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Rays 3 - Angels 0 The Angels were shutout for the first time this season, managing just four hits and stranding 10 runners against Rays starter Chris Archer and an efficient Tampa Bay bullpen. Jered Weaver absorbed the loss despite a strong outing, surrendering two runs on three hits while striking out five over seven complete innings. Click here to download the scorecard. If your new to scoring baseball or just need help interpreting some of the markup, download the key here. View the full article

ANAHEIM – Jered Weaver felt good Friday night in holding the Tampa Bay Rays to two runs over seven innings in what ultimately proved to be a losing effort.How good? As good as he’s felt, overall, since “probably 2009,” Weaver said.Never... View the full article

Cesar Ramos and C.J. Wilson both struggled in their last trips to the mound, so each will be trying to regain his command Saturday night when the Rays and Angels play the third of a four-game series in Anaheim. View the full article

ANAHEIM – Albert Pujols was back at first base for Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, finely fielding balls hit by the first two hitters Jered Weaver faced.Pujols had served as the Angels’ designated hitter for three of the past six... View the full article

ANAHEIM – Chris Archer and his old-school striped socks mystified the Angels, who wasted a solid effort from ace Jered Weaver in a 3-0 loss Friday night at Angel Stadium.Archer, the Tampa Bay Rays’ lanky, hard-throwing right-hander, limited the... View the full article

Jered Weaver was outstanding opposite Chris Archer and the Rays on Friday night at Angel Stadium, but the right-hander took a difficult 3-0 loss with no support from his offense. Albert Pujols went 1-for-4 and left six men on base. View the full article

Rays manager Joe Maddon challenged a safe call at first base on Howie Kendrick's infield single in the eighth inning, but the original ruling stood. View the full article

With guys like C.J. Cron, Grant Green, Luis Jimenez and Efran Navarro, the Angels have already received important contributions from their farm system. View the full article

Albert Pujols has yet to miss a game, and he's no longer hindered by the plantar fasciitis that crippled his 2013 season, but there are days when he doesn't run very well, or the stiffness creeps in, and it's something Angels manager Mike Scioscia is constantly monitoring. View the full article

Angels third baseman David Freese will be with the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees on Saturday, serving as the designated hitter for what he hopes is the first of only a couple of rehab games. View the full article

David Freese is going to join Kole Calhoun in Nevada.The Angels third baseman, out since May 2 with a fractured middle finger on his right hand, will tomorrow begin a rehab assignment for the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees in Reno.He completed an intense... View the full article

By Rob Goldman, AngelsWin.com Historical Writer - Ryan’s 54 strikeouts in April put him well on pace to eclipse Koufax’s 382. He was 3–1 for the month, but following a victory over Detroit in extra innings on May 2, he dropped his next two starts. It wasn’t until May 11, in a rare relief appearance against Chicago, that he got back on track. When the Angels trooped into Kansas City’s brand-new Royals Stadium for a two-game set on May 14, he was feeling good. Not scheduled to start until the following day, Ryan hunkered down in his hotel room with a pile of cattle magazines and rested. By holing up in his room, he unknowingly dodged a bullet. The day before the game, center fielder Ken Berry, who lived in the Kansas City area, invited his teammates out to his farm for an afternoon of fishing in a private stock pond. The pond was infested with chiggers, a miniscule insect whose bite resulted in a breakout of hives. Several Angels were bitten, some bad enough to require medical attention and miss the opening game of the series the next day. Before Ryan’s start, his bullpen throwing session was especially strong, recalls catcher Jeff Torborg. “Nolan was really crisp, throwing hard right from the beginning. His fastball was working well, and like in Sandy Koufax’s perfect game, he had a big rolling curveball.” Ryan’s teammates staked him to an early 2–0 lead, and the Royals, overwhelmed by fastballs and knee-buckling curves, got nowhere through the first six innings. Recalls Angels shortstop Rudy Meoli, “I remember thinking to myself, You know what, they haven’t even gotten a hit yet. So I started looking at who was coming up and made sure I put myself in the proper position.” Meoli’s extra effort paid off in the eighth, when journeyman lefty Gail Hopkins thumped an inside fastball that appeared likely to soar over Meoli’s head. “I turned around and started running,” says Meoli. “When I looked up again, I figured I could catch the ball. It was almost like a Willie Mays–type catch. On a 1-to-10 degree of difficulty, I figure it was about a nine.” Meoli’s fantastic catch turned out to be the play of the game. “I didn’t realize the magnitude of it,” Meoli recalls, “because at the time I was just so into the whole thing of winning the game and that he’s got a no-hitter going and thinking, This is cool, this is good.” Squinting at the game on the tiny TV in the Ryans’ living room in Anaheim, Ruth’s excitement built until finally she grabbed Reid and went next door to their neighbors’ house to watch on their larger set. Soon another family joined them and everyone huddled silently around the tube as Ryan got through the seventh and eighth innings unscathed. The Halos were held scoreless in their half of the ninth. When Ryan marched out to the mound in the bottom of the frame, he was still ahead 3–0 and hadn’t allowed a hit. He glanced at the scoreboard. Due up were Freddie Patek, Steve Hovly, and Amos Otis. Ryan made quick work of Patek and Hovly, and now all that remained between him and his first no-hitter was Otis, a former teammate from the Mets and a perennial .300 hitter. Swinging from his heels, Otis missed badly on Ryan’s first offering. When the next fastball came down the pike, Otis was ready, and his bat met the ball with a resounding crack. “Oh, no! Not now, not now!” yelled Torborg from behind the dish. The ball sailed toward deep right-center field. Both Ryan and Torborg thought it had enough on it to reach the fence and maybe go over it. But two innings before, Bobby Winkles had put Gold Glover Ken Berry—who’d somehow avoided the chiggers infestation the day before—into right field in place of Bob Oliver. Berry had started running back the moment Otis made contact with the ball. Just a few feet from the wall he turned, brought up his glove, and made the catch. “I didn’t really give the no-hitter any thought until the eighth inning,” Ryan told the press afterward. “But after Meoli made that catch, in my own mind I decided I was going to throw a no-hitter, and if they did hit me, it was going to be off my best stuff. I only threw two curves in the last inning.” “Oh, god, it was beautiful, absolutely beautiful,” exalted Torborg, who’d now caught no-hitters by both Ryan and Koufax. “Nolie had good stuff early, and when I saw nothing up there on the board in the fourth I started counting the outs myself.” So, who threw harder—Koufax or Ryan? No one would know better than the man who caught them both. “It’s very difficult to say,” says Torborg. “Both threw over the top and had explosive fastballs. Sandy eventually achieved a much more rhythmic delivery, but I’ve never seen anybody throw as hard down in the strike zone as Nolan did. He could drive the ball at knee-high level…unbelievable! “When Sandy got two strikes he would be throwing the ball right by you, letter-high. But when Nolan had two strikes, I had to be careful. If we were trying to get a ball down and away, I really was very careful to protect down, which is what you do with a curveball. But then there were times he just shocked you with a fastball up, and would blow it right by the batter—and me if I wasn’t careful. It was one of those things where a ball would come out of nowhere and just explode. “Nolan had another thing: he could throw a ball that years ago they would call a dry spitter. He would choke the ball so tightly in his palm and throw it so hard that he overpowered the ball, and it would come in and dive like a spit ball. Invariably it would be with two strikes on the hitter and when you least expected it, and the bottom would fall out of the darn thing. So whenever he had two strikes I’d look for anything. “Both Koufax and Ryan were very sincere. There was no phoniness about them. You really knew where you stood with both these guys.” Royals manager Jack McKeon insisted that Ryan had cheated during the early innings of his no-hitter and filed a protest. “He was breaking contact with the rubber and pitching two inches in front of it, which is illegal,” McKeon barked until a few of his own players who knew better told him to zip it and withdraw his protest. “If they had a higher league than the majors, Ryan would be in it,” outfielder Hal McRae told reporters. “As a matter of fact, he could be it.” “Is this his first [no-hitter]?” asked Royals shortstop Freddie Patek. “Well, I don’t believe it will be his last.” When Ruth answered her phone later that night, she couldn’t contain her excitement. “We all watched the game at the Smiths’ because their TV is bigger!” she shouted before Nolan even said hello. “We were all screaming for you. Do I sound hoarse?” There was a pause as she fought to calm herself down. “You pitched a great game, Nolan,” she resumed, almost in a whisper. “Yeah, I guess I pitched a pretty good game,” Nolan responded as matter-of-factly as if he’d started an intersquad game at Holtville. “I’m just glad it’s over.” The next day, Ryan’s hotel phone rang off the hook. The calls were mostly from family and friends, but there was also one from Cooperstown, New York. The Baseball Hall of Fame wanted the cap he’d worn the night before. © Nolan Ryan, The Making of a Pitcher- 2014 Visit- www.makingofapitcher.com Book Signing-Saturday, May 24th, Costa Mesa, South Coast Plaza-1:00 PM View the full article

Rays 5 - Angels 6 The Angels rallied for four runs in the ninth, capped off by Mike Trout’s first walk-off home run, a three-run shot off Tampa Bay reliever Brad Boxberger. Angels starting pitcher Tyler Skaggs struggled, surrendering five runs on eight hits over six innings. But the Halo bullpen held the Rays to just two walks over the final frames, setting the stage for a dramatic finish. Click here to download the scorecard. If your new to scoring baseball or just need help interpreting some of the markup, download the key here. View the full article

ANAHEIM – Mike Trout came to the plate at about 10:45 p.m. Thursday mired in a sizable slump – for any hitter, but especially for him.And yet he did the same thing he always does. With the tying runs on base in the ninth inning against the Tampa... View the full article

ANAHEIM – Mike Trout broke out of his slump in the biggest possible way Thursday at Angel Stadium.The Angels center fielder, struggling for nearly two weeks, slammed a walk-off three-run homer against Rays right-hander Brad Boxberger in the ninth... View the full article

Mike Trout clubbed a three-run home run in the ninth inning to lift the Angels to a dramatic 6-5 victory over the visiting Rays in Anaheim on Thursday night. View the full article

ANAHEIM – His teammates were arriving at Angel Stadium’s home clubhouse Thursday after a successful six-game trip, but Kole Calhoun was zipping up his bags and departing.The Angels right fielder, out since April 15 because of a severe right... View the full article

Angels manager Mike Scioscia got two calls at second base overturned by replay Thursday night against the Rays. View the full article

Where: Angel StadiumTV: Fox Sports West, 7 p.m.Did you know: The Rays arrived in Orange County after a three-game trip to Seattle dressed in Woodstock-themed clothing. Manager Joe Maddon, a longtime Angels coach, has regularly held themed trips the... View the full article

Originally called out at second base, the Angels' Grant Green was credited with a double in the fifth inning Thursday night after a successful challenge by manager Mike Scioscia. View the full article

Angels outfielder Collin Cowgill steadfastfully refuses to budge an inch from his "one day at at time" approach. View the full article

Angels reliever Dane De La Rosa is optimistic his latest rehab setback is just a minor bump in the road. He received a cortisone injection in his AC joint on Wednesday and won't throw again for two days before heading back to continue rehab. View the full article

Commissioner Bud Selig and Major League Baseball's executive council announced Thursday the formation of a succession committee, whose work will include the selection process of the game's next Commissioner. View the full article

Bats: Left Throws: Right Height: 6’0” 225 lbs. DOB: 7/23/90 (Inland Empire): .337/.403/.631 with 28 HRs and 5 SBs No other prospect on this list has been as debated and discussed as Zach Borenstein. Drafted in the 23rd round of the 2011 draft out of Eastern Illinois University, Borenstein made a huge name for himself in 2013 when he exploded offensively. Named the California League MVP, he ranked first among Angels prospects in homers, slugging, and batting average and ranked third in RBI—which led to him being named the Angels Minor League Player of the Year. Defensively, Borenstein is well suited for playing left field. He has a strong arm and has the speed to cover a lot of ground. He makes all the plays and is slightly above average defensively. Offensively, Borenstein has a good mix of speed and power. He adds plenty of patience at the plate While not a prototypical power hitter, He has the potential to hit 20-25 HRs at the Major League level. He has the speed to go first to third on a single, and can steal a base or two, but he isn’t a burner. The big source of debate over Borenstein is whether or not his breakout season is a result of playing in the Cal League (a notorious hitters’ league) and against facing younger pitching. Those who doubt his abilities point to his poor showing in the AFL (.136/.321/.227). But, at AngelsWin.com, we point to the 9:11 K:BB ratio he had in 44 ABs. We believe that his showing in the AFL was more indicative of the effects of a long season with some nagging injuries. This year, the Angels have started Borenstein off at Double-A Arkansas. It will be well worth watching him this year to see if Borenstein can finally silence his critics. Within the organization, Borenstein’s emergence may have played a factor in the Angels willingness to trade Bourjos and Grichuk during the offseason. A strong showing this year could put him in the outfield mix by the end of next year. For an interview that we did with Zach Borenstein, please click below. View the full article

PHILADELPHIA – Mike Trout might have had to get down to get his average back up.After Trout’s slump continued with another strikeout in the first inning Wednesday, he consulted some of the veterans on the team, including Albert Pujols, and they... View the full article