Santana sez he feels fine
RMJon23
start, will the Angels continue to put up with him?]
Angels' Santana finds ray of hope in defeat
By Doug Padilla, Special to the Daily News
Updated: 07/03/2009 11:37:03 PM PDT
ANAHEIM - The Angels might have lost again Friday, but optimism flowed
later.
Despite a rough outing from Ervin Santana in a 6-4 defeat to the
Baltimore Orioles, manager Mike Scioscia said he felt good about the
right-hander's effort.
That wasn't the only reason for hope.
After the game, the Angels recalled Howie Kendrick, who was hitting .
338 in 19 games at Triple-A Salt Lake. To make room on the roster,
Sean Rodriguez was sent back to Triple-A.
Since taking a season-best 2 1/2-game lead in the American League West
on Monday, the Angels have lost three of their past four. Combined
with Texas' victory against Tampa Bay, the teams are tied atop the
division.
Santana returned from his second stint on the disabled list this
season and it appeared to be more than rust that was showing against
an Orioles team that looked comfortable in the batter's box.
Santana gave up six runs (four earned), eight hits and three walks in
five innings.
Scioscia, though, wasn't just looking at the stat sheet.
"The bottom line is going out there and producing, and for a pitcher
that means getting outs. You have to perform well," Scioscia said.
"Ervin didn't really get that part of it done, but his stuff looked
very crisp and I think in some ways, as far as how his arm is feeling,
it's a definite step forward."
Santana, who can be prickly at times after rough outings, was upbeat.
He said he was disappointed to lose, but his ability to execute some
pitches while working pain-free was a plus.
"This time I was not scared to throw," he said. "When you're scared to
throw, you aren't going to throw 100 percent."
He touched 94 mph on the radar gun, a spot he was at consistently last
season. Earlier this season his fastball topped out at 91 mph.
He certainly had an excuse for a rough first inning. An error by
shortstop Erick Aybar helped load the bases and the Orioles took
advantage with a two-out, two-run double from Luke Scott.
In the third inning an Aubrey Huff home run was the final blow in a
string of three consecutive hits. The three-run shot, Huff's 11 th of
the season, gave the Orioles a 5-0 lead. Nick Markakis' RBI single in
the fourth inning made it 6-0.
It certainly wasn't looking good, unless you had Scioscia's big-
picture view.
"I thought he was throwing the ball better and the ball was coming out
hot early in the game," Scioscia said. "I was impressed with Ervin's
stuff early in the game. Sure, he didn't get some breaking balls in
spots and missed with a fastball to Scott, but I liked his stuff.
Hopefully it's something he can build off of."
He will get a chance to show if he is indeed on the right track when
he makes his final start of the first half Wednesday at home against
Texas.
The Angels didn't get on the board against Orioles starter David
Hernandez (2-2) until the fourth inning on an RBI double from Maicer
Izturis. They scored two more runs in the sixth inning on a two-run
home run by Kendry Morales.
It was the 14 th home run of the season for Morales, with all of them
coming from the left side of the plate.
The bullpen did its job to keep the Angels in the game. It's just that
the damage already had been done. Kevin Jepsen, Rich Thompson and Matt
Palmer gave the Angels four scoreless innings.
"We're going to need them especially with Ervin trying to get back in
his rhythm, as well as Joe Saunders," Scioscia said. "Some guys
haven't been deep into games like we've needed. We're doing a better
job at holding leads and tonight they kept us in the game."
The victory was just the fourth for the Orioles in the past 15 games
at Angel Stadium.