Angels Win Their Fifth Straight, Mike Scioscia Suddenly AL Manager of the Year

Okay, all kidding aside. The Angels have won their fifth straight game. Joe Blanton (1-7) collected his first win and Robert Coello earned his first career save. And maybe more importantly, things are finally starting to go the Halos’ way.

May 23, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Los Angeles Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo (44) connects for a two run home run in the eighth inning of the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

You know things are going well when Joe Blanton makes an appearance in the win column. What the $#@! is going on around here?

It’s really quite simple: Pitchers are starting to pitch, and hitters are starting to hit. The only downside is that the club waited this long to get things going.

The Angels (20-27) beat the Kansas City Royals 5-4 Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium for their fifth consecutive win. Mike Trout got the party started with a solo home run off Ervin Santana in the first inning. Not to be outdone, Albert Pujols, Chris Iannetta and Mark Trumbo all followed suit by going deep (Trumbo added a two-run shot in the 8th).  Mike Trout on the Angels new approach:

"We had a plan coming in, Trout said.  We wanted to avoid chasing the sliders away and we stuck with the plan. We’ve been swinging it the past few days and you see what this offense can do"

Kansas City (21-23) rallied back making it 5-4 with two runs in the ninth inning. The Royals would ultimately come up short against Coello who was called in to relieve Ernesto Frieri with two on and two out in the ninth.

So it looks like the Angels have turned the page on their slow start. But I don’t want to jinx it so I’ll stop here.