Angels Report, 5/23

Anaheim Angels, 22-22 - 3rd in the AL West

LATEST TEAM INFO

The Sale of the Angels

(Story from AP)-A businessman who made a fortune in billboards won unanimous approval Thursday to buy the Anaheim Angels from Disney, a deal that will make him the first minority with a controlling stake in a Major League Baseball team. Arturo Moreno hopes to complete his $184 million purchase of the World Series champions next week, he said after the voice vote by baseball owners. "Every guy's dream is to own a baseball team," he said. "It's an opportunity I've always dreamed about." Moreno doesn't plan any immediate changes for the Angels, who started play in 1961 and finally won their first title last year. After the vote, he went to Yankee Stadium to see the Angels play. He sat beside the team's dugout and saw Alfonso Soriano lead off the bottom of the first with a home run. get the story here.

Come Back Kids

As if following a blueprint of their last six games, the Angels got into an early hole and fought back to make the game close, but Baltimore took control in the late innings to win, 7-6, on Wednesday. Starter Aaron Sele gave up three earned runs on six hits, and Tim Salmon and Troy Glaus each hit run-scoring doubles.

PLAYER UPDATES

Brad Fullmer- Over the past month Fullmer has cooled off from his fast start. Over the last 22 games he is hitting .243 with one home run and only six RBI.

David Eckstein- Over his last 25 games he is hitting .255 with an OB% of only .289. He has not been doing his job as a lead off hitter, but he is feisty and he will not be in this slump too long.

Troy Glaus- He reached base and scored in all four of his plate appearances in Tuesday's win over the Baltimore Orioles. The Angels' third baseman hit two solo home runs, doubled and drew a walk. He also recorded a stolen base in the game. Glaus improved his batting average to .290, the highest it has been in more than a month. Over the past month he has six home runs and 16 RBI.

Garret Anderson- He has had a great last month of the season. He is hitting only .257 but he has five home runs and 22 RBI.

Tim Salmon- He has been hitting real well over the past month. In 24 games he is hitting .330 with two home runs and he has driven in 12 RBI.

Scott Spiezio- He broke out of an 0-for-25 slump, hitting two home runs in Tuesday's win over the New York Yankees. The Angels' first baseman had a solo homer in the fourth inning before connecting for a grand slam off Juan Acevedo in the ninth. He recorded the sixth multi-homer game of his major league career. He is hitting a low .241 over the last month of the season.

Kevin Appier- He had his first bad start since coming off the disabled list, giving up five runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Orioles. Appier was effective in his first two starts after being activated and faces the Devil Rays his next two times out. Clearly, you'll want to keep him active.

Jarrod Washburn- Jarrod Washburn had another impressive start against the Red Sox on the 17th , giving up two runs -- one earned -- in seven innings. Washburn is now 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA over his last three starts.

John Lackey- In his last six starts he has lost three and won only one. Over those six games he has had an ERA of 5.49 and he has given up 44 hits in just 33.1 innings.

Francisco Rodriguez- He has been struggling recently and was officially removed from his role as Troy Percival's top setup man this week. Control has been his main problem, but he hasn't been that far off. Odds are that he'll get things turned around before long.

INJURY REPORT

Darin Erstad had his right hamstring re-examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum on Tuesday night and was given a cortisone injection. Erstad's workout routine will be suspended for 48 hours while the injection takes effect. The hope is that the cortisone will create some progress in a healing process that has been slow. Even if it works, Erstad probably remains at least two weeks away from coming off the disabled list.

INSIDE THE SERIES

May 13 @NY - The Angels beat the Yankees 10-3. John Lackey got the win to move his record to 2-2. He pitched six innings giving up four hits and two earned runs. Eckstein had a great game going 4-5 with two runs scored. Anderson also helped in the win with two RBI. Spezio was the best performer for the Angels going 2-5 with two runs scored and five RBI.

May 14 @NY - The Angels went back to back against the Yankees as K-Rod recorded his third win of the season. He only pitched 1.1 innings where he gave up two hits and one earned run. The starter for the Angels was Appier and he pitched six giving up six hits and two earned runs. Anderson had a good game going 3-4 moving his average to .338. He scored two runs in the Angles win. Percival pitched a perfect 9th to earn his fifth save of the season.

May 15 @NY - The Angels can't close out the series sweep and loose bad against the Yankees 10-4. Sele got the loss, pitching only 2.2 innings, giving up nine hits and eight earned runs. Kennedy went 2-5 with an RBI and DaVanon went 3-4 with two runs scored in the defeat.

May 16 @Boston - The Angels took the first game of the series 6-5. After a rocky start by Ortiz, he settled down and pitched well the rest of the game. He went six and he gave up four earned runs in six innings pitched. K-Rod earned the win with one inning pitched and Perci closed the game out with a perfect ninth inning. Fullmer went 3-4 with an RBI and Salmon went 2-3 with two runs scored.

May 17 @Boston - The Rally Monkey was in full effect as the Angles rally in the eight and ninth to win 6-2. The Angles were down 2-1 till the eight where they scored five runs to get Washburn the win. He went seven giving up seven hits and only one earned run. Glaus went 2-4 with two runs and two RBI.

May 18 @ Boston - Boston scored four runs in the second inning and that was too much for the Angels to gain back. Lackey pitched six giving up nine hits and two earned runs. Fullmer went 0-4 leaving three runners on base and Eckstein went 0-4 leaving two runners on base.

Prospect Watch

Triple-A Salt Lake shortstop Alfredo Amezaga left yesterday's game in the third inning with an apparent hamstring injury. Amezaga has been one of the best hitters in the PCL this season, batting .352. It's probably a fluke, but Amezaga is a quality defensive shortstop, so if he continues to hit, he could be nice trade bait for Anaheim.

Phil Wilson, making his way back from elbow surgery, has been assigned to Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. Wilson opened the season in extended spring training and had a 4.06 ERA in two starts for Single-A Cedar Rapids. The 22-year-old right-hander was once considered one of Anaheim's top young arms, but after back-to-back disappointing seasons, he's got a lot of ground to make up.

Angels prospect Casey Kotchman returned to action yesterday and 1-for-2 as the DH for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga. Kotchman had been on the seven-day disabled list with a strained hamstring

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