Angels Find Another Pitcher In Victory

Don’t look now, but the Angels have won three in a row and are staring to get some quality pitching.

That pitching came from an unexpected source — Shane Loux. The very definition of journeyman, someone who hadn’t won a major league game since 2003. But he looked fantastic Wednesday afternoon, throwing six innings of one-run ball to lift the Angels to another win.

Loux got all the help he needed in the top of the seventh when Torii Hunter and Kendry Morales hit back-to-back solo home runs off Koji Uehara. That put the Angels up 3-1 and the bullpen held on, with Brian Fuentes picking up his fifth save of the season (and second in as many days).

Baltimore’s Uehara also had the biggest scare of the day when a line drive off the bat of Gary Mathews Jr. hit him square in the chest. Uehara dropped to the ground in pain but left the field under his own power and has been diagnosed with a bruised sternum.

But it was the Angels pitchers that were the stars of the day, holding Oriel hitters to 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. They also got some key help from their defense, like when catcher Jeff Mathis made a fantastic throw in the eight to catch Nick Markakis stealing.

Hunter now has eight home runs on the season, a high for the Angels.

Next up, Los Angeles heads to New York for a weekend series. A few more wins against the struggling Yankees would not only be enjoyable (when isn’t it fun to beat the Yankees?) but would really help the team get the ship righted after a rough couple of weeks.