ANGELS FIND THEIR WAY OFFENSE DOES JUST ENOUGH, SANTANA DOES REST IN WIN ANGELS 4, NEW YORK 1.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of - To say the Angels' offense has slumped a little lately is like saying New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. has a bit of a traffic problem. So when the Angels ``erupted'' for three runs in the second inning Friday night, it wouldn't have been surprising if their baserunners required a New York City traffic cop directing them toward home plate. Fortunately for them, their pitching has been outstanding, and rookie starter Ervin Santana Ervin Ramon Santana (born December 12, 1982 in La Romana, Dominican Republic) is a right-handed starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Career Santana was a starting pitcher for the Angels' double-A affiliate, the Arkansas Travelers early in 2005, where he handled the most-feared lineup in baseball with ease, leading the Angels to a 4-1 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 54,025 at Yankee Stadium • • [ . Garret Anderson Garret Joseph Anderson (born June 30, 1972 in Los Angeles, California) is a Major League Baseball left fielder who has played his entire career for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. hit a two-run home run and Bengie Molina Benjamin José ("Bengie" or "Ben") Molina (born July 20 1974 in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico) is the starting catcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. After being initially regarded as a "good glove, no hit" catcher, Molina has developed into one of the better added a solo shot off Yankees starter Mike Mussina Michael Cole (Mike) Mussina (born December 8 1968 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania), nicknamed Moose, is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher currently with the American League's New York Yankees. in the second inning, and the Angels added an insurance run in the eighth. It was more than enough because Santana, 22, took a shutout into the seventh inning before giving up a solo homer Noun 1. solo homer - a home run with no runners on base solo blast home run, homer - a base hit on which the batter scores a run to Tino Martinez Martinez was the 1st round draft pick for the Seattle Mariners in 1988 out of the University of Tampa where Tino starred during his time on . One out and a Derek Jeter  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled until (UTC) due to vandalism. double later, Santana (6 1/3 innings, 1
run, 6 hits) handed the ball over to the bullpen, which wasn't in
as bad a shape as one might think after Thursday night's 18-inning
affair against Toronto.
The key was Santana's ability to pitch deep enough into the game to allow Angels manager Mike Scioscia to limit his bullpen use to the big three - Brendan Donnelly, Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez. Donnelly finished off the seventh with two-thirds of an inning, Shields got a key double play to get out of the eighth and Rodriguez needed only five pitches to end it and get his 25th save. Of Santana's performance Friday, Angels first baseman Darin Erstad said: ``I'll tell you what. The first time pitching in Yankee Stadium, being a young kid, that was pretty impressive.'' Santana hit 97 mph with his fastball on the Yankee Stadium radar gun, which might have been a little high. But velocity wasn't as important as location, and Santana hit his spots all night long. He also didn't get rattled when the Yankees started to mount a rally. As early as the first inning, singles by Jeter and Gary Sheffield put runners on first and third with one out for Alex Rodriguez. Santana (6-4) jammed Rodriguez, who hit a grounder to third baseman Chone Figgins. After a brief rundown, Jeter was tagged out between third and home. Santana retired Hideki Matsui to end the threat. ``It's just another game,'' said Santana, who had no other choice but to think of it that way. Added Scioscia: ``If you look at his last couple starts you have to be excited about his progress. Especially against the lineup the Yankees have. The second time you face a team you have to be fine and he was.'' Santana, who got a no-decision in a victory over the Yankees last Saturday, had five strikeouts - one against Jeter, one against Rodriguez, one against Jason Giambi and two against Martinez. Scioscia credited the catcher Molina for guiding Santana through, constantly talking to him. ``He talks to him a lot, almost every pitch,'' Scioscia said. ``You've got to be oblivious to the stadium, almost oblivious to the lineup and just execute your pitches. As he pitches more he's starting to understand the hitters more. As he knows the hitters, he's going to get even better.'' The Angels' hitters managed 10 hits, including eight off Mussina (10-6). Vladimir Guerrero singled to lead off the second and scored on Anderson's home run, his first since July 6. Anderson had only one RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in in his previous 16 games entering Friday. ``Mussina didn't make many mistakes but he didn't get that one in enough,'' Scioscia said of Anderson's homer. ``Garret got terrific extension and just crushed it.'' Joe Haakenson, (626) 962-8811 joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 4 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) The Angels' Garret Anderson hits a two-run home run off the Yankees' Mike Mussina in the second inning. (2) Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera leaps while firing a throw to first to get Yankees' Alex Rodriguez for the final out in the third inning on Friday. Gregory Bull/Associated Press Box: (1) ANGELS at N.Y. YANKEES - Joe Haakenson (2) GAME RECAP (3) HOW THE RUNS SCORED (4) ALMANAC almanac, originally, a calendar with notations of astronomical and other data. Almanacs have been known in simple form almost since the invention of writing, for they served to record religious feasts, seasonal changes, and the like. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion