Previous Series

Angels vs Blue Jays (L 0-5, L 0-4, W 6-2, W 4-3)

The Angels came off their first sweep of the season against Minnesota after some stellar pitching performances (including Jered Weaver‘s no-hitter) looking to stay hot in a four game series against Toronto. For the series opener, the Angels sent Dan Haren to the mound to try for a third straight complete-game shutout for the Angels. They ended up being only half disappointed. Haren went 7.0 innings, giving up three earned runs off a J.P. Arencibia blast in the third inning as part of a five hit, five strikeout effort. However, Brandon Morrow picked up where Weaver had left off the night before, and went the distance with a three hit shutout of the Angels, leading Toronto to an easy 5-0 win.

Can the Angels score any runs for Santana? (Image: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE)

For Game 2, the Angels put Ervin Santana on the hill still looking for his first win of the season. He pitched strong, going 8.0 innings, giving up three earned runs on three hits and tallying an impressive 10 strikeouts. However, he was once again let down by the team behind him, who had two errors on defense and were shut down completely yet again on offense. Henderson Alvarez pitched his first complete-game shutout of his young career as he needed just 97 pitches to go the distance, scattering six hits, striking out three and walking one. It was the fourth straight complete-game shutout by a pitcher in Angels Stadium, and the sixth time this season that the Angels have been held without a run.

In Game 3, the offense, minus Albert Pujols, finally came back to life behind C.J. Wilson to put an end to their mini-slide against Toronto. Mike Trout his his first home run of the season as part of a two RBI, two run day, and Mark Trumbo launched his fourth home run of the season. Wilson, meanwhile, put together his sixth straight quality start to open the season, going 8.0 innings, striking out nine while giving up just two runs on six hits. The Halos were able to get to Kyle Drabek, who surrendered five runs on eight hits through just 5.0 innings. The loss is Drabek’s third straight after starting the season 2-0.

In the series finale, Pujols returned to the lineup and provided some long awaited offensive support for Jerome Williams. In the fifth inning, Pujols connected for his first home run of the season after 110 homerless at-bats. The two run shot put the Halos up 4-1, which was enough for Williams, who went 6.2 innings with four strikeouts surrendering two runs on eight hits, to get his third win of the year. While the Angels earned the split and Pujols finally went yard, it was not all good news for Los Angeles. Scott Downs, one of the only consistent bullpen contributors this season, tweaked his knee attempting to save the game and had to leave, and his replacement, LaTroy Hawkins, who came in and closed out the game, is also hurt with a fractured finger.

Twins @ Mariners (W 3-2, L 0-7, L 2-5)

The Twins left Orange County after getting swept by the Angels and headed north to Seattle to take on the Mariners in a three-game series to try and salvage their road trip. In the opener, Carl Pavano went to the hill and pitched well through 6.0 innings, giving up just two runs on eight hits while striking out a pair. The Twins offense finally got on the board in the seventh inning, snapping a 25-inning scoreless streak, on a fielder’s choice from Denard Span scored Chris Parmelee. Later in the inning, Joe Mauer hit a two-out RBI single to score Trevor Plouffe with the go-ahead run. The three-run seventh helped the Twins avoid getting shut out for the third straight game and sent the Mariners to their seventh straight loss.

For Game 2, the Twins reverted back to their hitless ways as they got dominated by Felix Hernandez, who allowed just one hit through 8.0 innings while striking out nine. Jason Marquis pitched well for Minnesota, going 6.0 innings striking out one and giving up just two runs on four hits, but walked six and couldn’t match the near-perfection of Hernandez. The Mariners exploded for five runs in the seventh after loading the bases off two walks and a bunt single off reliever Anthony Swarzak, who was pulled after giving up a sac-fly to Brendan Ryan. The loss was the third shutout in four games for the Twins, whose offense will be further limited after the team placed Justin Morneau on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 1.

Nick Blackburn went to the hill for the Twins in the series finale, and put Minnesota in a hole early. Blackburn gave up a two-run double to Jesus Montero and an RBI single to Kyle Seager in the bottom of the first to give Seattle all the runs they needed to cruise past the Twins. Blackburn finished the day giving up five runs on seven hits while striking out four through 6.0 innings of work. The only Twins player to muster any offense was Ryan Doumit, who hit a pair of solo home runs late in the game. It proved to be too little too late to spark a Twins rally, and Minnesota dropped another series after going just 1-5 on their six game road trip.

Pitching Matchups

May 7: Jered Weaver (4-0, 1.61 ERA) vs Francisco Liriano (0-4, 9.97)

Weaver gets another shot at the team he no-hit just five days ago (Image: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE)

Weaver takes the hill for the Angels in his first start since pitching a no-hitter against the Twins to get another shot at the Twins. This will be his third start against Minnesota this season and second at Target Field. Back on April 11, Weaver made his second start of the season in Minnesota and had his worst outing of the season so far. He went 6.0 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits, striking out seven and walking one. He was in control for most of the game but got into trouble in the fourth and left the game with no outs in the seventh and earned a no-decision when the bullpen couldn’t keep Weaver’s base-runners from scoring. Weaver got another shot at Minnesota five days ago in Los Angeles and was near perfect on the night. He allowed just two base runners (one on a passed ball third strike and one on a walk), struck out nine and walked one as he pitched his first no-hitter in his career. Weaver has been dominant this season, putting up Cy Young numbers, with just a 1.61 ERA and 0.78 WHIP with a 45:7 K:BB ratio holding hitters to an average of just .178. In short, the Twins are in trouble.

Compounding Minnesota’s trouble in the opener is their starter, Liriano, has been the anti-Weaver this season. He’s given up 24 runs in five starts this season, surrendering five home runs and has nearly walked as many hitters as he’s struck out (17:16 K:BB). Opposing teams are teeing off on Liriano with a .360 batting average against, which has ballooned his WHIP up to 2.22. His last outing came against these Angels, and he had one of his less disastrous outings, only giving up four runs (down from his usual five) on seven hits, surrendering a pair of home runs and walking three while fanning five. Liriano continues to be a thorn in Rod Gardenhire’s side as he makes it more and more difficult to justify leaving him in the rotation (though other options are severely limited). The one saving grace for Liriano is that the Angels still aren’t really clicking offensively, so he could catch them on an off night.

May 8: Dan Haren (1-2, 3.43 ERA) vs Scott Diamond (0-0)

Haren has had an up and down start to his season, and his last outing was a bit of a down. Against Toronto, Haren went 7.0 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks. It didn’t help matters that he was on the wrong side of Brandon Morrow’s complete game shutout of the Halos. This will be Haren’s second start at Target field. The last time he was here, he left with a no-decision after going 5.0 innings, surrendering three runs, striking out seven and walking one. The bullpen promptly fumbled away that game, which became a common thing for Haren in April, and Haren had to wait for his first win of the season. Haren will look to have another strong showing against the Twins, but maybe this time he’ll get a little more help from his friends in relief.

Scott Diamond is making his first start of the season after getting called up from Triple-A on Saturday. He replaces the struggling Liam Hendriks, who had an ERA of 9.00 through four starts this season. Diamond is a 25-year old lefty who has made seven career starts in the big leagues, compiling a 1-5 record with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. There are some control issues to worry about as well, as he’s issued 17 walks in 39.0 innings of work, but will try to be an upgrade in a terribly deficient Twins rotation.

May 9: Ervin Santana (0-6, 5.59 ERA) vs Carl Pavano (2-2, 4.62 ERA)

Call me an optimist, but Santana has been looking better lately. After giving up an average of five runs per start over his first four outings, he’s given up five total runs in his last two starts combined. In his last outing, Santana was strong through 8.0 innings, giving up three runs (including yet another home run), but he struck out 10 and walked just two against the Blue Jays. He continues to be hurt most by a severe lack of run support. The Angels have been shutout in six games this season…Santana has been on the mound for five of them. He’s been getting his command back and is hitting spots more consistently, but can’t score any runs for himself (at least, not until interleague play). He’ll need help from the offense if he’s going to find win number one.

Carl Pavano has been the best starting pitcher for the Twins this season, leading the team in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, and wins. The fact that he has a 4.62 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 19 strikeouts, and just two wins is more a commentary on the current state of pitching in Minnesota. In his last outing, he looked solid, going 6.0 innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and no walks in the Twins’ only win over their last six games. He threw less than 70 pitches in the game, however, so there are questions about how much tread is left on the 36-year old righty. In his last start against Los Angeles at home last month, Pavano went 6.2 innings and gave up five runs on seven hits but got the no-decision as the Twins rallied to win. He isn’t going to blow anyone away with his stuff, but he’s still a solid option for a staff that has been reeling to start 2012.

Storylines to Watch

For the Angels, Pujols-Watch can finally wind down. With the first home run of Albert’s Angels tenure in the books, now the focus won’t be so hot on him, and maybe he can get back to relaxing at the plate and try raising that still terrible slash line of .196/.237/.295. Now, the rage of fans can turn to Ervin Santana and we can all shout “WHEN WILL HE WIN A GAME??” Weaver pitching against the same team he no-hit in the opener will be intriguing to see, and you can expect the twitter-verse to explode with “There goes the no-hit” tweets if the Twins are able to get on base tonight. Prepare your feeds accordingly.

For the Twins, things have spiraled out of control and they are really struggling to win games right now. They have the worst pitching in baseball, and their offense isn’t good enough to make up for it, so the story for them becomes “Can they stop this terrible terrible bleeding?” Right now, at 7-20, they are the worst team in baseball, a game back of San Diego for that dubious honor. Their season is about to go down one of two roads: they rally and become just a regularly bad team, OR they head even further south and make a run at historical terribleness.

Season Implications

The Angels are 4-2 in May so far and just half a game back of Seattle for third place in the division. That’s not the team everyone thought they’d be chasing in May (if they were going to chase anyone at all) but that’s what we got. They’ve also closed down the gap between them and division leading Texas to 6.5, but first things first: GET OUT OF THE CELLAR. The Angels need to pick up some more wins from lesser opponents before heading down to Texas for their next series to get some postive momentum flowing.

The Twins are just playing for pride out there at this point, and trying their best to keep pace with Kansas City for the race for fourth place in the AL Central. It’s going to be a long season in Minnesota, unfortunately, as they’re boasting a -59 run differential (worst in baseball), have won just 2 of their last ten, and now face life without one of their best hitters for the near future. Any postivity that could help them stay within striking distance of “not last place” will be a good thing.

The Hangout View

The Angels are putting together a nice little May so far, and look to keep it going against the only team they’ve swept this season. The Halo bats went silent against Toronto for two games as they came up against a couple of stellar pitcher that got hot. Luckily for Los Angeles, Minnesota doesn’t have any of those. The starting pitching will carry the Halos in this series and the offense will finally score a couple runs for Ervin as the Angels get their second sweep of Minnesota. I mean, it’s not like Santana can lose every game, right?

Previous Series

Angels @ Indians (L 2-3, W 2-1, L 0-4)

The Angels headed to Cleveland on a four-game losing streak, coming off a three-game sweep in Tampa Bay. Jered Weaver took the hill in the series opener, and continued his strong start to the season. Weaver went six scoreless innings, striking out eight, walking four, and giving up seven hits. Weaver worked himself out of some trouble, including a first inning jam, where he gave up two hits and two walks, but escaped surrendering any runs when he struck out Jack Hannahan with the bases loaded. However, the bullpen failed to hold another lead, as Kevin Jepsen gave up the game tying run on a single to Jason Kipnis and Asdrubal Cabrera eventually hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth to extend the Angels losing streak to five. After the game, the Angels released Bobby Abreu and called up Mike Trout to try and spark the anemic offense.

In the second game, Dan Haren took to the hill to try and get his first win of the season. After watching the bullpen blow leads in his last three starts, Haren went 8.0 strong inning, striking out seven, walking two, and giving up just one run while scattering four hits. The Angels turned to new closer Scott Downs, who worked  a perfect ninth to record his first save of 2012 and only his second in the last three seasons. Trout, who had been called up on Friday, went 0-for-4 in his season debut and Torii Hunter hit his second solo home run in as many days and the Angels won their first game since April 21.

For the series finale, Ervin Santana looked to find his first quality start of the season and get off the losing streak he’s started 2012 on. He once again failed to get much help from his team, with the Indians scoring three of their runs off errors and the offense getting shut out for the fourth straight Santana start. Hunter, a nine-time Gold Glove winner, lost a fly ball in the sun which resulted in two runs, and the offense managed just a meager three hits on the day. Mike Trout was hitless for a second straight game and Albert Pujols remains without a home run (I’m sure tired of writing that).

Twins vs Royals (L 6-7, W 7-4)

The Twins had their three game homestand against Kansas City when their game on Saturday was called due to rain. Carl Pavano started in the series opener, and went 6.1 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits, walking one without a strikeout. He left the game with the game tied 5-5, but the bullpen eventually gave up the winning run in the eighth inning and the Twins dropped their sixth straight game.

After the day off from the rain, Jason Marquis took the hill and went six strong innings, giving up three runs on six hits, striking out one and walking none in the win. He was helped by the offense of Josh Willingham, who was playing in his first game since taking paternity leave a week ago. Willingham picked up his hitting right where he left off and finished just a home run away from the cycle. The Twins also got help from a pair of RBI from Ryan Doumit and Danny Valencia. The win was just the first for Minnesota in seven games and only the second win for a Twins starting pitcher.

Pitching Matchup

April 30: C.J. Wilson (2-2, 2.42 ERA) vs Nick Blackburn (0-2, 7.53 ERA)

Wilson has been as strong a starter as the Angels were hoping for when they signed the lefty in free agency. He has posted an impressive 2.42 ERA, a 1.08 WHIP and opponents are hitting just .175 against him. He’s kept his control issues to a minimum, posting a 26:11 K:BB, including 19 strikeouts in his last two starts. However, Wilson has lost his last two starts, despite only giving up five runs combined, and no more than three earned runs in any start, but has been hurt by a lack of offensive support. In his last start against Minnesota, his first of the season, Wilson was dominant going 7.0 innings and giving up just one run on three hits, striking out five while walking four. He was able to keep the Twins lineup off-balance, getting Minnesota to hit 15 of the 17 balls put into play on the ground. He’ll look to repeat that performance and get his first win at home.

Blackburn has struggled so far this season, giving up five runs in two of his three starts and spending some time on the injured list with a shoulder injury. His last start lasted just 3.0 innings and he got roughed up pretty good, giving up five runs on eight hits, including home run against Boston. Blackburn doesn’t have overpowering stuff, and relies heavily on location and deception to get hitters out. He’s had neither working for him so far this season, and his performance has reflected it. Blackburn has historically struggled, posting a career 4.56 ERA and a WHIP of 1.44, but his 2012 stat lines (7.53 ERA, 1.67 WHIP) aren’t painting a terribly optimistic picture of improving those numbers. Opposing teams have been teeing off on him with a .323 BAA, and could be the cure for the Angels hitting woes.

May 1: Jerome Williams (1-1, 5.51 ERA) vs Francisco Liriano (0-3, 11.02 ERA)

Williams has bounced back nicely after his disastrous debut in the Bronx, posting back-to-back quality starts against Baltimore and Tampa Bay. Against the Rays, Williams went 7.0 strong innings, giving up two runs on five hits, striking out six and walking three. He left in line for the win, but got stuck with a no-decision when Jordan Walden gave up a walk-off home run which cost Walden the job as closer as finished off the sweep in Tampa. There’s been talk of young Garrett Richards, who’s been strong in triple-A so far this season, replacing Williams as the fifth starter if he struggled, but with two straight strong showings, Williams has really strengthened his hold on the spot.

Liriano has been a nightmare for the Twins this year. He’s given up 20 runs in his four starts (five in each) and has a monstrous ERA at 11.02 and a ridiculous WHIP of 2.33. Opposing lineups are hitting .368 against him, and he hasn’t helped himself with control issues. So far this season, Liriano has issued 13 walks and struck out just 12. The Twins are perplexed on what to do with their Dominican lefty, as a stint in the minors or a change to the bullpen are unlikely options, but having him get shelled every fifth day isn’t helping the Twins avoid having the worst record in baseball.

May 2: Jered Weaver (3-0, 2.02 ERA) vs Liam Hendriks (0-1, 6.89 ERA)

Weaver's starts have been good times for the Angels (Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE)

Jered Weaver has picked up where he left off in 2011 and is putting together a pretty strong candidacy for the Cy Young in 2012. Weaver leads the American League with 36 strikeouts in five starts, posting an elite 2.02 ERA and miniscule 0.98 WHIP. He’s held opponents scoreless in three of his five starts and given up just eight runs on the season. In his last start, Weaver went 6.0 innings against Cleveland, giving up no runs on seven hits, striking out eight and walking a season high four. Weaver left with the lead, but the bullpen broke and gave up the win, giving Weaver his second no-decision of the season. His worst outing came in Minnesota, where he gave up five runs on seven hits, striking out seven and walking one. Weaver came away with the no-decision after he got hit in one bad inning and will look to have a much better outing this time around. Having the friendly confines of Angels Stadium at his back will help him continue his strong start and give the Angels an excellent shot at the win…provided the bullpen doesn’t have to do too much.

Hendriks is yet another Twins pitcher who hasn’t won a game yet this year and who is getting hit hard by opponents with a BAA of .333. In his last start, he failed to make it out of the fifth inning, giving up seven runs and nine hits over just 4.0 innings, striking out three and walking two. Hendriks has been hurt by the long ball, giving up four home runs in three starts. To his credit, Hendriks is getting twice as many strikeouts as walks (8:4), but has shown a decreasing ability to keep runs off the scoreboard, giving up one run in his first start, four in his second, and seven in his more recent start. If he can’t turn that trend around, things will get uglier and uglier before he loses his spot in the rotation all together.

Storylines to Watch

The Angels are officially in “uh-oh” territory. They’re eight games under .500 and nine back of Texas in the West, and are still 3.5 games deep in the cellar behind Seattle and Oakland. They’ve initiated the “Mike Trout” protocol to try and turn things around and parted ways with Bobby Abreu to make room for him. Things need to pick up in a hurry, which includes a certain first baseman (looking you Albert) finally getting one over the outfield fence. The team currently ranks 23rd in runs scored, 25th in on-base percentage, and 24th in slugging percentage. They’ve lost six of seven and failed to score more than three runs during that run. Finishing the road trip 1-5 is really not the way they were hoping to come back home, and they need to start taking advantage of a relatively easy early season schedule and start beating teams they’re supposed to beat.

The Twins have been a mess in their starting rotation. As a group, the Twins starters have just two wins this season, and the pitching ranks worst in the league in ERA, quality starts, and batting average against, and ranks 26th in WHIP. The offense, outside of Willingham, has had trouble finding consistent production, but no matter how many hits they get, the lineup just can’t seem to keep up with the amount of hits their pitchers are giving up. Can the Twins find someone to give them a reasonable chance to stay in a game on a consistent basis?

Season Implications

For the Angels, the expectations were sky-high and well known coming out of the spring: Contend for the AL West and be among the best teams in baseball. So far, they’ve failed to live up to that, and with a full month in the books, are one of the biggest disappointments in baseball. They need to start making up ground in the division and catch Seattle and Oakland to start with. Maybe once that happens, they can think about the Rangers. This team shouldn’t have spent any length of time in the cellar this season, but are now going on a month at the bottom of the West. To make up ground, they need to start a winning streak, and the beginning of a homestand is as good a place as any after a disappointing road trip.

The Twins didn’t have too many expectations attached to their 2012 season, but they’ve failed to live up to even those. Their pitching is dreadful, their offense has struggled to produce runs, and they are putting in a good effort to have the worst record in baseball this year. The Twins have taken one series against the paper-giants of Los Angeles, and would love to make it two series wins against the Angels. This season will be all about the moral victories, after all.

The Hangout View

The Angels starting pitching has started to come into form, with Haren finally getting his first win and Williams putting up back-to-back quality starts. The exception has obviously been Santana, but luckily the Angels won’t have to see him this series. Getting Wilson and Weaver in this series should give the Angels the advantage in this series, and the struggling Twins starters may be hittable enough even for this lineup right now. It’s time for the Halos to start turning things around, and *bold prediction alert* sweep the Twins to kick off their homestand.

Wilson was dominant through seven in his first start (Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE)

Wilson was named the fourth starter late in spring training, in a somewhat surprising move by manager Mike Scioscia. Many fans expected that Wilson would be part of the Opening Weekend home stand against the Royals, but Scioscia decided to push Wilson’s first start back a day to the team’s road opener in Minnesota. Scioscia’s official reasoning for it was the way the starts of spring training happened to fall and he insisted that once the season got started, nobody would make any distinction between pitchers one through four. Other theories pointed to Scioscia’s history of looking out for “his guys” and leaving Ervin Santana in the third spot was his way of showing support to a guy who’s been with the team quite a while. Another possibility is that the Royals weren’t a great matchup for the lefty Wilson, since Kansas City was one of the best hitting teams against left-handed pitching in 2011. Seeing what they did to the right-handed Santana and Dan Haren before him, you can imagine how ugly it would have been if they’d gotten a favorable matchup…

Whatever the reason, Wilson was slated for his first start on Monday, in what turned out to be a cool day in Minneapolis. The crisp temperatures did not do much to cool off Wilson, however, as he came out of the gate controlling the Twins lineup. he was helped out by the Angels offense getting off to a quick start, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning which gave the left-hander all the cushion he would need. Wilson cruised through a smooth seven innings, surrendering just three hits while walking four and striking out five and made only one mistake, a home run surrendered to Josh Willingham on Wilson’s work-in-progress changeup. The Willingham shot turned out to be the only  run surrendered to the Twins and Wilson looked comfortable throughout. The lefty was predictably nonchalant about his performance:

“We have a long way to go. We just have to concentrate on playing the best baseball we can. It doesn’t really have anything to do with who’s hitting the home run or who’s getting the win,” he said.

While one start is obviously not a large enough sample size to make any lasting judgments about the long-term success of Wilson with the Halos, the team and fans have to be pleased with the promising start. While Wilson has never been known for incredible pinpoint control, evidenced by the four walks, he was able to work his way out of trouble consistently and never looked like the game was getting away from him. Wilson showed great movement on all his pitches which kept the Twins hitters consistently off balance, never allowing them to zero in on what he was throwing.

So what does it mean for Wilson and the Angels moving forward? Well,in the short term, it renews some of the faith in the starting pitching that took a ding during the opening series against the Royals with the struggles of Haren and Santana. In the long term, it gives the Angels another excellent pitcher behind the Cy Young caliber effort of Jered Weaver at the top of the rotation. All in all, it’s looking like that 5-year $77 million contract was a solid investment. At least, so far.