Angels close April tied for first in AL West

By Bud L. Ellis

A five-game winning streak. A four-game losing streak. The two biggest runs of the first month of the season for the Los Angeles Angels came in the opening 14 days of the season.

Roll it all together, and the defending AL West closed the first month of the season even steven at .500, sporting a 12-12 record that had the Angels tied with Oakland atop the division.

Los Angeles opened the season with a win over Minnesota on opening day, then dropped four straight games. Following a 6-2 loss at New York on April 5, the Angels were at 3-7 on the season.

Not the start they envisioned. But it didn’t take long to turn things around. Los Angeles launched a five-game winning streak the next day, sweeping a three-game set at Toronto and beating the Tigers twice at home. Four of the five wins were by two runs or less.

Uneven play resumed the next two weeks. Los Angeles opened May with a 3-2 loss at Detroit, dropping to 12-13 on the season.

Jered Weaver has been outstanding on the mound, going 3-0 in his first five starts with a 2.53 ERA. Kendry Morales sparked the offense, hitting .315 with six homers and 16 RBIs in his first 25 games.

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Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 8:43 am by bud

Tags: Detroit Tigers, Jered Weaver, Kendry Morales, Los Angeles Angels, Major League Baseball, Minnesota Twins, New York Yankees, Oakland A’s