By Jeff Flinn - AngelsWin.com Contributor
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*Weaver and Santana each had solid 6 inning outings, only affected by the A's driving up pitch counts. Santana has pitched like even numbered year Santana in his past 2 outings. Here's to his continuing that. Joel Pineiro was a little better than he was on Saturday, only really hit hard on Andy LaRoche's two-run double.
*Scott Downs pitched two more scoreless innings, and now has a 0.61 ERA. Walden had two more saves. Rodney finally had a scoreless inning for seemingly the first time in a while. Thompson had 1 2/3 scoreless innings to keep the Halos in the game on Thursday.
*Hitting wise, the Halos had a decent showing given that the A's lead the AL in team ERA. The RISP BA was just below .250 for the series (7-29). Hunter continues to hit much better than he was earlier. His and Callaspo's back-to-back HRs were huge Wednesday night. Trumbo hit a big three-run home run to make today's game close in the 9th inning. Conger might be coming out of his slump with 2 hits on Wednesday night. Mathis had 2 hits Monday night, including a key 2 run single to give the Halos breathing room in the 8th inning. Willits finally had a power-hitting moment with a double on Wednesday night to give the team an important insurance run.
*Defensively, the Halos were rock solid, committing 0 errors in the series and only having 24 errors in 52 games so far (2nd best in the AL). Hunter had a key putout at home plate on Monday night. Amarista made several great plays in the series, after struggling last Saturday night.
Welcome to newest Halos' player Russell Branyan, and thank you for nearly tying up Thursday's game in the 9th inning. Please feel free to supply some SORELY needed power-hitting!
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*Haren was shaky for the first time this season, giving up two home runs to Halos nemesis David DeJesus (career OPS around .900 against the Halos). Coco Crisp also continues to be a pest against the Halos.
Andy LaRoche? Andy LaRoche? Really? Really?
*The offense, save for Trumbo's HR on Thursday, disappeared for 2 of the 4 games. You just never know what this offense is going to do from game to game.
*It's not a great thing to split with the division rival A's at home, after being swept in two games on the road by them.
*Kendrick goes on the DL. This is frustrating, after Mike said he could play this past weekend.
*Second base umpire Kerwin Danley denied Aybar his 13th straight stolen base on Wednesday night, on a call that wasn't even close!
