All good things come to an end, but boy did the Angels need that nice stretch. The A’s won, so we’re now a game and a half back, tied with the Rangers.
On Monday, Dustin Moseley made his first career start and picked up the win. He wasn’t particularly sharp, but the Angels brought their bats for this one. He gave up four runs on ten hits with two strikeouts through five innings. Garrett Anderson and Orlando Cabrera both homered and Macier Izturis scored three times in the 10-5 win.
Yesterday’s game would have been a blow out had it not been for a three run ninth by the Indians. A five run fourth inning was the difference in this one. Juan Rivera went yard twice and brought his season total up to 13. Howie Kendrick had a two run single in that big fourth inning. Joe Saunders made his season debut and did a very nice job. He gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and four walks through seven innings. K-Rod came in to get the final out and he picked up his 23rd save of the season.
This afternoon, John Lackey was cruising along. He had a shutout through four innings to bring his consecutive scoreless innings streak up to 31 games. Then the Indians jumped all over him for five runs in the fifth. Lackey dropped to 8-6 and he gave up five runs on ten hits and five walks with seven strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings. Juan Rivera hit homerun number 14 and Vlad Guerrero went three for five with two RBIs. Izturis scored twice.
Just what the doctor ordered, the Angels finish the week with four games against the AL’s worst, the Royals. It’s imperative that we take three of four this weekend. The A’s play the Tigers so that’s no easy task for them while the Rangers play the White Sox. If things work out right, the Angels could be in first place by the end of the day Sunday.
