 |
   |
Pro Sports BLOG |
|
July 2008
Monthly Archives
Categories
Popular Tags
 RSSRecent Comments
More PE.com Blogs
|
Angels: June 2008 ArchivesThe weekend Dodger series was an aberration, the Angels could only hope. But maybe not, as the Angels managed just four hits, and a single run, in falling 6-1 Monday to the second-place AL West Oakland A's, now just 3.5 games behind them. Jon Garland (7-5), the Angels starter and loser, who should have escaped with giving up just two runs in seven innings except for a dreadful Juan Rivera two-base error on a dropped fly ball in left, said it wasn't so much the who or what of this series that mattered, or even one game. "With five games left (with Oakland) before the (All-Star) break, we have a chance to bury them,'' Garland said. But not the way the popup-hitting Angels (they had 16) swung the bas Monday. The A's had nearly that many base hits (13), while all the Angels could show for a shuffled lineup was a Mike Napoli home run, his 12th, for their only score. The beat goes on, if you count Angels batters beating their bats into the ground after hitting another popup here against the A's. The count is up to 13 now for lazy, easily-caught pop flies through seven innings in a 4-1 game dominated by the second-place AL West A's. The thing that happened last weekend in Dodger Stadium is happening here. Wild swings, Bad pitches. Poor decisions. Taking strikes. Swinging at balls. Not even making the A's make plays. They could have won this one without wearing gloves. But had left-fielder Jaun Rivera known how to use his, aqt least this one would have been just 2-1 instead of what seems to be an unreachable three-run deficit for the home team. Two shots are all the Angels have and with just three hits thus far, two might not be nearly enough. It's not the same old, same old. 1) Chone Figgins, 3B (.294); 2) Erick Aybar, SS (.275); 3) Vlad Guerrero, DH (.287); 4) Torii Hunter, CF (.276); 5) Howie Kendrick, 2B (.314); 6) Gary Matthews Jr., RF (.241); 7) Juan Rivera, LF (.186); 8) Casey Kotchman, 1B (.292); 9) Mike Napoli, C (.209). Notes: No Garret Anderson for a second straight day and Casey Kotchman drops to eighth. On paper, Monday's matchup may look like the start of a three-game series battle for an advantage at the top of the AL West, with the Angels (49-33) holding on to a 4.5-game lead over the second-place A's (44-37). But not really. Forget the A's, no offense intended, say the Angels right now after scoring one run in three games at Dodger Stadium and getting shut out twice while going on a scoreless 20-inning streak. It's about the Angels right now, say Manager Mike Scioscia and batting coach Mickey Hatcher. It's about what they do, how they bounce back and approach each at-bat and improve their ability to get on base and play their game. It all starts at 7:05 (FSNW-HD) with Angels righty Jon Garland (7-4, 4.05 ERA) going against A's lefty Greg Smith *4-6, 3.69). The team begins a five-game homestand today. The series is a matchup of the AL West's top two teams. After scoring just one run in the series at Dodger Stadium, manager Mike Scioscia was ready to head home with Sunday's 1-0 victory. "We're not looking back," Scioscia said. "It's a win today." Figgins 3B It's the Angels John Lackey (5-1, 1.65) vs. the Dodgers Derek Lowe (5-7, 4.05). The Dodgers look for the sweep after earning shutouts the first two games, despite not getting a hit on Saturday. The Angels have not scored a run in 19 innings. For just the fifth time in baseball history a team won a game without getting a hit. Unfortunatley for the Angels,the two fifth-inning errors led to a 1-0 loss to the Dodgers. Jered Weaver (6 innings) and Jose Arredondo (2 innings) were near perfect, but the Dodgers' Chad Billingsley was equally tough. The Angels left nine on base and were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Angels Jered Weaver has not allowed a hit through six innings. He's also losing 1-0 to the Dodgers on an unearned run. Stay tuned With Dodgers manager Joe Torre's daily meeting with the media once again turning to the topic of Torre not having the easiest time getting through to the team's young players, Angels broadcaster Rex Hudler, who played for Torre with the Cardinals, could no longer contain himself and interrupted. "It's hard for me to understand how you can't impact them the first day you step in the clubhouse," Hudler said. "All you had to do was take off your glasses and stare, and it made a difference." Third baseman Chone Figgins did not start Saturday's game due to the infection on his left knee. Figgins was scratched from the lineup Friday and is still undergoing antibiotic treatment for the wound, which he got two weeks ago while sliding into a base. He was available to pinch hit, but it's unclear when he'll return the starting lineup. Izturis 3B It was an interesting sight in the Angel clubhouse before Friday night's game at Dodger Stadium: Angels general manager Tony Reagins spending his time circulating among the players, engaging in one-on-one conversations, in addition to conferring with Mike Scioscia and his coaches. Not many general managers do that to such a degree. But it's an effective way to gauge the pulse of a clubhouse, and it also gives the first-year GM some credibility with the players and staff that he oversees. "I think it's important to get a feel for what's going on in the clubhouse," said Reagins, 40, an Indio native. "Obviously I'm not with them every day, but for the most part I'm with them. They understand that I'm approachable, and they can bounce things off me and it won't fall on a deaf ear." It helps that a number of him already know him, and vice versa. He's been in the organization 17 years and was the team's Director of Player Development the last six. "I've been with most of these guys for most of their professional careers, so there's a comfort level both ways, he said." As the former player development guy, he's probably as qualified as anybody to discuss Brandon Wood, long considered the organization's top hitting prospect, who was up with the Angels during their injury siege and hit .125 in 29 games. At Salt Lake, Wood is hitting .272 with 12 homers and 34 RBI in 43 games and an OPS of .860, compared to .352 in the majors. "I think he got here and got a taste, to really see what it takes to play at this level and play at this level consistently for a long time," Reagins said. "I think that's going to benefit him long-term, and hopefully he's in a position to help us down the road, but this last experience was a good one. "Having not had success in the major leagues and going down to the minor leagues and doing consistently well, the last 50 games he saw up here really gives him an idea that, 'Hey, this is what I need to do to get better, and this is what I need to do to help this club.' I just left him in Salt Lake and I saw a lot of adjustments in his swing that really impressed me, and I said, 'Hey, this guy might be figuring it out.' So I'm encouraged, definitely." The Saturday Freeway Series game will be Angels RHP Jered Weaver (7-7, 4.56) vs. Dodgers RHP Chad Billingsley (6-7, 3.64). Game time will be at 7:10 and will be on KCAL. The Dodgers won, 6-0, in the opener on Friday. Russell Martin hit a solo homer and Andre Ethier hit a three-run shot to help the Dodgers post a 6-0 victory over the Angels in the first of the Freeway Series games at Chavez Ravine on Friday. Chan Ho Park scattered four hits over six shutout innings and the bullpen did not allow a basrerunner while striking out seven to close things out. The Angels struck out 14 times, including the final six batters. Jeff Kent had a sac fly and James Loney singled in a run for the Dodgers. More on this in the Saturday paper, but Angels P Kelvim Escobar will begin a rehab assignment on Monday with Class A Rancho Cucamonga. Escobar has been out all season with a torn labrum and threw a 45-pitch session in Tempe this week. He will throw 45 pitches on Monday and could return around the All-Star Break, though it could be as a reliever. "Now I just have to get to the point where I can throw 90 pitches," Escobar said. "If everything goes well, I can be back after the All-Star Break, easily. Right now, I could pitch as a reliever if they needed to." Juan Rivera was still in Miami dealing with some complications after his wife gave birth to their child but is expected to be back by Saturday's game. Mom and child are ok and the complications are not considered serious. Angels 3B Chone Figgins was scratched from the lineup because of an infection in his knee. He sustained a cut while sliding earlier this week and it became an issue on Wednesday. "When he came in today, it looked hot and angry so they want to give it a chance to settle down," Manager Mike Scioscia said. First a day off Thursday, and then the best of both worlds for the Angels. They won't have to travel but they can count the three-game Dodgers series as a road trip and since they have baseball's best road record, that may work out well. Manager Mike Scioscia, for example, has a shorter communte from his Westlake Village home. And with a day off, the Angels should be ready to go with Joe Saunders, MLB's winningest pitcher, on the hill for this one. The day off works well in another way. It lets the Angels forget the one that got away from them in a Washington walkoff win Wednesday. It had to happen and it did, with the Nationals refusing to give up and getting a walkoff base hiit from Jesus Flores in the ninth, after he'd struck out three times, to edge the Angels 5-4. Scot Shields (3-2) was the loser and just wasn't as sharp as he has been. Neither was starter Ervin Santana, who gave up four runs, and four walks, on a night when he was plagued by crack on the tip of the middle finger on his pitching hand, and bled throughout the game. He gave up a two-run home run to Hastings Milledge in the first inning and the Angels had to scratch back from there. One noteworthy moment for the Angels was Garret Anderson scoring a franchise career-record 987th run, in two tries on fly balls to the outfield. He'd been tied with Tim Salmon at 986. With his base hit in the bottom of the eighth, Aaron Boone becomes the 1,171st major league player to record 1,000 base hits but more importantly, the fourth member of his family to do so. The Villa Park HS and USC player was preceded by brother Brett, father and ex-Angel Bob, now assistant GM for the Nationals and grandfather Ray. It was just an upset stomach, no infection, Manager Mike Scioscia said of the symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting that struck Vlad Guerrero during Tuesday's game and had him out after two innings. But not before he'd extended his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games. But Scioscia wasn't taking any chances Wednesday, giving Guerrero the day off to go with Thursday's off day, although he maybe could play Wednesday if the Angels really needed him. Here's how the Angels will line up Wednesday. 1) Chone Figgiins, 3B (.312); 2) Erick Aybar, SS (.272); 3) Garret Anderson, LF (.254); 4) Torii Hunter, CF (.279); 5) Casey Kotchman, 1B (.297); 6) Howie Kendrick, 2B (.317); 7) Gary Matthews Jr. (.244); 8) Jeff Mathis, C (.226); and 9) Ervin Santana (9-3, 3.02 ERA, .000). Can the Angels run their road record on this National League trip to six for six? They have one to go today (4:10 p.m., FSNW). And they have the new-look Ervin Santana (9-3, 3.02 ERA) going for them with his confident road attitude that's 180 degrees different from last year's. Win here today and the 48-30 Angels could move out of a three-way tie atop MLB for most wins with the Cubs and Red Sox on a climb that has come as the result of a 15-6 record this month. Nationals will start their ace, righty Tim Redding (6-3, 4.12 ERA). Yogi Berra was mostly right but on this night, in this park, against this team, when the Angels put up a season-high 6 spot on the Nationals in the first, when Angels starter, and No. 9 hitter, Jon Garland was able to bat before he threw his first pitch, this one was over in an easy Angels' 8-3 romp. But the misery just kept coming for the Nationals, who lost left-fielder Paul Lo Duca, the ex-Dodger in the second inning to lightheadedness that had him stagger off the field under assistance and head to the hospital. Then starter and loser Shawn Hill, after giving up eight runs the first three innings, was headed off to the Mayo Clinic by game's end to get his arm checked out. The good news for the Angels, in addition to the explosive start and the ability to take advantage of four Nats' errors, was the return of Mike Napoli, who doubled, then homered, as he debuted a new, more-compact hitting approach. The Napoli home run was his first since he hit two May 18 against the Dodgers. The only negative for the Angels was that Vladimir Guerrero left the game with an upset stomach and some flu-like symptoms in the third. His status for Wednesday wasn't certain after the game. The Angels have scored six runs, benefited from three Washington errors, and scored the most runs of any first inning this season. For a team that has won nine of its last 10 road games and is 33-4 when it scores first, this would seem to be a good sign for the Angels. On the road, that is, where the Angels go for a fifth straight win on this thus-far perfect interleague excursion to Philly and Washington, DC. On paper, it looks good, as it did Monday night. But the Nationals' Jason Bergmann did everything he could to hold the Angels in check against ace John Lackey last night. And it's almost the same scenario today (4:10 p.m., FSNW) when another Nationals starter with just one win and an ERA above 5.00, Shawn Hill (1-4, 5.22) goes against a solid, veteran Angels starter, Jon Garland (6-4, 4.06). But as Manager Mike Scioscia said before and after Monday's 3-2 win, "We need to start hitting the ball.'' Whether the Angels will, enough to take some of the pressures off the starters, and closer Frankie Rodriguez, forced to come in for an MLB-best 31st save Monday, is anyone's guess. On the bright side, as the Angels' game notes report, the club is hitting .289 over the last seven games compared to .232 in May. So that's something. Ans it's over in 2:12. Great night for the visitors. No rain, after the wait, and another win on the road. Talk about making up for lost time. After an hour and 10 minute rain delay, this game has absolutely motored on. The first five innings took 58 minutes. We're now through eight, with the Angels leading the Nationals 3-2, and it's just at the 1:50 mark. All we can do is dream. A two-hour baseball game. Who knew? With an 8:20 p.m. first pitch (5:20 PDT), the Angels-Nats are off with an hour and 10 minute rain delay. Angels go down 1-3-4 as Erick Aybar singles up the middle but to no avail. Split the difference between those 8 and 8:30 projected starts here in DC. The sun has come out. The rains have stopped. And there's no more lightning. And the game will start at, ta-da, 8:15 here, which as you West Coasters know, translates to 5:15 -- or just in time to join us on the ride home. OK, they've just announced that they expect the Angels-Nationals game to start about 8 p.m. tonight (5 p.m.) for most of you Angels fans. Hold that, there's an update on the update that has this game going off at 8:30 p.m. here, or 5:30 for those of you who live where it doesn't rain much. Rain, rain, go away and let these Angels play. My guess is that it indeed will go away and this game will be played. And when it is, this is the way the Angels will line up. 1) Chone Figgins, 3B (.315); 2) Erick Aybar, SS (.268); 3) Garret Anderson, LF (.258); 4) Vladimir Guerrero, RF (.289); 5) Torii Hunter, CF (.276); 6) Casey Kotchman, 1B (.299); 7) Howie Kendrick, 2B (.311); 8) Jeff Mathis, C (.231); and 9) John Lackey, P (4-1, 1.73 ERA, .000 (0-0). Now you remember. It rains here. Especially at the end of a hot, steamy midsummer's day on the Anacostia Naval Basin where the new Nationals Park has somehow been dropped into the middle of what seems to be a DC building boom. If this were a high school game, that major lightning strike out somewhere beyond the centerfield horizon would have called this one off but it's still set to go at 4:10 on FSNW (HD). John Lackey (4-1, 1.73 ERA) will face righty Jason Bergmann (1-5, 5.03) as the Angels try to win their ninth road game in the last 10. But here we wait, as the Angels were chased to their clubhouse before the end of batting practice, for the skies to clear. Which it looks like they will. Further developments as they're available. It's never happened before. Yes, the Angels have played here in the District of Columbia, in 1971, against the then Senators AL franchise, in a three-game series, Aug. 13-15. And they have played the National League Nationals in a three-game series at Angel Stadium June 13-15, 2005. And the teams played in 2003 when this NL franchise was still in Montreal. But the last time the Angels were in DC was in that 2003 season to meet with Pres. Bush to honor the 2002 World Series champions So when the Angels' John Lackey (4-1, 1.73 ERA) squares off with the Nats' Jason Bergmann (1-5, 5.03 ERA), in this 4:10 pm start of a three-game interleague series on FSNW (HD), it is a first -- of sorts. Not a bad weekend for his Angels' ballclub or a bad homecoming for Mike Scioscia. They won all three games against the NL East-leading Phillies, pretty much shut down one of baseball's top offenses on five runs and a single home run, and didn't seem to notice the sellout crowds they were silencing as they improved their best-in-baseball road record to 24-12.. Sunday was more of the same, if a bit closer. Jered Weaver (7-7, 4.56 ERA) battled his way into the sixth and then turned it over to a Scot Shields and Francisco Guerrero, who earned his MLB-best 30th save. And Casey Kotchman just keeps doing things right, from the two-run home run he hit to win the game in the second, to the ninth-inning pick of a one-hop throw on a bang-bang play that had to be made. But it helped that the man who scored the Angels' first run did so after extending his hit streak to a season-best 13 games, the surging Vladimir Guerrero. Hard to say much bad about this place. Citizens Bank Park is that ideal-size 45,000-seat baseball stadium but there's a twist here. The seats are as close to the field as they are anywhere, with as many as five levels down the third base side, another four down first base. Then when you factor in a scoreboard that towers over the stands in left-center and a three-tiered right- and right-centerfield bleachers and there's a concentration of sound here you seldom see in an open stadium -- as if these fans needed any help making noise. Where the Angels have rocks and a waterfall in straightaway center, they have a classic red brick ivy-covered wall. As good as this place is for keeping the sound in, the Angels find the hitting background, distances and closeness of the stands all a plus for making this a place to hit. Give the Phillies credit. They did a great job replacing the Vet and doing so despite the location on the far side of the old Vet-Spectrum complex in South Philly. One especially nice touch, in addition to the special hoagie buns that every sandwhich here comes on, is the view. From home plate and the press box, the skyline of downtown Philadelphia is perfectly framed on the horizon. That they've had nine straight sellouts here, and 22 this season, while averaging a third-best in the NL 40,909 here tells you the Philly folks like it. That's just above the Angels' average at home of 40,283. The Angels decided to take a cautious approach to Maicer Izturis' tight hamstring today by elevating Saturday home run hero Erick Aybar to the starting shortstop's spot. They'll also give catcher Jeff Mathis the day off after six straight starts by going with Mike Napoli there. Garret Anderson also gets the day off. Here's the Angels' linuep for the Sunday finale in Philly. 1) Chone Figgins, 3b (.310); 2) Aybar, SS (.269); 3) Howie Kendrick, 2B (.322); 4) Vladimir Guerrero, RF (.290); 5) Torii Hunter, CF (.273); 6) Gary Matthews Jr., LF (.242); 7) Casey Kotchman, 1B (.298); 8) Mike Napoli, C (.202); and 9) Jered Weaver, P (6-7, 4.73 ERA). With 14 of their next 20 games on the road, including this morning's (10:35) start to finish off a three-game visit to Philly, a first-ever trip for the them, it's a good thing the Angels are baseball's best road warriors at 23-12 away from Southern California. The Angels have won seven of their last eight and 11 of their last 14 away from Anaheim and will close this trip with three, on another first-ever visit, to the NL Nationals in Washington, D.C. For one time this trip, the Angels don't seem to have the starting edge with the up-and-down Jered Weaver (6-7, 4.73 ERA) facing lefty Cole Hamels (7-4, 3.23). With wins in the first two games here, the NL West-leading Angels (45-30), 4.5 games ahead of Oakland, have now won 17 of their last 25 series, splitting three and losing five. But the Phillies (42-34), after now having lost their last four straight series, have seen their NL East lead over Florida to one game. He had a chance to close this one out, did Angels rookie Jose Arredondo, in the ninth. But after walking the first two Phillies, it was Arredondo who was doing the walking, heading to the dugout for Frankie Rodrigues, who got a game-ending three outs in less than three minutes on the mound. For Rodriguez, it was his MLB-leading 29th save of the season in the Angels' 6-2 win. If you think Scot Shields four-strikeout Angels' eighth inning was unusual, you are right on the money. That's only the fourth time it's happened in Angels history and the first time since 1999 when Chuck Finley did it twice. Erick Aybar wouldn't have been up to bat had staring shortstop Maicer Izturis not come up with a tight hamstring after his first at-bat but there he was. Two outs, score tied, Chone Figgins on first, and Brett Myers cruising with a four-hitter on the mound. And then Aybar caught one, a no-doubter deep up into the rightfield stands that broke the tie and gave the Angels a 4-2 lead right after the Phillies had scored two of their own to tie it. The home run was just the second all season by Aybar, who had spent much of the year on the DL with a dislocated right pnky. From the moment Jayson Werth caught the pitch in the seventh, the Citizens Bank Park sellout crowd of 45,196 rose to watch it get out for the Phillies first run. And yet, Angels centerfielder Gary Matthews Jr. Was settling in for the catch, maybe 20 feet in front of the 401-foot mark but the ball refused to come down there, carrying, carrying, carrying to the green garden behind the fence as Matthews, at the last moment, jerked his head around to try to find it behind him. Was he decoying? Or did he lose the ball in the lights? No matter. Phils wer eon the board and halfway to tying this one at 2-2 after seven. One difference is now apparent in the approaches the NL and the AL take to Vlad Guerrero. NL teams seem to be willing to throw the ball over the plate to Vlad, something AL teams are often unwilling to do. The result, as Brett Myers has found out to his dismay, after a pair of good low pitches, one a breaking ball and one a fastball, that were out over the plate against Guerrero: Don't go there. Two more solo home runs Saturday gives the Angels a 2-0 lead and Guerrero his second multi-HR game this season, his 16th as an Angel and his 35th all-time in MLB. Same time, same place, tonight for the Angels in their first-ever visit to Philly this weekend. Win a second straight road game here in Manager Mike Scioscia's hometown and the Angels improve their AL West-leading 44-30 record and MLB-best 22-12 road record. They'd also help keep the NL East-leading Phillies slip-sliding their way to a fourth straight series loss. Hard to imagine the Angels can come close to matching Friday night's season-high 17 hits, or starter and winner Ervin Santana's two-hit shutdown over seven innings but the Angels would seem to have the pitching edge in this one. Going for the visitors in this 4:05 FSNW (HD) game will be lefty Joe Saunders (10-3, 3:06 ERA). He'll face a righthander who has struggled some this season, Brett Myers (3-8, 5.58 ERA). Welcome back, Mike, his own Angels seemed to be saying to Manager Mike Scioscia in a season-high 17-hit, 7-1 onslaught over a bewildered bunch of Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Both teams came in here Friday as division leaders, the Angels in the AL West and the Phillies in the NL East, but this game didn't look like it. With Angels starter Ervin Santana (9-3, 3.17 ERA) shutting down the heretofore hard-hitting Phillies for seven innings on just two hits with nine strikeouts while allowing no earned runs, all the Angels needed was Vlad Guerrero's first-inning two-run home run blast. That gave Guerrero 29 against the Phillies, with 81st RBI, the most against any team for the ex-Montreal star. Others who distinguished themselves were Howie Kendrick, whose four-hit game tied a career high. Then there was Garret Anderson, whose two runs scored, tied him for tops all-time for the Angels at 986 with Tim Salmon. That first-inning two-run home run by the Angels' Vlad Guerrero gives him 29 in his career against the Phillies, with 81 RBI. Both numbers are career-highs for the Angel who terrorozed these parts for years as a National Leaguer with Montreal. No wonder all those Phillies fans were out in the bleachers behind left field for batting practice. They remember things like that here. Here's how the Angels will hit tonight: 1) Chone Figgons, 3B, .306: 2) Maicer Izturis, SS, .268; 3) Garret Anderson, LF, .253; 4) Vladimir Guerrero, RF, .279; 5) Torii Hunter, CF, .275; 6) Casey Kotchman, 1B, .300; 7) Howie kendrick, 2B, .311; 8) Jeff Mathis, C, .228; and 9) Ervin Santana, P, 8-3, 3.40). Two division-leading teams, and one big homecoming, come together in Friday's interleague matchup at Philly's Citizens Bank Park that will mark a first for Philly fan and Angels Manager Mike Scioscia on his first visit to his old hometown's new baseball stadium. With media seemingly everywhere waiting for Upper Darby native Scioscia, and a pregame concert of famous Philly R&B artists featuring Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes going on right now, this home-run-hitters park looks like a fun spot for the Angels (43-30, 3.5-game lead in AL West) in their first-ever visit to the Phillies (42-32, two-game lead in NL East). Vlad Guerrero surely enjoyed a batting practice that not only did not have the notorioius Philly fans booing him, they were thanking him as he exited through the dugout. "Thanks for the display, Vlad,'' one shouted, after Guerrero had deposited one ball after another into both decks of the left-field bleachers. It's a fate Angels starter Ervin Santana (8-3, 3.40 ERA) hopes to escape against the Phillies sluggers in the 4:10 p.m. game (FSNW in HD) against RHP Adam Eaton (2-4, 4.57). After a day off Thursday, the Angels open a three-game set in Philly on Friday. Ervin Santana gets the start for the Angels. Santana is 8-3 with a 3.40 ERA this season. It is the first time the Angels have ever played in Philly, and is a return home for Mike Scioscia, who is from Upper Darby, Penn. Gary Matthews Jr's father, Sarge, is a color analyst for the Phillies. The Angels lost, 5-4, in 10 innings on Wednesday, with Justin Speier allowing a solo shot to Damion Easley in the 10th for the final margin. Francisco Rodriguez had his streak of 25 consecutive saves and 14 games without allowing a run come to an end after allowing a ninth-inning run. The Angels had their chances, but an odd double play in the fifth inning killed the chance at a big inning. To put it in perspective, the play was scored 5-2-4-6-5 and involved two tag plays. "We win as a team and we lose as a team, I just ended up giving up the winning run," Speier said of the decisive homer, which was just the second of the year for Easley. "I made a bad pitch, it stinks and we lost the game." The error that was charged to first baseman Casey Kotchman in the seventh inning on Monday was overturned, meaning Kotchman is once again error-free this season. More on this in the Thursday paper, but Torii Hunter broke out of his June swoon on Tuesday night thanks to advice from his son, Torii Jr. The 13-year old noticed his dad's head was moving too much during his swing and told him about it after Monday's game. Hunter realized that his son was right and corrected the flaw and responded with two doubles on Tuesday night. "I've been jumping at the ball for two weeks now," Hunter said. "Next time someone is in a slump, I'm going to tell them to talk to my son cause he's awesome. That little advice turned a light on." The Angels are about to begin a stretch of nine consecutive games in National League stadiums, meaning their pitchers will hit. They have been taking batting practice this week in preparation. Jered Weaver and John Lackey were trash-talking one another about hitting batting practice homers on Wednesday but Scioscia said he expects very little from his hurlers once they step into the batter's box. "There is no best-hitting pitcher," Scioscia said. "It's like saying what's the best punishment? It's the least-worst hitter." But, if you ask Weaver, Lackey has more power but Weaver sounded confident about his abilities, albeit tongue-in-cheek. "John has the most power," Weaver said. "I can do a little bit of everything. If you need the long ball, I can do the long ball. If you need a little bunt, I can do that. "It's all luck when you get in there. Either you are a good hitter or you're getting lucky." And which one is he? "I'm getting lucky," Weaver said. "Maybe back in the younger years I was good, but not anymore." Angels pitchers Kelvim Escobar (shoulder) and Chris Bootcheck (forearm) will not travel with the team on this road trip but will instead go to Tempe, Ariz., to do their throwing programs there. Escobar will do a simulated game on Saturday and Bootcheck will continue doing long toss and could be on a mound by the weekend. Manager Mike Scioscia said Escobar could begin a rehab assignment with the Arizona Summer League next week. He could be on that assignment for up to 30 days before being activated. "I'm going there to continue to do my work," Escobar said, adding he would prefer to travel with the team. "It's not my choice." Jon Garland will make his first-ever start against the Mets tonight as the Angels wrap up a 10-game homestand. The Angels are seeking another series victory, which would be their ninth in their past 10. They lead the majors going 16-4-3 in their series this season. Garland is looking to rebound from a tough start against Atlanta against a Mets team that often looked listless in Tuesday's loss. New York committed three errors and didn't seem to have much energy playing on the day that their manager, Willie Randolph, was shown the door. |