Angels' path to sweeping the Padres came from the most unlikely source

It took longer than anyone wanted, but the Los Angeles Angels finally got a home sweep as they took down the Padres on Wednesday. Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto each homered in the series finale, and LA's offense was clutch all series long, even if they weren't exactly prolific in scoring a total of nine runs across three games.

Not only did the Angels' sweep of the Padres come at a great time to help get the stink of getting swept by the Mariners off of them, but the real reason LA was able to handle San Diego was, against all odds, because their pitching absolutely dominated, and that could be a great sign going forward.

Top to bottom, the Angels' pitching staff was great against the Padres

You don't get a lot of series sweeps averaging three runs a game on offense, but that is a testament to how good LA's arms performed. Tyler Anderson, Patrick Sandoval, and Jose Soriano each went at least six innings against the Padres and each of them gave up just a single earned run. By any measure, that is big-time production.

Even the bullpen, which is still not good, performed well. Angels relievers threw 8.1 innings and only Luis Garcia had a minor implosion in the second game. Fortunately, that was the game where the Angels' offense put up a blistering four runs and Sandoval shoved, so Garcia's struggles ended up not having an adverse impact.

For an Angels organization that has struggled mightily to develop anything resembling a MLB pitching staff, series like the one against the Padres are a great first step. The team still needs to continue their overhaul of their pitching development and still needs more arms to get the required depth to compete, but LA's staff really showed something against the Padres, and one just hopes that they can keep a semblance of it up the rest of the way.

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