The only thing that could have made this better would have been the Tigers sweeping Oakland. Regardless, we’re back in the mix. Jeff Weaver is out of picture, at least for the time being, and the rotation is where I like it. The Angels have won five straight, but the big series is this weekend against the first place A’s. If we win three of four, it’ll go a long way towards staying in contention.
On Monday, Jered Weaver got the job done and he’s now a perfect 5-0. He gave up one run on five hits with nine strikeouts through seven innings. Chone Figgins drove in three runs in the 7-1 win, and Kendry Morales homered, scored three runs and drove in two.
The Angels really got the bats going in Tuesday. In total, they racked up fourteen runs on fifteen hits. Juan Rivera had a monster game. He went three for three with three runs and five RBIs. Two of his three hits were homeruns and he now has eight on the season. Ervin Santana gave up six runs but he picked up the easy win and he’s now 9-3 on the year.
The Angels finished the sweep yesterday behind Bartolo Colon’s four hit shutout. There’s no doubt that if we’re going to compete, we need a healthy Colon. The Angels scored all four of their runs in the fifth with a three run shot by Rob Quinlan then a solo homerun by Orlando Cabrera.
Next up is that huge four game series against Oakland. Game one will be Kelvim Escobar vs. Estaban Loiaza. I like our chances in that one.
UPDATE
Jeff Weaver was traded last night to the Cardinals for minor league outfielder Terry Evans. I’ll try to get the skinny on Evans tonight. Looks like the Angels are also giving up some cash.
