The Los Angeles Angels (25-24) will start off their 9-game road in Canada, as they take on the Toronto Blue Jays (29-24)).  Here’s a quick preview of what you can expect…

Lineup:
SS Marco Scutaro (.305, 25RBI 43R) - He’s strung together 7 multi-hit games, tallying 5 doubles and knocking in 3 runs during that period.  Last year, he hit .267 with 23 doubles, but has 14 in just 50 games this year. He went 1-8 last time he visited Anaheim, but scored 3 times during the 2 games he played.

2B Aaron Hill (.333, 12HR 37RBI) - He’s dropped his batting average 42 points in May, but he still has 12 HR in just 53 games this year with one of the highest batting averages in the big leagues, including a .370 on base percentage. 4-9 last time he faced the Angels with 2 jacks and 4 RBIs.

RF Alex Rios (.276, 5HR 22RBI) - A healthy Rios is a scary player. He’s a solid combination of speed and power, recording 47 doubles, 15 home runs, 79 RBIs and 32 stolen bases in 2008. His batting average is a little low  right now, considering he’s a .288 career hitter in May, but has a .275 career average against the Angels.

CF Vernon Wells (.266, 5HR 25RBI) - He’s put together a 6 game hit streak, but is a shaky option for the Jays, frequently visiting the DL.  He’s been healthy all year though, and has been a solid clean-up hitter for Toronto.

LF Adam Lind (.288, 8HR, 38RBI) - This 25-year-old has been the biggest producer on the team, maxing his May batting average at .336. He’s dropped his batting average considerably towards the end of May, and should hover around here but the power looks like it might be there all season.

3B Scott Rolen (.303, 3HR 18RBI) - The vet has shown that he still has it, but hasn’t played a full season since 2006, when he was batting .296 with 22 homers and 95 runs batted in. Another big bat in an already powerful lineup if he’s healthy.

DH Kevin Millar (.267, 3HR 16RBI) - The Los Angeles native has a .340 on base percentage in the 2009 season.  He hit 20 homeruns last year, and has a .281 career average against the Halos.

1B Lyle Overbay (.274, 5HR 23RBI) - Overbay has enjoyed May, raising his batting average 34 points. 2-8 last time he faced the Halos with a home run and 3 RBIs.

C Rod Barajas (.285, 3HR 26RBI) - Barajas is doing exactly what the Jays need him to do; giving minor contributions.  He’s been a backup pretty much his whole career, and is hitting 50 points over his batting average. He has the potential to hit for power, recording 21 RBIs in 2005 with Texas, and has 5 homeruns life time against the Angels.

Probable Starters:
RHP Roy Halladay (8-1, 2.65ERA) - This 2008 Cy Young contender has continued his dominance in the 2009 season, tallying 68 strike outs in 82 innings. His last game against the Angels was an 8 innings, 1 earned run, and 6 whif outing.  However, the LAA have had his number, totaling a 7-5 record with a 4.35 earned run average.

RHP Casey Janssen (1-1, 4.15ERA) - The third-year righty has less than 180 innings pitched in the majors, and has a 9-14 cummulative record.  The Jays promoted him from the bullpen last year, where he recorded 24 holds with a 2.35  earned run average.  In his two starts this year, he’s given up 3 runs each to Boston and Atlanta.

LHP Brian Tallet (3-3, 4.26ERA) - After getting blown up against the Kansas City Royals (4IN, 10ER), he’s contributed 6 quality starts, averaging 4 hits a game with a little over 2 earned runs a game in about 6 innings.

Bullpen:
Closer - Scott Downs (Sv: 6, 2.45ERA) - He’s converted 6 out of 7 saves this season, fanning 23 hitters in 22 innings, only walking 2.  The Jays bullpen isn’t exactly lights out, but when Downs has been called upon, he’s converting.

By: Kevin H

The Angels (25-24) finish up a difficult home stand with a walk-off victory, stealing a game from the Seattle Mariners (24-27).  At one point the Angels were down 8 to 1, but thanks to some timely hitting by Mike Napoli (1-4, HR RBI), Torii Hunter (1-4, HR 2RBI), and Kendry Morales (1-3, RBI), the Angels win the game in the ninth.

In the ninth inning, the Mariners walked Hunter to load the bases for Juan Rivera (2-4, 2B RBI).  Rivera then walked a run in, and Morales hit a single to drive in the winning run.  It was a much needed win and should give the Angels some momentum going into a difficult road trip against the Toronto Blue Jays (29-24), Detroit Tigers (28-21), and Tampa Bay Rays (25-28).

On a side note, Ervin Santana (0-2, 9.50ERA) had another rough outing, but the good news is he went over 5 innings, which beats his 1.1 innings in his previous outing.  He should come around sooner rather than later.

By: Tony C

Torii Hunter has been nothing short of spectacular for the Angels this season, and yet he is struggling to get All-Star votes. Not only as fans of the Angels, but as fans of Major League Baseball we can not let this happen. This year, Torii Hunter is hitting .310 with 11 Home runs and 40 RBI’s. These numbers would be good enough for a DH to make the All-Star Game, but Torii also adds his unbelievable defensive ability. You could say he’s been a better closer than Brian Fuentes (19Ks, 13SVs) with his amazing end of game grabs. There is no doubt Torii Hunter deserves a bid to the All-Star Game, and you have the power to make that happen. Click here to vote.

By: Tony C

The Angels (24-22) take a day off before heading back home to LA to take on the Seattle Mariners (22-26), who dropped two out of three to the last place Oakland A’s (18-26). Here’s a quick outlook of what to expect when the Mariners visits Anaheim…

Lineup:
RF Ichiro Suzuki (.343, 14RBI 8SB) - There’s no secret that Ichiro is one of the best lead off men in the league, and he’s upped his batting average 33 points in the past six games, contributing 4 multi-hit games and 2 stolen bases. Unfortunately, the Mariners can’t drive him in, as he’s only scored one run during that same time span. Suzuki went 5-18 the last time he faced the Angels, and has a .305 BA against LA.

SS Yuniesky Betancourt (.258, 14RBI 11R) - Betancourt’s average has been fluctuating this year, but his contributions have been steadily decreasing since his rookie year in 2005. He doesn’t get a lot of hits, a lot of RBIs, a lot of runs, nor does he strike out or walk a whole lot (17BB and 42Ks in 559 at bats in ‘08). He’s just very…average. He’s been shaky on the field this year, tallying 8 errors in 43 games.

3B Adrian Beltre (.212, 3HR 19RBI) - Beltre had a 48 home run, 121 RBI season in 2004 with the Dodgers, and ever since, he hasn’t hit over .276 or recorded more than 100 RBIs. He went 2-12 last time he faced LAA, and has 1 home run with 4 RBIs since.

DH Ken Griffey Jr. (.218, 5HR 12RBI) - Last time he faced the Angels, he lit them up, going 5-9 with a home run and 3 runs batted in. Still has one of the sweetest swings in baseball, and is a career .281 hitter against the Halos, and the Mariners are gonna need the 39-year-old to swing a big bat to have a chance to win.

1B Russell Branyan (.311, 11HR 23RBI) - By far the biggest threat on the Mariners aside from Ichiro. Branyan hasn’t been a major contributor on any team (he’s been on 8 teams in 11 years of service), maxing out at 54 RBIs over 8 years ago. His .OPS is 1.006 right now, and he went 4-10 last time he faced the Angels.

2B Jose Lopez (.216, 3HR 21RBI) - Lopez has not been able to find his bat in 2009. His batting average has dropped 50 points in May, and went 2-16 last time the Angels visited Seattle. Last year, he hit .297 with 41 doubles, but it’s gonna be hard to get it going against the Halos.

C Rob Johnson (.211, 8RBI 6R) - He’s filling in for Kenji Johjima (.250, 3HR 10RBI) who is on the DL with a broken big toe. He’s just a filler, but went 2-3 with 2 doubles his last game in Oakland.

CF Franklin Gutierrez (.273, 3HR 19RBI) - A 3-game hit streak has raised his batting average to .273, and he’s third on the team in RBIs. He’s a career .246 hitter against the Angels, and can blow up if he gets hot.

LF Wladimir Balentien (.234, 6RBI 12R) - He’s 5-36 in his last 10 games, and he’s splitting a lot of time with Endy Chavez (.272, 10RBI 13R). Endy has the wheels and Balentien…gives Chavez rest.

Probable Pitchers:
LHP Jason Vargas (1-0, 1.29ERA) - The 26-year-old has 21 innings under his belt, and has a .221 opponent batting average, but he’s going up against John Lackey, so it’s gonna be a tough outing.

RHP Felix Hernandez (5-3, 3.76ERA) - He got lit up against the Angels last time they played, allowing 11 hits and 6 earned runs in 5.2 innings, but he’s been strong for the rest of the season, leading the Mariners with 66 strike outs.

RHP Chris Jakubauskas (3-5, 6.45ERA) - Jak was the only successful pitcher last time they took on the Angels, only giving up 2 hits in 6 innings. He’s almost the opposite of Hernandez, with only 18 strikeouts in 44 innings during the 2009 season.

Bullpen:
Closer - David Aardsma (6SV, 1.19ERA) - He took over after Brandon Morrow lost the closing position earlier this season, and he’s been strong in the 2009 season, tallying 25 strike outs in 22 innings, converting the 1-0 save last time the Angels played.

Should a good one in Anaheim beginning Friday night at 7:30.

By: Kevin H

Image By: redheaded_pirate

The Angels lose another to the Chicago White Sox tonight, but there were some positives to be noted. Most importantly, Bobby Abreu (.302, 17 RBI, 15 SB) hit his first home run of the season. Abreu has been great for the Angels this season, however the power has not been there. His home run off Bartolo Colon (3-4, 3.80 era) was nice to see. We also saw Matt Palmer (5-0, 4.82 era) come out of the bullpen, which may seem negative at first glance, however this is likely a move to open up a rotation spot for Kelvim Escobar, who threw 4.1 innings with 4 strikeouts and no earned runs in his AAA start last week with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. As Mike Scioscia says, when Escrobar is healthy, he is one of the best pitchers in the game. Finally, Joe Saunders (6-3, 3.26 era) continues to prove his stability as a starter by going 6.2 innings and only allowing 3 runs. All in all, this was a tough loss but there are a lot of things to be hopeful for.

By: Tony C

Another freeway series and another notch in Mike Scioscia’s belt as he continues his dominance of his former team.  The Los Angeles Dodgers (31-15) posses the best record in baseball, but the Los Angeles Angels (23-21) managed to take two out of three and win another series.  The Dodgers may have made it further in the playoffs last year, but the Angels continue to show that they are LA’s best baseball option.

It is obvious the Angels have the Dodgers’ number on the field, but there is more to the story.  The Dodger Stadium experience does not compare to that which Arty provides at the big A.   I attended two of the three games at Dodger Stadium this weekend and had a great time, but I was a little disturbed at many of the things I saw.  The first is the prices.  $11 for a beer, $15 to park, and $6 dollars for a Dodger Dog.  It’s no wonder the series wasn’t sold out.  The second concern is the traffic.  After almost 60 years, the Dodgers still have not figured out how to get cars in and out of Chavez Ravine efficiently.  Finally, there’s safety.  I would not bring my kids to a night game at Dodger Stadium unless I could helicopter them out of the stadium and avoid the parking lot.  It seems to be more of a club scene than a baseball game.

All in all, this series is good for Los Angeles.  Baseball is bigger here than it ever has been, and Los Angeles continues to turn red.

By: Tony C

Image By: SD Dirk

As we all know, the Angels have had an incredible stream of bad luck to start the 2009 season.  This includes the tragic death of Nick Adenhardt, and the injuries of John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Vladimir Guerrero, Kelvim Escobar, and Dustin Moseley.  However, due to their incredible resilience, the coaching of Mike Scioscia, and a week division; the Angels have been able to remain above .500 and within a few games of the first place Texas Rangers.

Although it is amazing what the injury depleted Angels have been able to do, during the course of a long season, they will need some help.  The good news is the help is here.  Lackey and Santana are back in the rotation, Vlad is due back by the weekend after being sidelined for six weeks with a torn pectoral muscle, and Escobar is set to make a minor league rehab start at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga tonight against the Lake Elsinore Storm.  If all goes well, he will take Matt Palmer’s spot in the rotation.  However, if Palmer keeps pitching like he’s been (5-0 in 5 starts), Escobar will likely be used out of the bullpen when he returns.

With these welcomed returns and a starting rotation that consists of Lackey, Santana, Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, and either Palmer or Escobar; there is no reason to think that the Angels won’t coast right into the playoffs.

By: Tony C