Man was this a good series with some great pitching. The winner needed only three runs to win in each of the three games. Unfortunately, the Angels came up short and lost a game in the standings because of it.
On Monday, all four runs were scored on homeruns. Juan Rivera started things off with a solo shot in the fourth. The A’s answered when Milton Bradley hit a solo homerun in the sixth. And then Jay Payton won it with a two run shot in the seventh. Ervin Santana threw a pretty good game, but he dropped to 11-5 on the season.
The result was better yesterday. Each of the five runs were scored in different half innings, and it was Orlando Cabrera that drove in that third run to give the Angels the lead for good. Rookie Joe Saunders picked up the win and he gave up two runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in seven innings. Cabrera finished the game three for four and K-Rod struck out the side in the ninth to pick up his 26th save of the season.
Today was another tight one, but the A’s came out on top. Scott Shields lost his seventh game of the season when he gave up an eighth inning RBI single to Mark Kotsay. A very good start by Kelvim Escobar went to waste and while the Angels had nine hits, they didn’t draw a single walk. And all nine hits were singles.
Next up is a huge four game series against the Rangers, who have now won their last two games. If we’re going to hold off the Rangers, taking three of four in this one would be huge. It’s an all AL West weekend because the A’s go up against the Mariners. So if the Angels win, they’ll either pick up some ground or leave the Mariners in their dust. Big weekend all the way around.
