GOING INTO THE BREAK STRONG L.A. WINS EIGHTH OUT OF ITS PAST NINE GAMES ANGELS 4, OAKLAND 2.Byline: DOUG PADILLA Douglas ("Doug") Padilla (born October 4, 1956 in Oakland, California) is a former middle and long distance runner from the United States, who won the overall Grand Prix 1985 and the World Cup 5000m race in 1985. Staff Writer OAKLAND -- The Angels sprinted into the All-Star break Sunday with another pitching-fueled victory and a feel-good series triumph over a division nemesis. The Angels' latest win, a 4-2 statement over the Oakland Athletics “Philadelphia Athletics” redirects here. For other uses, see Philadelphia Athletics (disambiguation). The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. , gave them eight victories in their past nine games and a 6-1 road trip through Seattle and the BayArea. The previously rocky first half means that everybody but 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. will get their leisure time at home, as the fan favorite left the Angels clubhouse Sunday to board a flight to Pittsburgh for the All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league. The players are often chosen by a popular vote of fans of the sport and the game often occurs at the halfway point of the regular season, although this is not the case for some all-star games . While rest is craved, it does have pluses and minuses. The Angels will be forced to put their ever-improving game on ice for a while, but nothing beats four days to kick up your feet and grab a lemonade. ``When we start playing again on Friday, we intend to bring our same game on the field,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia Seeing the Angels go away is just fine by the first-place A's, who lost a game to everybody in the division Sunday and are now tied with the Texas Rangers Texas Rangers, mounted fighting force organized (1835) during the Texas Revolution. During the republic they became established as the guardians of the Texas frontier, particularly against Native Americans. for first place in the American League West The American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. . After sloppy and uninspired play that saw the Angels lose seven of 11 games to close out June, the recent awakening has put them just two games out of the division's top spot. ``We've played good baseball on both sides of the ball and played good defense,'' said Garret Anderson, who delivered a first-inning 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 after missing the previous two games because of a tight hamstring. ``We put it together in this series. The pitching's been solid. They go out there and do their job. They haven't been worried about the scoreboard.'' The Angels fell behind 1-0 in the first inning because of a throwing error by shortstop Erick Aybar, who was playing in place of Orland Cabrera. With two outs and runners on first and second, Aybar fielded a ground ball by Jay Payton and instead of throwing to first, he made a no-look throw to Adam Kennedy, attempting to get a force-out at second. The ball went into right field and a run scored. But starting pitcher Ervin Santana shook off the miscue mis·cue n. 1. Games A stroke in billiards that misses or just brushes the ball because of a slip of the cue. 2. A mistake. intr.v. mis·cued, mis·cu·ing, mis·cues 1. , putting up three consecutive scoreless innings before Mark Kotsay had an RBI double in the fifth. But Kotsay's hit only tied the score. After Anderson's first-inning RBI single, Jose Molina delivered a home run in teh second inning. It was his first at-bat since Tuesday and his first home run since May 10. The Angels took the lead for good in the sixth inning when Kendry Morales pushed a hit down the left-field line that Oakland's Nick Swisher played into a two-run triple. Santana (10-3) made it hold up. He went seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits. In five career starts against Oakland, Santana is 4-0 with a 1.54 ERA. Scot Shields pitched a perfect eighth inning with two strikeouts, and Francisco Rodriguez posted his 21st save with a perfect ninth. doug.padilla@sgvn.com (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2731 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Oakland's Mark Kotsay, left, is tagged out at home by Angels catcher Jose Molina in the third inning. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press |
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