ANGELS GLAD TO SEE BLUE JAYS LEAVE OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES CONTINUE AS WASHBURN RETURNS FROM DL TORONTO 4, ANGELS 1.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer ANAHEIM - The Angels bid au revoir to the Toronto Blue Jays "Blue Jays" redirects here. For other uses, see Blue Jay (disambiguation).. The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. for the 2005 season Wednesday night, and while they're at it, they might want to add an adios and a get lost for good measure. Some teams just have a knack for beating certain teams no matter where each sits in the standings. For the Blue Jays, beating the Angels has become a habit, Wednesday night's 4-1 win in front of 43,026 at Angel Stadium the latest installment. Blue Jays starter Josh Towers Joshua Eric "Josh" Towers (b. February 26, 1977 in Oxnard, California) is an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. Towers stands at 6'1" tall, and weighs 180 lbs. gave up one run in 6 2/3 innings, received remarkable defense behind him and 11 hits from the Toronto offense to complete the season series between the two teams. Final tally: Blue Jays five wins, Angels one. The Blue Jays are 17-7 against the Angels the past three seasons. ``They played better than us,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia A slew of defensive gems in the early innings by the Blue Jays kept the Angels from mounting a scoring rally. The Angels' best opportunity for a big inning was in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with nobody out. Orlando Cabrera Orlando Luis Cabrera (born November 2, 1974 in Cartagena, Colombia) is a Major League Baseball shortstop who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He bats and throws right-handed. , Darin Erstad Darin Charles Erstad (born June 4, 1974 in Jamestown, North Dakota) is a first baseman/center fielder in Major League Baseball currently with the Chicago White Sox. Prior to 2007, he had played his entire career with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim franchise (1996-2006). and Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero (born February 9, 1976 in Don Gregorio, Nizao, Dominican Republic), and known in his native Dominican Republic as Miquéas (Spanish for Micah), is a Major League Baseball right fielder who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. began the inning with consecutive singles, but all three stayed put. 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 followed with a lineout to second, and Casey Kotchman Casey John Kotchman (born February 22, 1983 in St. Petersburg, Florida) is a Major League Baseball first baseman for Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He hit his first Major League home run on August 5 2005. In 47 games in 2005, Kotchman had 7 home runs and 22 runs batted in. grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play. Although Molina and Kotchman hit the ball hard, the Angels certainly could have used 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. in those situations. The Angels were without Anderson all three games in the series and for six of the past eight overall. Anderson is awaiting word on test results the club hopes will determine the cause of his back pain, which he said could be a sciatic-nerve condition. ``It's tough on Vlad, because they don't pitch to him without Garret hitting behind him,'' Angels starter pitcher Jarrod Washburn said. ``It puts pressure on the other guys in the lineup, but all of them are capable. We have a good offensive team. I'm sure some guys are not happy with they way their season's going, but they're all capable.'' Said Scioscia: ``Garret's pivotal. When you're talking about Garret, there's a whole different package he brings, and we need it.'' Despite the loss, the Angels maintained a two-game lead over the Oakland A's, who also lost Wednesday. The weekend ahead looms large for both teams: The Angels play host to AL East-leading Boston, and the A's play Kansas City, losers of 18 in a row. For the Angels, any team would be welcomed after the Blue Jays. ``That team played us tough all year,'' said Washburn, who gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings and took the loss. ``The bounces went their way tonight. They whipped our butts in Toronto, and they did the same thing here.'' The Angels looked like they might put some pressure on Towers early in the game. They tied the score at 1 in the bottom of the first on Cabrera's 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 single, but the Blue Jays' defense made several stellar plays in following innings to shut down the Angels. First, it was left fielder Reed Johnson robbing Erstad of a single with a diving catch in shallow left-center in the first inning. In the second inning, the Angels had runners on first and second with nobody out when back- to-back plays thwarted their rally. Joe Haakenson, (626) 962-8811 joe.haakenson(at)sgvn.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, 4 boxes Photo: (1 -- color) Toronto's Reed Johnson, right, slides in safely past Angels catcher Bengie Molina to score on Vernon Wells' fifth-inning single in the Blue Jays' victory Wednesday night. (2) Orlando Cabrerra (18) undercuts Toronto's Aaron Hill, who made the throw first base to successfully complete the double play. Francis Specker/Associated Press Box: (1) ANGELS vs. BOSTON - 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. |
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