Although the Giants (34-29) gave us a scare, the Angels (33-29) continue to roll as they win their fourth straight against the National League West.  The Angels record against the NL West this year is 6 and 1, which goes to show that the American League is still King regardless of a World Series loss.  The Angels offense, which is averaging 9 runs in the last four games, proves that it will not be the problem this season and in fact should be our strength.  With strong outings from our starting pitching, the production of the offense, and Kelvim Escobar (0-1, 3.60ERA) stabilizing the bullpen, we can look forward to a strong second half.

Player Notes:

Torii Hunter (.319, 16HR 51RBI) hit the wall hard Monday night but the x-rays seem to show only a bone bruise.  He will be out maybe 2 or 3 days, but should be fine.

Ervin Santana (1-3, 7.47ERA) will miss his next start due to some soreness in his elbow.  It seems as though this is purely precautionary and Santana will be back shortly.

Sean Rodriguez (.400, HR RBI) hits his first Major League home run of the season, and may prove to be a nice boost to the bottom of that lineup.

Interesting Matchups:

Matt Palmer (6-0, 4.11ERA) v. Tim Lincecum (6-1, 2.66ERA 103K) on Wednesday

Joe Saunders (7-4, 3.66ERA) v. Chad Billingsley (9-3, 2.72ERA 93K) on Friday

By: Tony C

Last week, Mike Scioscia threatened a shake up if the team didn’t turn things around, and that shakeup happened over the weekend. Howie Kendrick (.231, 4HR 22RBI) has been officially optioned to triple A and Sean Rodriguez (‘09 stats – 205AB, .273, 21HR 60RBI 6SB) has been brought to the majors. Also, Scott Shields (6.62ERA, 15BB 12K) is to have season ending surgery on his right knee after a brief stint on the DL with patellar tendinitis in his left knee, and Kelvim Escobar (0-1, 3.60ERA) is taking his spot in the bullpen. This is all in addition to last week’s demotion of Jose Arredondo (5.55ERA, 12BB 27K) and promotion of Kevin Jepsen (‘09 stats – 18in, 9.00ERA, 16BB 20K). The Angels have a bit of a new look.

These were all surprises, but the biggest shocker to me was that Rodriguez was called up rather than Brandon Wood (‘09 stats – 175AB, .297, 14HR 36RBI). Yes, Sean Rodriguez has been hot of late and he plays second base, but Brandon Wood is the guy. I’m guessing this was because Scioscia didn’t want Howie and Sean splitting time in triple A, but it still would have been nice to see Figgins slide over to second base with Brandon Wood at third. We’ll see how it works out. Scioscia is usually right.

It is sad to see Scott Shields gone, but Escobar and Jepsen should help stabilize our bullpen. This weekend of moves resulted in a sweep of the San Diego Padres (28-34). Hopefully it will continue.

By: Tony C