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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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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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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