I wasn’t able to get Saturday’s game in until now, so I’ll just do that one with Sunday’s game.

After putting on a absolute show in the first game of the series with The Nation, The Angels took Game 2 with some timely hitting and of course, strong pitching. Josh Beckett was incredibly tough as usual, and was backed by Kevin Youkilis’ 17th home run in the second inning. It would stay 2-0 Boston until the 7th, and that’s when things would get dramatic. Vladimir Guerrero crushed a Beckett fastball into the bullpen in left field to put the Angels on the board. This would cut the Sox lead in half. The Angels were wearing Beckett out, and the next two hitters, Torii Hunter and Garret Anderson singled. After Reggie Willits bunted the runners over, Beckett intentionally walked Howie Kendrick. Then on a 1-0 count, pinch-hitter Erick Aybar tripled down the right field line to clear the bases and send Angel Stadium into a frenzy. They had gotten to Josh Beckett, and he would be done after he finished the 8th inning. A relief for Joe Saunders, who had pitched so well and was on his way to a loss. For Beckett, his hitters couldn’t bail him out against a tough Angels bullpen, and he was charged with his 6th loss of the season. K-Rod earned his 39th save. Halos win 4-2. 

Saunders: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, SO

Guerrero: HR (16)

Beckett: 8 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, BB, 6 SO   

 Now for Game 2.

The Angels, as you probably just read, took the first two over the Red Sox in the series. The Clutch hitting would continue for the Halos as America would watch them beat Boston for the second straight night on National TV as they took the game 5-3. The Angels took the lead early, when Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter hit back to back home runs against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in the 2nd. The Red Sox would tie it with 2 of their own the next half inning. From that point, Jon Garland dueled with Tim Wakefield to keep the game tied, and it was–until the 7th inning. With Coco Crisp on second base, Vlad Guerrero dropped Jacoby Ellsbury’s line drive, allowing the go-ahead run to score. The Halos were not ready to give up. Knocking Wakefield out of the game, they scored 3 runs in the 8th inning. Howie Kendrick’s run-scoring single against Wakefield would tie the score, and Casey Kotchman’s game winning two-bagger down the right field line against Manny Delcarmen would almost guarentee a win. Yeah, that’s how GOOD Francisco Rodriguez has been this year, and he showed it. Coming into the game in the top of the 9th, K-Rod struck out the side for his 40th save of the season. Nobody has been better.

At the end of the year, we may be calling Rodriguez the all-time saves holder for a single season. Better than Mariano Rivera, better than Trevor Hoffman. And he’s only 26. …..Okay I’m rambling, but this guy at least needs some Cy Young consideration, especially if the Angels go deep into October. If they take care of business against the Red Sox in October like they this weekend, then this team just might.

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Juan Rivera hit a two run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning off of Athletics relief pitcher Keith Foulke and the Los Angeles Angels went on to beat the Oakland Athletics by the score of 7-4.  With the victory the Angels took two out of three games from the A’s and improved their season record to 51-34.

Rivera’s home run put the Angels in the lead for good and then the Angels got two more insurance runs with single runs in the seventh and eighth innings.  Erick Aybar had a solo home run in the seventh and Reggie Willits had a rbi sac fly in the eighth inning. Casey Kotchman also recorded an rbi in the game and now has 40 on the season.

Joe Saunders improved his record to 12-4 on the year after picking up the victory.  Saunders pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up six hits and four runs.  Two of the four runs were earned and charged to Saunders who now has a 3.04 era.

Jose Arredondo, Scot Shields, and Francisco Rodriguez all did good out of the bullpen. K-rod grabbed his 34th save in the game as he continues to have a marvelous first half of the season.

The Angels will now be off on Thursday and will begin a series with the Toronto Blue Jays on friday.

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Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson rallied the Los Angeles Angels in the bottom of the eighth inning as they came from behind to beat the Oakland Athletics 5-3. Guerrero had a rbi single that scored Reggie Willits to tie the game a 3-3 and then Anderson hit a two run home run to put the Angels up 5-3. Great come from behind win and the superstars stepped up late to carry the team.

Besides the heroics in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jeff Mathis and Casey Kotchman both had a rbi each as well in the game. Mathis had a rbi sac fly in the second inning while Kotchman had a rbi ground out in the third inning.

Scot Shields picked up the win as he pitched the top half of the eighth inning and allowed one run. Shields is now 4-2 on the season. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth inning to record his 33rd save of the season. Starting pitcher Ervin Santana pitched a pretty good game as he lasted seven innings. Santana gave up eight hits but only two runs to get the no decision.

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The Los Angels Angels were able to get by the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 3-1 on Tuesday night.  John Lackey picked up his first win in the last eight months as well in the game.

Lackey tossed seven innings and gave up seven hits but only one run to get the win as he improved to 1-0 on the season.  I think Lackey will come out and be a great pitcher for the Angels now that he got the first win of of the season.

Scot Shields pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Francisco Rodriguez came in to pick up his 18th save of the season.

Garret Anderson grounded into a double play in the first inning but atleast a run cross the plate for the Angels.  Then in the third inning Casey Kotchman had a rbi double and in the seventh inning, Vladimir Guerrero had a sacrafice fly.

Good win for the Angels!  Angels Blog

Francisco Rodriguez did what rarely happens in a game.  He gave up the game winning single in the ninth inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2 to split the series.  Jim Thome singled off Rodriguez in the ninth inning to provide the winning run for the White Sox.

Rodriguez took the loss which was his first of the season as he is now 0-1.  Former White Sox pitcher Jon Garland got the start on the mound for the White Sox and pitched ok.  Garland tossed six innings and gave up seven hits and three runs.  Things could have been much worse for Garland much he worked himself out of a couple jams in the game.

Darren Oliver and Jose Arredondo combined to pitch two scoreless innings in relief of Garland.

At the plate for the Angels, Garret Anderson and Casey Kotchman each had one rbi.  They both came in the first inning when Anderson had a rbi single and Kotchman had a two run double.  Anderson scored the Angel’s third run in the seventh inning on an error by Joe Crede.

Want to help with Angels Homeplate? We are currently looking for an Angels fan that would like to write game recaps.  If you are interested, please click the contact us link at the top of the site to email us.  Angels Blog

Vladimir Guerrero went 2-4 with four rbi to lead the Los Angeles Angels past the Chicago White Sox 10-7 on Monday night.  The Angels pounded White Sox starter Mark Buehrle for ten hits and eight total runs in a little over five innings of action.

Guerrero had a three run home run in the fifth inning and then a rbi single in the sixth inning to lead the Angels.  Casey Kotchman finished with two rbi as he has a two run single in the sixth inning.  Gary Matthews Jr., Erick Aybar, Garret Anderson, and Mike Napoli all finished the game with one rbi each.

It was Nick Adenhart who picked up the win for the Angels after tossing 5 2/3 innings.  Adenhart gave up nine hits and four runs so he didn’t have his best stuff, but it was good enough to pick up his first win of the season.

Chris Bootcheck gave up two runs and Scot Shields gave up a run before Francisco Rodriguez came in to pick up the save in the ninth inning.  It was Rodriguez’s 15th save of the season.

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Ervin Santana and the Los Angeles Angels blanked the Kansay City Royals on Monday night as the Angels went onto beat the Royals 4-0.  Santana pitched a complete game and only gave up four hits to improve his season record to 6-0.  The Angels are now 21-13 on the season after winning Monday night.

It was a great performance by Santana and the Angels.  Sure a lot of you are probably thinking, well it was only against the Royals.  But the Royals are actually pretty decent this year and Santana shut them down the entire night.

Casey Kotchman got things started for the Angels in the ninth inning when he had a RBI single that scored Erick Aybar.  Garrett Anderson then hit a two run home run followed by a solo home run by Brandon Wood.  Sure the Angels struggled at the plate until the ninth inning, but give the team credit for scoring when they needed too.

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The Los Angeles Angels lost a one run ballgame to the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night by the score of 8-7.  With the loss, the Angels dropped their season record to 12-9.

Jered Weaver only lasted five innings as he gave up ten hits and five earned runs.  Weaver was lucky that the team bailed him out of a loss.  Darren Oliver took the loss as he gave up the run to the Red Sox in the eigth inning.

At the plate for the Angels, Jeff Mathis and Casey Kotchman both hit home runs.  Mathis finished the game with three RBI, Garrett Anderson had two RBI, while Kotchman had one RBI.  Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero finished a combined 0-9 and left ten guys on base.

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The Los Angels Angels really struggled at the plate against the Kansas City Royals and Gil Mech on Wednesday night as they lost to the Royals 3-2.  The Angels were only able to put two runs up on the scoreboard and those came in the fourth inning.

Casey Kotchman had a two run single in the fourth inning to account for both Angels runs.  Vladimir Guerrero stunk it up going 0-4 and leaving five runners on the bases.  Guerrero did leave the game in the eigth inning with a bruised finger.

Jered Weaver picked up the loss for the Angels and dropped his record to 1-3 on the season.  Weaver lasted six innings and gave up 10 hits and three earned runs.  The Royals should have put up more runs then three against Weaver since he gave up 10 hits in my opinion.

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The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers on Tuesday afternoon by the score of 7-4.  The Angels scored all seven of their runs in the middle innings, and then held onto that lead to beat the Rangers.

Darren Oliver pitched 2.2 innings in relief to pick up the win.  Francisco Rodriguez pitched the 9th inning to record his fifth save of the season.  Dustin Moseley started the game but gave up four quick runs and only lasted four innings.

Gary Matthews Jr. had three RBI’s when he hit a bases loaded triple in the 6th inning.  Casey Kotchman hit a two-run home run in the 4th inning as well.  Chone Figgins and Garrett Anderson both chipped in with one RBI each.

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