-2 loss to Oakland on Monday when they send Joe Saunders to the hill. Saunders is 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA this season.

Saunders is 2-1 lifetime against Oakland.

Angels pitching coach Mike Butcher was ejected in the third inning on his way back from the mound visit with Jon Garland to the dugout.

"I simply asked him a question and he jumped on me, I felt," Garland said of umpire Charlie Reliford. "I didnt feel I asked him in a certain way. He called some pitches early in the game that he didnt call after that.

"My feeling is if you're going to call it, call it. I guess he was having a bad day, you never know."

As for what Butcher said to Reliford, Garland said it wasn't anything too bad, especially given the fact Butcher was tossed so quickly.

"I think he was just protecting me," Garland said. "I asked him why he had to jump on me the way he did because I was simply asking a question. I wasn't trying to imply anything, I wanted to know for myself. He asked him that and he didnt like the way he asked him, I guess."

The Angels allowed 14 runs and 16 hits as the A's won, 14-2, tonight. It was the most allowed by the Angels at home since giving up 16 to Seattle in 2004.

Jon Garland and Chris Bootcheck allowed seven runs apiece. Garland dropped to 3-9 against the A's in his career.

There will be more on this in Tuesday's P-E, but I talked to Angels INF Brandon Wood today about his efforts to reduce his strikeout rate, which has always been a concern.

Entering this year, Wood had 583 K's in 2163 minor-league at-bats, and has another 29 in 88 AB's this year. He said he has stopped rocking back and forth at the plate and kept his weight back, which he feels is slowly starting to help limit his strikeouts.

"It's something I've been working on," Wood said. "It's something that's a work in progress."

For catcher Bobby Wilson, who was called up today, this is his first time in the big leagues. He said he got the call at midnight and immediately called his father, who hopped a flight from Florida to California today to be here in time for the game.

Wilson was hitting .339 in 16 games and said that he felt the timing was right for his first call-up.

"They haven't told me a whole lot yet," Wilson said. "I feel for the first time in my career that I'm ready to be here and contribute to this team."

The Angels called up INF Brandon Wood and C Bobby Wilson from Class AAA Salt Lake to add some depth to the positions that have been hit by injury and illness.

The Angels sent down Rich Thompson and Jose Arredondo.

*Hall of Famer Goose Gossage will hold a clinic today at Angel Stadium for youths participating in the Angels' RBI Program.

*John Lackey will throw between 55-60 pitches tonight in a rehabilitation assignment with Class A Rancho Cucamonga in a game at Lancaster.

*Second baseman Howie Kendrick, who is nursing a hamstring injury, said he will not come off the DL today but that he expects to be back in the lineup within the next several games.

*Maicer Izturis was held out of the lineup with back spasms but was not expected to go on the DL.

The Angels made several personnel moves Monday.

The Angels recalled infielder Brandon Wood and catcher Bobby Wilson from Salt Lake City, their Triple-A affiliate.

The Angels' middle infielders have been ailing. Second baseman Howie Kendrick is on the DL with a strained hamstring; Maicer Izturis has been having back spasms.

To make room for Wood and Wilson, the Angels sent pitchers Jose Arredondo and Rich Thompson back to Salt Lake City.

The Angels open a three-game series against Oakland at home tonight.

THE PRESS-ENTERPRISE

It's way too early in the season to make a big deal about any series that may have something to do with division title hopes, but the A's and Angels will battle for first place this week as a four-game series begins tonight.

Any A's or Angels fan will tell you that no matter how good or bad each team is, these games are always played close, the A's having a terrible year at the plate but a very good year so far on the mound.

The Angels, meanwhile, are coming off an impressive six-game road trip that saw them take two of three from both Boston and Detroit.

The team is likely to make a roster move today as Maicer Izturis suffered back spasms that took him out of Sunday night's game. With 13 pitchers, the Angels are likely to send down Jose Arredondo and bring up infielder Matt Brown or Brandon Wood until Howie Kendrick comes off the DL.

An AL West showdown indeed, but until Tampa Bay relinquishes it's lead on the AL East, it's difficult to put much stock in how this latest A's-Angels series will affect the standings.

It's looking more likely that Howie Kendrick will not be activated from the disabled list Tuesday, however he should be back soon thereafter.

Kendrick tested his left hamstring before Sunday's game, running at full speed, but Manager Mike Scioscia said "there's a little fatigue in there. We're optimistic that if it's not Tuesday, it will only be a couple days."

Here is the Angels' lineup for tonight's game, along with this feature on ESPN.com about Torii Hunter.

Figgins - 3B
Matthews - LF
Guerrero - RF
Kotchman - 1B
Hunter - CF
Anderson - DH
Izturis - 2B
Napoli - C
Aybar - SS

When Vladimir Guerrero notched his 2,000th hit Saturday, the slugger became the fourth-quickest player since 1950 to do so.

Guerrero got his 2,000th hit in 6,171 at bats following Wade Boggs, who did it in 5,832 at-bats, Rod Carew's 5,965 and Tony Gwynn's 6,094.

Guerrero has hit at least .300 in each of his 11 seasons, trailing just Gwynn (17 straight) and Carew (13) over the last 50 years.

More than the Angels are looking for another series win - and a winning road trip - they are really hoping Jered Weaver gets out of his current funk.

The pitcher, who started opening day, has been tinkering with his delivery, trying not to swing his hips so far behind him because it's caused him to fall off the back of the rubber.

As Weaver said "I've got to keep my chin above my belt buckle." Weaver has an exaggerated hip turn, bringing his left leg around him in almost a corkscrew motion, but the team would like him to stay more upright, feeling that will help his command and velocity.

He has a tough test against the Tigers, but we'll just see how he does on a nationally televised game on ESPN.

The Angels lost for the first time in four games and just the third time in their past 11 games to the Tigers, 6-4.

After ending Armando Galarraga's no-hit bid, the Angels actually tied the game with three runs in the seventh inning. However Detroit scored three in the bottom of the inning against Darren O'Day, although only one run was earned.

The Tigers did it with a one-out triple from Curtis Granderson and an intentional walk to Placido Polanco. Gary Sheffield bounced a ball up the middle and second baseman Maicer Izturis grabbed it and flipped the ball backward to Erick Aybar at second. However the ball went into center field and instead of potentially ending the inning, the Tigers were alive and well.

Magglio Ordonez's double drove in another run and an intentional walk to Miguel Cabrera loaded the bases. Jacque Jones had a sac fly to finish off their scoring.

Vladimir Guerrero, who broke up Armando Galarraga's no-hitter with a triple in the sixth, just doubled to lead off the eighth, giving him 2,000 career hits.

Guerrero is only the 10th active player with 2,000 hits and 300 home runs.

Angels trail Tigers, 6-3.

After setting down 15 straight batters and no-hitting the Angels through 5 2/3 innings, Vladimir Guerrero broke up Armando Galarraga's no-hit bid with a sixth-inning triple.

He was stranded at third, but the no-no is no more.

Through five innings the Angels have not had a base hit against Tigers starter Armando Galarraga.

In the first inning, Galarraga walked two batters and another reached on an error. The pitcher could simply not find the strike zone, at one point 10 of his 13 pitches were balls. But, he struck out Garret Anderson looking with the bags juiced and then began working on his no-no.

He has set down 13 in a row and only allowed two balls to be hit out of the infield. Stay tuned.

Every Saturday the Angels beat writers sit down with Angels broadcaster Terry Smith for the Reporter's Roundtable.

Quite honestly, it's something we look forward to as a way to either sound smart on the air, or try and make our fellow writers sound dumb. It's childish, yes, but it's fun for us.

Anyway, make sure to listen before today's game on AM 830 because Angels' starter Joe Saunders is the roundtable host and those are always more fun.

Everyone knows Dustin Moseley's time in the Angels' rotation is limited. Not because Nick Adenhart is pitching so well in Salt Lake, it's because John Lackey is making his way back to the Angels' rotation.

Moseley will pitch tonight and it's difficult to imagine that his 1-2 record and 7.78 ERA is going to get any better against Detroit's lineup. Considering that he's facing Justin Verlander, who is off to a rough start himself, but it's still Justin Verlander, things aren't exactly shaping up for Moseley to break out of his early-season funk.

What's been bothering Moseley most is that his mechanics are out of whack, according to him, pitching coach Mike Butcher and Manager Mike Scioscia. It's not just an easy fix, either. What's happening is that Moseley is pitching too fast and his arm isn't catching up with his motion, so everything he throws is up in the zone.

Hitters love that.

Backed by Vladimir Guerrero's two-run home run and Casey Kotchman's two-run single in the fourth inning, the Angels used just that inning to beat Detroit, 4-3.

Ervin Santana picked up the win, improving to 4-0, after allowing three runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Often you hear people say a pitcher "battled" and that was the case tonight.

Santana was perfect through three innings, but Curtis Granderson's homer and Placido Polanco's double to start the fourth threw him off. He settled down after Polanco came around to make it 4-2, but was shaky the rest of the night.

In the sixth, Santana walked two and allowed a single to load the bases before Miguel Cabrera bounced into a fielder's choice, bringing in another run. Santana went out to open the 7th, despite throwing 107 pitches, and got one out but also allowed two singles.

Justin Speier came in after Darren Oliver got an out and came mere feet away from allowing a grand slam to Gary Sheffield. But the ball died on the warning track in deep left-center field and the Angels hung on.

Finishing off the first of four scheduled rehab starts, John Lackey "came out of it feeling good," Scioscia said. Lackey will pitch again Tuesday for Class A, throwing between 50-60 pitches as he works his way back from a strained right triceps.

Tuesday, and then Sunday, May 4, will be Lackey's next two starts for Rancho Cucamonga before he finishes off his rehab with about six innings for extended spring training because it lends more of a "controlled environment," Scioscia said.

The team's ace is on schedule to make his season debut May 14 at home vs. Chicago.

Garret Anderson is not in the Angels' lineup tonight as the team opens a three-game series in Detroit.

Anderson, batting just .234, is not in the lineup for just the second time this season as Manager Mike Scioscia felt Anderson needed a mental day off because "he's been jumping at the ball."

"I think this one can be under a lot of headings," Scioscia said. "I think he's been grinding a little bit, this is a good step back for him to let some air out. Hopefully he can gather himself and find his balance and rhythm."

The lineup, as follows:

Figgins - 3B
Matthews - LF
Guerrero - RF
Hunter - CF
Rivera - DH
Aybar - SS
Mathis - C
Kotchman - 1B
Izturis - 2B

The Angels are facing lefty Nate Robertson (0-2, 7.48)

Seemingly every game - and it's 15 in a row that he's started - Erick Aybar makes one jaw-dropping play.

He did it Wednesday night when a snared a ball up the middle, spun, and as he was falling, threw a bullet to first for an out. Thursday, Aybar went behind second base to grab a hot-shot grounder and finished it off with a backhand flip to Maicer Izturis.

"I think the thing for any young player is not the flashes of brilliance, which are very much alive in Erick, it's that day to day consistency which he has the ability to bring," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "Once he can get his feet on the ground and gets comfortable with that you're going to see a Gold Glove caliber shortstop year in and year out."

Aybar has hits in 11 of his past 12 games and is hitting .358 this year and will look to continue that as the Angels open a three-game series against Detroit tonight.

The Angels, paced by a four-run seventh inning and runs in the eighth and ninth survived a two-run home run by David Ortiz in the ninth inning to win 7-5 and claim the series vs. Boston.

After Justin Masterson, making his major-league debut, shut down the Angels for six innings, allowing just two hits and a run, the Angels came to life against Boston's bullpen, loading the bases in the seventh and keeping them loaded as they played station to station.

Scot Shields pitched a perfect eighth, but allowed Ortiz's homer - Big Papi's third in 12 at-bats vs. Shields - before Francisco Rodriguez got Manny Ramirez to fly out to deep center, ending it.

It was the Angels' first series win at Fenway since July 28-30, 2006.

Joe Saunders was bailed out with the four-run seventh and improved to 4-0 after allowing three runs in six innings, a quality start, while walking and striking out three each.

Once Justin Masterson got out of the game, the Angels started going to work.

The Red Sox, sidearm slinging righty, went six superb innings, allowing two hits and a run - on Mike Napoli's solo homer - but the Angels loaded the bases and have scored -- the inning is still going -- four runs against three Boston relievers.

Garret Anderson struck out just now for the Angels' lone out this inning, but the bases remain loaded.

UPDATE: Hideki Okajima not only struck out Anderson, but also Torii Hunter and got Casey Kotchman to pop out, leaving the bases jammed. But, the Angels scored four runs and are leading 5-3.

We'll see if their bullpen will be able to hold it, like they did last night.

ESPN The Magazine -- aka, the print component of the Worldwide Leader In Self Promotion -- came out this week with its annual survey of all franchises in each of the four major team sports, ranking them 1 to 122 using a mix of categories including affordability, performance and trust in management and ownership.

The overall No. 1 team this year is the Indianapolis Colts, dethroning last year's leader, the Buffalo Sabres. They're followed in the top five by the San Antonio Spurs (no surprise), the New Orleans Hornets (big surprise), the Green Bay Packers (no surprise) and ... the Ducks, followed closely by the Angels.

The dethroned Stanley Cup champs, who were high in this survey a year ago, too, get top 10 marks for "bang for the buck," fan relations and trust of ownership. That's an indication that Henry and Susan Samueli are, by and large, doing things right.

Here's the SoCal list:

5. Ducks
6. Angels
34. Chargers
55. Padres
61. Lakers (which seems awfully low, until you notice they score low in the affordability and "bang for the buck" categories)
77. Dodgers
82. Clippers
107. Kings

But here's some comfort. The New York Knicks are dead last.

Here's the link to the entire list.

Facing Justin Masterson, making his major-league debut, the Angels thus far are having a tough time figuring him out.

He has walked three batters and allowed just one hit through four innings. The only Angels' runner to reach second base came in the second when Maicer Izturis walked and stole second. Other than that, the offense looks tired.

Facing Justin Masterson, called up from Class AA for today's start, the Angels didn't really get a full scouting report on the kid.

But, they did get something.

"Tall guy, good sinker, sinker-slider combination," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "Likes to get good, down action on his sinker. We'll take a look when we get in the batter's box and see what we've got."

Does that make him a little like Jon Garland?

"This guy's bigger, like 250, supposedly a horse," Scioscia said. "He's got kind of a deceptive delivery with sink. Fastball, sinker-slider combination. It's a power sinker, not an 86 mph sinker. It's a heavy ball, from what we hear."

Joe Saunders may be the only Angels' pitcher who enjoys facing the Red Sox. In three starts he is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA vs. Boston, including a masterful performance last August when he allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings.

So, the lefty, who is 3-0 with a 2.15 ERA this season, will look to give the Angels a series win, which would be impressive considering how dreadful they've been in Fenway over the years.

Working in their favor for today's day game, is that Boston recalled Class AA pitcher Justin Masteron to start against them. That means that the Angels will have faced two minor leaguers and Jon Lester, not exactly the cream of Boston's crop.

All that griping the Angels did about their awful record at Fenway last night?

Well, it may have been deserved after their 6-4 win on Wednesday.

Jon Garland, in a bend-but-don't-break outing, allowed eight hits and four runs in six innings, but the Red Sox stranded five runners during his six innings.

Gary Matthews Jr. homered twice, both from the right side of the dish, for his 100th career homer and first-ever two-homer game right-handed.

And, the team's bullpen, normally the gas for the Red Sox's late-inning fire, allowed just three baserunners. Justin Speier, Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez were very clutch in only the Angels' eighth win in their past 29 games here.

Howie Kendrick, on the disabled list because of a strained left hamstring, did some light jogging before Wednesday's game and took some ground balls, but admits "I've still got a ways to go."

"For the most part, I'm feeling good," said Kendrick, eligible to come off the DL next Tuesday. "There's a definite improvement. But I've still got some healing to do."

Count Boston starter Daisuke Matsuzaka among all those Red Sox players coming down with the flu. Dice-K was scratched from Wednesday's start against the Angels because of the flu and lefty Jon Lester will pitch.

Lester was scheduled to start tomorrow's game, but after Matsuzaka was the second pitcher scratched in as many nights after Josh Beckett was pulled from last night's game because of a stiff neck.

Dice-K has never pitched in the regular season vs. the Angels, but started Game 2 of the ALDS and only lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, walking three and striking out three more.

Lester, 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA, will be pitching in his fourth game vs. the Angels. He is 1-1 with a 7.98 ERA, allowing 24 hits in 14 2/3 innings.

Talking to Jon Garland before yesterday's game and he said he likes pitching in Fenway.

Funny. That's what many of the Angels say. Problem is, the stats don't back it up.

Garland has a 1-3 mark and 5.24 ERA in his six games at the Fens, spanning 34 1/3 innings.

It's not just that the Red Sox are a good team, or that they take a lot of pitches forcing teams to go to their bullpens earlier. I really think they enjoy the best home field advantage of any team in baseball.

The dimensions of Fenway are so odd, Boston is built to play in Fenway, as they should be. Their left-handed hitters take the ball of the Monster, their righties send the ball to the Bermuda Triangle in center, everyone uses the vast amount of space in right field. It's truly amazing to see the Red Sox offense work every night.

Sure, pitchers may like pitching here. But, not many of them are successful.

I believe Capt. Kurtz, in Apocalypse Now, said it best: "The horror. The horror."

That perfectly sums up the Angels playing in Fenway Park.

They blew a 5-1 lead and lost 7-6 when Dustin Pedroia's third double of the night drove in Jacoby Ellsbury from first base. Pedroia's double came against Scot Shields, who has seen his share of horror here.

Though the run was charged to Darren Oliver, Shields' ERA at Fenway is now a robust 16.39 in 12 games, a number that actually went down with his 2/3 inning performance.

The Angels have lost 21 of their past 28 games at Fenway and are just 14-25 here under Manager Mike Scioscia.

And, the mention has touched more than one nerve in the Angels' clubhouse. Shields and pitching coach Mike Butcher both used expletives to describe their distaste for that stat and the talk that the Angels are cursed here.

Jered Weaver continued to struggle against the Red Sox, but eventually got out of the first inning after throwing 30 pitches.

Weaver, 0-2 with a 4.70 career ERA vs. Boston, allowed a leadoff homer to Jacoby Ellsbury then a double to Dustin Pedroia. After David Ortiz hit into a fielder's choice, Manny Ramirez singled.

But, Weaver got the next two batters out and left with the team only down 1-0.

In his career pitching at Fenway Park, Weaver is 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA. The Angels have lost 20 of their past 28 games here, including the playoffs.

Tonight's scheduled Red Sox starter, Josh Beckett, was scratched from the game against the Angels because of a stiff neck.

He will be replaced by David Pauley, who was recalled from Class AAA Pawtucket. Pauley will wear No. 62 and was 1-1 with a 1.17 ERA in three starts.

Pauley, 6-2, 210-pound right-hander is 24 and the Angels were scrambling before the game to find out information about him.

"A lot of advance reports you get on guys are really just contingent to guys getting in that batter's box and seeing what he has," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "As far as tendencies there's not enough to build off tendencies, so that batter's box experience is important that first time around, see what he's doing and watching what he does to all the hitters. I don't think you have to make a quick study of him, to see what he has."

Beckett, one of the game's premier pitchers, was 20-7 with a 3.27 ERA and finished second in the Cy Young balloting. He shut down the Angels in Game 1 of the ALDS last year, pitching a complete-game, four-hit shutout. He is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA against the Angels - in the regular season, which encompasses four starts.

"Yep, it is," Torii Hunter said when asked if this was good they weren't facing Beckett.

After a much-needed day off Monday to heal up some of the injured, the Angels will be in Fenway Park to face the AL East-leading Red Sox in a three-game series starting Tuesday that will have the home team throwing its "top three starters,'' Manager Mike Scioscia said.

And yes, this Angels team may be better constituted than last season's club was to face the Sox, Scioscia said.

"Our team is deeper and hasn't hit its stride,'' he said after Sunday's 4-2 loss at home to Seattle.

The key, Scioscia said, is simple: "You've got to pitch well to get into your game,'' against them.

But don't make too much of it, new Angel Torii Hunter said of the April series.

"When I was with the Twins, we went in there and beat them and this team is better than the Twins,'' Hunter said, noting that for the players, this is just another series. "But for the fans and the media, it's a good thing to hype up.''

The Angels saw three Seattle pitchers trot to the mound in the last half of the ninth, watched them throw 37 pitches, gladly accepted four bases on balls, got a two-run single from Gary Matthews Jr. and couldn't get it done Sunday, losing an AL West game to the Mariners, 4-2, when Garret Anderson took a bases-loaded, 3-and-2 pitch in on his hands to end it.

The loss drops starter Dustin Moseley to 1-2 with a 7.78 ERA while dropping the Angels (12-8) into a tie for first in the AL West with Oakland, also 12-8, after the A's beat up on Kansas City 7-1 Sunday.

At 10-10, third-place Seattle is two games behind in the AL West.

Asked if he'd consider taking some swings in the next simulated game for the Angels, as Manager Mike Scioscia did Saturday against John Lackey to see where the injured pitcher was in his rehab, Scioscia replied with his usual wit.

"Shut up,'' he said with a grin at the thought of his weak swinging performance.

Then Scioscia redeemed himself with a true "Yogeyism.'' Maybe it's a catcher thing.

"I couldn't hit when I could hit,'' the ex-Dodger said.

The Angels organization wished longtime advisor Preston Gomez a happy 86th birthday from the organization Sunday.

Gomez is recuperating in Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach after suffering major injuries as a pedestrian when hit by a pickup truck in Blythe March 26.

As the talk about longtime slugger Frank Thomas being released hit the Angels' clubhouse, Darren Oliver had the last word Sunday morning.

"Major League Baseball just went to seven percent,'' Oliver said, with a long pause for his teammates to try to figure out where he was going, then came the punch line: "for black players.''

Recent media coverage has highlighted the declining population of African-American players in MLB to a modern-era low of eight percent to start the season. Oliver, in his deadpan fashion, said it just went lower.

Here we go:

Chone Figgins, 3B; Gary Matthews Jr., CF; Vladimir Guerrero, RF: Garret Anderson, LF: Casey Kotchman, 1B; Juan Rivera, DH; Maicer Izturis, 2B; Mike Napoli, C; Erick Aybar, SS; and Dustin Moseley, P.

The Angels are returning the favor to the Mariners after losing two of three to their Northwest Neighbors last weekend.

The Angels have won the first two games, and aside from two pitches - that led to Richie Sexson's three-run homer Friday and Adrian Beltre's solo shot Saturday - Angels' starters have dominated.

It will be up to Dustin Moseley to continue the trend today. The righty has surely struggled this season, going 1-1 with a 7.80 ERA and a .355 batting average against. Not good.

In an effort to change his luck, the red-head shaved his dome, opting for the tougher look than the curly, bushy coif he sported last year.

Is it important, in April, to win the series against a team many expect you to fight with all year long?

"A lot of people were picking Seattle," Scot Shields said. "They're a good team. It's extra nice to get a win against them."

Ervin Santana has pitched marvelously thus far, recording eight terrific innings on Saturday allowing three hits and a run.

He had a one-hitter going until the seventh, the only blemish coming on Greg Norton's double in the second. Until Adrian Beltre's solo homer in the seventh, Santana had set down 16 straight Mariners.

Santana has thrown over 100 pitches and struck out eight, so it's unlikely he'll come back in the ninth for the complete game.

The Angels lead 4-1.

Chris Bootcheck was back in the Angels' clubhouse this afternoon after pitching one inning last night and could be activated from the DL as soon as today.

"I feel great," said Bootcheck, sidelined with a strained left oblique. "Every outing I've been progressing."

Bootcheck's presence, while it doesn't seem great, would definitely help steady the Angels' bullpen, pushing most everyone back into more familiar roles.

When he is activated, it's likely Jason Bulger will be sent down.

Ervin Santana will look to continue his early season success when he starts today against the Mariners. Last year the erratic righty was 2-0 with a 4.40 ERA vs. the M's and Santana is 3-2 with a 5.73 ERA lifetime against Seattle.

Former Angel Jarrod Washburn will take the hill, a familiar one, but one he doesn't particularly care for. Washburn is 4-2 with a 4.26 ERA against the Angels, but made it known that when he pitched in Anaheim he didn't like the mound. Over the past three years (2005-07) which includes his final season in red, Washburn is 4-7 at The Big A with a 3.92 ERA in 16 starts.

The Angels will look to equal their longest winning streak of the year at three games. They are 23-10 against Seattle in their past 33 games and they have won 12 of their last 15 games vs. the M's in Anaheim.

Oops, he did it again. Oh, wait, no he didn't.

Just when it appeared that Richie Sexson had hit his third home run of the night, which would have given Seattle a 6-5 lead, Torii Hunter did what he does best.

The Angels' center fielder, who had doubled three times in the game, stole Sexson's home run to end Friday's game, a 5-4 victory.

"We finally got to see him do what he does better than anybody else," Manager Mike Scioscia said.

As the ball left Sexson's bat, it looked like it was gone, which would have been another blown save for Francisco Rodriguez. But either Sexson didn't get it as well as everyone thought, or the heavy night air kept the ball in the park. Well, technically Hunter did that, but maybe the air kept the ball playable.

In his last start at home, Joe Saunders was in the clubhouse icing his arm when Hunter hit his walk-off grand slam. Again, the southpaw was in the clubhouse and had to witness the win on TV.

"I saw Frankie pointing up and I thought 'Sweet, we got the game, no prob