We’re going streaking!!!!!! 
It took long enough but the Angels finally have themselves a little winning streak going. Slowly but surely everything is starting to look a little bit brighter. Scot Shields has tossed a few scoreless innnings. Shane Loux turned in a quality start. The Halo hitters are starting to find their power strokes. Yes, things might just be alright here in Angel Land after all. With all that has gone wrong for the Angels this season, a winning streak is exactly what they need to get themselves feeling right. Any good baseball man will tell you that winning, like hitting, is contagious. One day it may seem like all the bounces are going against the Angels, but now with a few wins under their collective belt, it sure seems like all the bounces (including the ones off Koji Uehara’s chest) are starting to go the Halos’ way. With Lady Luck on their side the Angels look like a much more confident club ready to make their own breaks. It is enough to make a guy want to cry. 
With the Yankees, who, contrary popular belief, are owned by the Angels and not the Steinbrenners, on deck, this winning streak could be the start of something big. 
OK, maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, but I can dream can’t I.
The Good:
- Three straight scoreless innings and counting from Scot Shields. He still looks a little shaky, but he’s slowly but surely returning to form. Even with Justin Speier suddenly throwing darts again, the Angels bullpen cannot survive without an effective Shields.
- Back-to-back jacks from Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales. It wasn’t so long ago where it seemed like the Angels couldn’t hit homers in back-to-back games, much less consecutive at-bats. Meanwhile, Hunter continues to stay hot and Morales looks like he is really turning the corner. Did I mention that Morales is hitting .288 and .868 while Mark Teixeira is hitting .197 with a .728 OPS? I’m just saying.
- Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooux!!! Big game from him bouncing back after getting shellacked last time out. He may be living on borrowed time until Lackey, Santana and Moseley get healthy, but he is showing some real grit and perseverance.
The Bad:
- Erick Aybar is really testing Mike Scioscia’s faith. Not only is he not hitting, but his mental errors are getting to be pretty hard to swallow. Clearly Scioscia has a soft spot for Maicer Izturis, so Aybar best be looking over his shoulder. Sitting him and starting Aybar at short seems like a very convenient way to get Brandon Wood in the line-up as DH. With all the public pressure for Wood to play, all Scioscia needs is an excuse.
- All these base path blunders and Vlad isn’t even playing? You have to like the hustle, but Kendry Morales has no business trying to leg out triples. I know it is the Angels’ style to run the bases aggressively, but there is a big difference between aggressive and stupid. Scioscia was covering for his boys after the games, but even he has to know not to violate the cardinal rule of baserunning.
- Boo, me. Totally whiffed on Wednesday’s game starting at 9 AM. I used to live on the East Coast, I should’ve known better than to forget about time zones.
Halo Hero of the Series:
- Kendry Morales
He went 4-for-8 in the series including a two doubles, a dinger and retribution-filled triple. With four RBIs and zero LOBs to his name, he’s taking quite nicely to his job as the five-hole hitter.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
