Pitching and Hitting showing improvement

It has been a real treat for Angel’s fans to see both sides of the team starting to find their groove. In this recent series against the Detroit Tigers, the pitching and hitting, which have both struggled lately are starting to produce. In the first two games of this series, the offense produced 12 runs in the first game, along with an impressive performance by Hector Santiago in Friday’s affair.

In Thursday’s matchup, the Angel bats exploded, putting up 12 runs including a grand slam by catcher Chris Iannetta. Albert Pujols and Matt Joyce also hit home runs as they pounded Tigers starter Buck Farmer early on. Starter C.J. Wilson was able to get through six innings despite struggling to get through the third inning and giving up a season high of five walks. Wilson was able to work himself out of a jam in the third and settle down for the rest of his outing.

In Friday’s outing, it was the pitching that stood out as Hector Santiago pitched 7 1/2 innings of shutout baseball. With the victory, Santiago’s ERA dropped to 2.18, which leads all Angels starting pitching. Santiago has shown much improvement in his pitching from last season. “You can see, his delivery is much more consistent..” Manager Mike Scioscia told OC Register, ” It’s definitely smoother. Santiago got a little offensive help from Albert Pujols who belted his 2nd home run in this series. Closer Huston Street got some extra inning work as usual set-up man Joe Smith is out with a stiff neck.

Angels can hope that both pieces are starting to come together as Pujols seemed to find his bat as he raised his batting average to .250, for the first time this season. Everything seems to be starting to click for the Angels in this series.