A year ago, the Angels' top two pitchers (John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar) went into the postseason with their arms dragging. Both needed cortisone shots in their pitching shoulders to finish the season.
This year, the Angels appear to be better armed for the playoffs. Lackey spent the first six weeks of the season on the disabled list and is on pace to pitch fewer than 180 innings for the first time since his midseason promotion to the major leagues in 2002. And Ervin Santana has thrust himself into the No. 2 role with the most consistent season of any Angels starter.
Santana ran his record to 15-5 with a strong 7 1/3-inning outing against the Tigers on Thursday. Santana is now 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA in seven starts since the end of July.
"He's been as consistent as...
No longer a pitching prodigy, K-Rod still is putting up prodigious numbers. With 53 saves in 58 chances this year, the Los Angeles Angels' Francisco Rodriguez needs only four saves to match the major league single-season record set by Bobby Thigpen with the Chicago White Sox in 1990. And Rodriguez still has a month to do it.
