The Los Angles Angels announced on Tuesday that they would be picking up the club opions on Vladimir Guerrero and John Lackey. They will however not be picking up the option on long time Angel Garrett Anderson.

Guerrero will be earning $15 million in 2009 while Lackey will be picking up $9 millon.

Anderson will be earning a $3 million buyout after the club declined his $14 million option.

The Angels also announced that 34-year-old outfielder Gary Matthews Jr. will have surgery Tuesday to repair the patella tendon in his left knee, and catcher Mike Napoli will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder

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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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

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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The Los Angeles Angels were going for the three game sweep on the road against the Kansas City Royals but came up short as they lost 9-4 on Wednesday night.  The Angeles had won the first two games of the series before dropping the final game.

Jered Weaver struggled on the mound as he tossed 3 1/3 innings and gave up ten hits and eight runs.  David DeJesus and Alex Gordon both took Weaver deep as they hit home runs as well.  Weaver fell to 2-5 on the season with the loss.

Chris Bootcheck pitched 2 2/3 innings in relief of Weaver and he allowed three hits and one run.  Darren O’Day was finally able to hold the Royals scoreless as he pitched the final two innings of the game.

Mike Napoli and Garrett Anderson both hit home runs for the Angels but it clearly wasn’t enough for the Angels to win the game.  Napoli had two rbi while Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero had one rbi in the game.  The Angels left 12 runners on base and struck out 10 times as well.

The Angels will have Thursday off before they start a three game series down in Tampa Bay.  Angels Blog

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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Finally the Los Angeles Angels have defeated the Texas Rangers.  The Rangers had defeated the Angels the last seven of eight times.  This time it was the Angels coming out on top to improve their 2008 record to 8-6.

Ervin Santana pitched seven innings to pick up the win.  After allowing three runs in the first inning, Santana settled down and pitched pretty good.  Francisco Rodriguez pitched the 9th inning to pick up his fourth save on the season.

Mike Napoli his a home run hit a solo home run in the second inning for the Angels big hit.  Casey Kotchman led the Angels with two RBI.  Vladimir Guerrero, Garrett Anderson, Maicer Izturis, and Napoli all had one RBI each.

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The Los Angeles Angels were down to their emergency closer and Justin Speier couldn’t get the job done as the Angels lost to the Indians 4-2.  The Angels were ahead 4-2 going into the 9th inning, but Travis Hafner hit a two run homerun with two outs in the inning to give the Indians the victory.

Having Francisco Rodriguez out for a while is definately going to hurt the Angels.  He has the mentality that he is going to go out there and close the door against opposing teams, and I think some teams are actually scared to face him.  Speier just doesn’t have that at this point.

The only runs the Angels get muster off of Westbrook was a sac fly by Gary Matthews Jr. and a two run homerun by Vladimir Guerrero.  Both hits came in the 6th inning.

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