The Los Angeles Angels had a slow start to the 2009 baseball season but on Monday they were able to clinch the American League West division title. Their clinching win came against the Texas Rangers — the very team the Angels battled with atop the division for much of the campaign.
This victory, which improved the Angels record to 92-64, didn’t require much effort. Los Angeles was up 3-0 after one inning and 8-0 after four innings. Eventually, the Angels claimed an 11-0 win over the Rangers.
Ervin Santana, who struggled for most of the season, was very good on Monday as …read more

Kelvim Escobar, who hasn’t pitched in the major leagues in more than 19 months, will return to the mound on Saturday for the Los Angeles Angels. His return will be against the Detroit Tigers.
Shoulder surgery is the reason why he’s missed so much time. He didn’t pitch at all in 2008 and missed the beginning of this season while still recovering.
In 2007, Escobar was one of the best pitchers in the American League. In 30 starts, the native of Venezuela had an 18-7 record to go along with a 3.40 ERA.
Now 33 years old, Escobar has a lot to prove. …read more

Josh Hamilton missed 13 games for the Texas Rangers with a ribcage muscle strain. On Tuesday, Hamilton returned with a bang.
After going without a hit in his first three at-bats, Hamilton came to the plate in the seventh inning with the game tied 1-1. With one swing, Hamilton put the Rangers up 3-1 when he hit a homer against the Seattle Mariners. Texas never trailed again and beat Seattle by a final count of 7-1.
The Rangers have now sit in first place in the AL West after winning eight of their last ten games. At 18-14, Texas has outscored their …read more