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Jered Weaver is 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA in 12 home starts this season.
The strength of the Los Angeles Angels this season lies in the front of their starting rotation. Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana have combined to form quite a trio that has the Angels in the proverbial "nobody wants to face them in a short series" spot in the playoffs. The Angels need to get to the postseason first, and manager Mike Scioscia is considering shuffling his rotation for this weekend's series in Arlington against the Texas Rangers.
Dan Haren starts Friday, but Scioscia is considering starting Santana Saturday and Weaver Sunday, the latter two on three days rest. Neither Santana nor Weaver have pitched on three days rest in their careers, but Scioscia said it would be a one-time occurrence. If the Angels hold on to their 8-0 lead in the seventh inning Wednesday night, they will be two and a half games behind the Rangers in the AL West.
Santana threw 115 pitches on Tuesday night against the White Sox, but that didn't necessarily deter Scioscia, who hasn't yet finalized his decision. "He had more in him last night. It's certainly something we're going to monitor in the next day or two," Scioscia told David Ely of MLB.com.
Entering Wednesday night, Weaver, Haren and Santana have combined this season for a 36-21 record and 2.71 ERA, and 62 quality starts in their 80 starts.
For more news and information on the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.
Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels battle Zach Stewart and the Chicago White Sox in the finale of a two-game series in Anahiem. Here are the starting lineups for Wednesday's game:
Pierre LF
De Aza RF
Konerko DH
Rios CF
Ramirez SS
Dunn 1B
Flowers C
Morel 3B
Beckham 2B
Bourjos CF
Callaspo 3B
Abreu DH
Hunter RF
Trumbo 1B
Kendrick 2B
Wells LF
Aybar SS
Mathis C
Wednesday night's 7:05 p.m. PDT game will be televised by Fox Sports West and ESPN2. For more news and information on the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.
Newly minted $85 million man Jered Weaver will make his first start since singing his five-year contract extension as the Los Angeles Angels battle the Chicago White Sox Wednesday night. In the finale of a brief two-game series in Anaheim, the Angels are trying for their sixth straight win.
Weaver is 14-6 with a league-leading 2.10 ERA on the season, and he has allowed just three runs total in his last five home starts. In those five starts, Weaver has averaged eight innings per start and has seven walks and 33 strikeouts in 40 innings. Weaver is 6-1 with a 1.49 ERA in 11 starts at Angel Stadium this season.
Now that the contract is signed, Weaver can focus on the field, which suits him just fine. "There comes a point in time when you do have to deal with the business side of things, but I don't think money had anything to do with my decision," Weaver said during Tuesday's press conference. "I could have gotten more, whatever, who cares? I'm here, and that's all I care about."
Zach Stewart, who was acquired from Toronto in the three-way trade involving Colby Rasmus, Edwin Jackson and others, gets the start for the White Sox. The rookie Stewart is 1-2 with a 3.74 ERA on the season, including 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA in his four games, including two starts, with Chicago.
Wednesday night's 7:05 p.m. PDT game will be televised by Fox Sports West and ESPN2. For more news and information on the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.
Angels Vs. White Sox: Jered Weaver Leads Halos To Sixth Straight Win, 8-0
It looks like we have a race again in the American League West. The Los Angeles Angels slugged six extra-base hits on the night, backing seven shutout innings from ace Jered Weaver, beating the Chicago White Sox 8-0 at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The win was the sixth straight for the Angels.
Coupled with the Texas Rangers' 13-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Angels are now just two and a half games behind Texas for first place in the American League West. Just six nights ago, the Angels were three outs away from getting swept by Texas and falling eight games back, but Mark Trumbo's two-run walk-off home run snatched vistory from the jaws of defeat and the Angels have not looked back.
The Angels got production from the bottom of their order Wednesday night, starting in the second inning. Erick Aybar singled in Trumbo to open the scoring, then Jeff Mathis of all people hit a two-run double to push the lead to 3-0. The Angels tacked on four runs in the seventh inning, which included three run-scoring doubles, including a two-run two-bagger from Aybar.
Torii Hunter hit a solo home run in the third inning, his 18th long ball of the season. That was Hunter's only hit of the night, but it continued his scorching August. Hunter has a hit in 20 of 21 games this month, hitting .392/.448/.646 with five home runs.
Weaver was magnificent in his first start since signing a five-year, $85 million contract extension earlier in the week. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, while striking out eight. Weaver lowered his league-leading ERA to 2.03 on the season. Weaver earned his 15th victory of the season, one shy of his career high, set in 2009.
Weaver has allowed 14 runs in 12 home starts this season, and is 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA in Anaheim.
More importantly, Weaver threw just 96 pitches, and might pitch Sunday on three days rest against the Rangers in Arlington. The Angels are off Thursday before beginning a weekend showdown series in Texas.
For more news and information on the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.
Aug 24 9:36p by Eric Stephen