Trumbomb But No Sweep (23/81)

The Yankees ran away with the final game of the series and beat the Angels 6-5 Wednesday night.

Mark Trumbo hit his 4th home run in as many games, Mike Trout hit a 2-run double, but it wasn't enough to overcome an early hole set by the home run king, Ervin Santana.

Ervin Santana now leads the league in most home runs given up this season with 15. He and Scioscia tried to argue that its because Santana is aggressive and throws the ball hard. Yeah, it's okay to be aggressive, but creativity is more important when you're not missing bats. Santana needs to start pitching smarter. End of discussion.

Bullpen woes have all but disappeared during the 8 game win streak, but they came back in the form of Hisanori Takahashi. The middle-reliever came in to shut down the Yankees, but instead gave up a triple and a sacrifice fly to put the Angels down in the whole again. That's just devastating after you've been battling back from a 5-1 deficit, but hey, it happens.

Angels will face the Texas Rangers this weekend, and you can bet that I'll be there. Texas is coming off a couple of embarrassing losses to the Seattle Mariners, so you know they're coming to town with something to prove.

Pujols and Trumbo Homer, Angels Spank Yanks (22/81)

The Angels got their 8th win in a row Tuesday as they defeated the Bronx Bombers 5-1.

Mark Trumbo and Albert Pujols each hit home runs, and the Angels speedy youngsters in the outfield robbed a couple of them from the Yankees.

Dan Haren pitched beautifully, and now has 21 strikeouts and no walks in the last two games.

It wasn't a good day to be Nick Swisher as Peter Bourjos ran into the wall catching one of his line drives, and Mike Trout (above) robbed a would-be Swisher home run.

Quick question: How the heck can AT&T U-Verse NOT televise this game? At first I didn't care, but this squabble between U-Verse and Fox Sports is really starting to piss me off.

TRUMBOMB Walk-Off Leads to 7th Win in a Row (21/81)

"Exciting" would be an understatement to describe the Angels 9-8 win over the visiting New York Yankees tonight. "Explosive" would be more like it.

The Angels are walking around with a lot of swag lately as they extended their winning-streak to 7 games tonight and their record to .500 thanks to a walk-off home run by Mark Trumbo and some great team hitting, including a home run by Mike Trout (above).

For those that complain that baseball is too boring to ever watch, I invite them to watch this drama-filled game.

First, Angels lost their ace pitcher, Jered Weaver, after only 12 pitches due to a back injury. It looked bad. The guy may very well be out for a few weeks, but we'll see once they've ran some tests. Following the loss of their best pitcher, the Angels then gave up 3 runs to the Yankees in the first inning, digging themselves into an early hole with nothing but their bullpen to get them through the next 8 innings.

The team that scores first, usually ends up winning, unless of course the other team outscores your run total in the bottom half of the inning. The Angels strung together some key hits, and sure enough, after the first inning, the score was 4-3, Angels. Keep in mind, the Yankees get to keep hitting against the Angel's bullpen for the rest of the game and answered right back in the top of the 2nd to tie the game with a Curtis Granderson home run.

In the 3rd, Angels got lucky as Granderson and right fielder, Nick Swisher, ran into each other for a Trumbo triple. Howie Kendrick hit him in with a sacrifice fly. Angels up 5-4.

Trout homered in the 4th, but Mark Teixeira homered in the 5th. Angels got two runs in the 6th that looked like it might put the Yankees away, but the Bombers tied it up in the 7th with 3 more runs. 8-8.

Jordan Walden, who has been shaky all season until recently, came in and blew through the 8th inning. He did so well, needing only 8 pitches to get through, that Mike Scioscia brought him back for one more. Walden was still throwing heat, but ran into some trouble and loaded the bases with two outs. A bouncing ground ball to Albert Pujols' right ended the inning with a bang-bang play at second.

Now I was watching the game at home tonight with my dad, and he really likes calling shots. He calls so many shots that the Law of Averages states he has to get them right every now and again. Sure enough, not a minute after he said Trumbo would hit a walk-off home run, Trumbo hit a TRUMBOMB to kingdom come.

Hopefully Angels keep this win-streak going for the rest of the season. They only need to win 19 more games in a row to tie the longest win streak held by the 1916 New York Giants. Piece of cake.

Pujols Homers, Angels Lose (20/81)

Albert Pujols now has a home run in every game since Mickey Hatcher was removed as the team's batting coach. Coincidence much?

Let's not send Jerry Dipoto "Thank You" cards yet. The Angels could not figure out Chris Sale and lost to the White Sox 6-1 in an afternoon game yesterday at the Big A. The only two bright spots in the game were Mark Trumbo going four for four (444?) and...

Pujols homering in back-to-back games. Even though it was the only run the Angels scored yesterday, it was a big deal. At this rate, if Pujols homers once in every game for the rest of the season, he has a chance to hit 126 home runs and save his season. I mean, that's what we're paying him for, right?

Don't Look Now, But the Angels Have a Two Game Winning Streak (19/81)

The Angels won their second game in a row by stomping on the visiting Chicago White Sox tonight, and beating them 7-2.

It was Peter Bourjos bobblehead night tonight, and White Sox second baseman, Gordon Beckham, couldn't wait to get his hands on one (above).

Here's the rundown from tonight's game:


Albert Pujols hit his second home run of the season, a three-run shot to center field, and hopes to be turning a page. However, his other three at-bats were nothing spectacular, but let's see where this goes.

Longtime Angels hitting coach Mickey Hatcher was fired last night, and the original 2002 World Series coaching staff now has only two remaining members: Mike Scioscia and first base coach Alfredo Griffin. The Angels are now 1-0 under new hitting coach, Jim Eppard, and fans couldn't hope for a better start than that.

To clarify, Hatcher was not the problem for the Angel's hitting woes this season or any of the previous seasons in which the Angels underachieved offensively. However, since he was  unable to solve the problem, he becomes expendable. General Manager, Jerry Dipoto talked about bringing some fresh air into the clubhouse, and I think that's just what the Angels needed. Eppard has been with the organization awhile and has worked with guys like Mark Trumbo, Mike Trout, and Howie Kendrick in the minors where they were tearing it up offensively. I think he'll bring a great feeling of familiarity to the guys and get them relaxed. It's like sharing the dugout with your old Little League coach now in the majors.

Also, unlike Hatcher, I think Eppard, 52, still has all his teeth.

Interesting note, Jerome Williams is undefeated at Angel Stadium. Since joining the team late last year, Williams has made seven starts at home and has won each one of them. Also, as an Angel, the guy only has one bad start. Quit the talk about Barry Zito being the best fifth starter in baseball, the underrated Williams is shutting opponents down.

Angels Avenge Their Shut Out With a Guy Named Mike (18/81)

Mike Trout had a home run, scored three runs, and stole a base (pictured below) as the Angels avenged their shut out loss from last night against the Oakland Athletics 4-0.

Looks like Angels have found their lead-off hitter, and Trout can do it all. The 20-year-old rookie showed again today why his name has always been included in the top 3 prospects since he entered the minors. With blazing speed and 30+ home run potential, he's the kind of guy that can make things happen all on his own. And that's exactly what you need from a lead-off hitter: a guy who can make things happen.

Could Trout eventually make it to the level of Dodger's sensational slugger, Matt Kemp, who is on a personal quest to reach the unprecedented 50/50 plateau (50 home runs and 50 stolen bases)? Only time will tell, but for now Trout is living up to the hype.

I'm trying to shorten my blogs and go with one theme now. What do you guys think? Leave a COMMENT in the comments section below.

Opposing Pitchers Sure Love the Angels (17/81)

The Angels got shut out again, for what seems like the upteenth time this season.

The Angels and Dan Haren lost the the Oakland Athletics Monday night, five to zero. Zip, zilch, nothing. The Angels have been shut out by opposing teams eight times this year. To put that in perspective, the Angels have at least 14 seasons where they weren't shut out 8 times all year. Interesting note, five of the shut outs have come with Ervin Santana on the mound, three of them with Haren. These aren't Roy Halladays shutting them out either.

Here is a list of starters who have shut out the Angels this year:

• Scott Diamond
• Brandon Morrow
• David Price
• Derek Lowe
• Henderson Alvarez
• Tyson Ross
• Hiroki Kuroda
• Bartolo Colon

If I was an opposing team pitcher, I would do whatever I could to make sure my next start was going to be against the Angels. Heck, I'd even fake an injury to go play golf and miss my next start so that I could face the Angels.

The Angels have a long way to make history, but they're still on pace to surpass the 1963 Mets who got shut out a record 30 times in a single season.