MLB News and Rumors

Before game three of the NLDS between the Giants and Reds, Giants right fielder Hunter Pence gave the team an inspired speech in the clubhouse that was apparently good enough to make the Giants win ten out of their next 13 games and the World Series. Well, on the Giants World Series DVD that was released on Tuesday, the Giants players recreated Pence’s speech during the credits of the DVD. The results were pretty hilarious, including Pence’s reaction of simply flat-out giggling while watching clips of his teammates imitating him, complete with crazy eyes and wild analogies. Included in the video are Buster Posey, Angel Pagan, Pablo Sandoval, and Barry Zito, among others. This is some top notch comedy, and MLB needs to have more videos like this that show off the personalities of the players to market them a little better. Pence became a beloved figure in Philadelphia by saying “good game, let’s go eat” after a walkoff win, and this video is something that c…

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We’ve obviously had quite the bit of World Series coverage over the past week, and with the Giants’ win tonight, we figured it would be nice to show you how they took their final lead of the season, and how it ended. NLCS MVP Marco Scutaro singled home Ryan Theriot to put San Francisco in front in the tenth inning. And then in the bottom of the tenth, after striking out both Austin Jackson and Don Kelly, Sergio Romo struck out Miguel Cabrera to win the championship for San Francisco. [follow]

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ANAHEIM, Calif. One hundred and forty games are gone and 22 remain, but the most important ones the Angels will play this season start Monday night.

They have climbed to within one game of the American League wild card leaders, and one of the teams ahead of them the Oakland A’s arrive at Angel Stadium for a four-game series that will likely put the Angels in position to reach the playoffs or crush their hopes.

At one point last month, it didn’t seem possible, but now the Angels are right where they want to be back in the race and believing they can get to the postseason.

“We’re playing like everybody was expecting us to play,” closer Ernesto Frieri said. “We still believe we’re going to make it. The first day I came here, I believed we were going to make it. Now I’m 100 percent sure.”

Sunday afternoon’s 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers was another step forward. It was the Angels’ sixth consecutive victory, their 11th win in 12 games and their 15th in 18 games since Aug. 21. In that span, they’ve swept the Boston Red Sox twice, swept the A’s, swept the Tigers and taken two of three from the Seattle Mariners.

The common thread has been pitching. Zack Greinke held the Tigers to two runs in seven innings and has won each of his past four starts, carving out a 1.88 ERA in those games. His strong performance comes on the heels of solid starts by CJ Wilson, Ervin Santana and Dan Haren.

In the Angels’ past 15 games, their pitchers have a 2.25 ERA compared to a 6.51 ERA in the previous 15.

“The rotation is the heartbeat of your team,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “As talented a group of guys as they are, we’ve seen that when they’re off a little bit it makes it tough to move forward. When they’re throwing the way they are, you can get on a roll like we are right now.”

And here’s the thing: It’s contagious. One pitcher does well, the next pitcher wants to do better. When Greinke arrived in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers before the trade deadline, he was struggling and so were the Angels.

But as the rest of the starting staff has found a groove, so has Greinke.

“One thing I like is, when you’re seeing the other starters pitch good, you’re like, it’s not that hard,” he said. “Or you think, it’s possible to get these guys out. But if, say, the first day against Detroit, they score eight runs, and the second day, they score six, you’re like, man, it’s going to be tough.

“But when you see other guys doing good, it makes you more confident.”

That’s where the Angels are now brimming with confidence, scoring runs early and riding their starters and bullpen. Sunday, they got a leadoff home run from Mike Trout his second in two games and a two-run shot from Alberto Callaspo in the second. Then Frieri nailed down the win by getting the last four outs of the game.

Haren will start Monday against the A’s, facing Jarrod Parker, but Scioscia has been noncommittal about Tuesday’s starter, who will take the place of injured Jered Weaver. It could be Santana, but Jerome Williams, Garrett Richards and Barry Enright are also candidates.

Weaver, who has tendinitis in his right shoulder, threw in the outfield before the game and will probably throw off a mound on Monday in the hope he can pitch Wednesday or Thursday against Oakland. But nothing is certain.

All anyone knows for sure is that the next four games are critical to the Angels’ season. They hold their fate in their hands. After they’re over, they won’t face another wild card contender the rest of the season.

“You can make a case for every game being important from now to the end of the schedule,” Scioscia said. “The games are all going to be important.

“We need to focus on tomorrow’s game and just start to build that momentum. We’re going to have a tough game every day. I don’t think it’s going to serve any purpose to put a label on any series, but we need to continue winning. If we continue winning, good things will happen.”

So far, they have.

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The Milwaukee Brewers worked overtime to win in 13 innings Friday night.

Saturday, the team continued to make up for lost time — and make up ground in the National League’s wild-card standings. Aramis Ramirez’s ninth-inning, solo home run ensured Milwaukee would wrap up Saturday’s contest in St. Louis in regulation, helping propel his club to a 6-3 triumph.

Don’t look now, but the Brewers have won an eye-opening 15 of their last 19 games, after Ramirez’s 3-for-3 effort Saturday highlighted his team’s 15-hit attack. As a result, Milwaukee has a playoff pulse, sitting five games behind St. Louis in the race for the National League’s second wild-card spot.

“It’s been fun,” Ramirez said afterward. “You never know. … Right now we’re five or six games back in the wild card, so we’ll come out (Sunday) and play another good game.”

In a make-or-break series for the Brewers (69-70), the visitors bolted out to a prompt, 3-1 advantage.

Brewers starter Mike Fiers (9-7) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the home half of the fifth, striking out Cardinals star Yadier Molina to end the inning.

The Cardinals (74-65) closed to within 4-3 in the eighth, off a Skip Schumaker sacrifice fly.

But Ramirez’s blast provided the Brewers with a key boost in the top of the ninth, as he tattooed a changeup beyond the fence in left field, handing the visitors a 5-3 lead.

“I just tried to put the ball in play,” said Ramirez, “and got a changeup over the plate.”

Ramirez had been saddled with a sore back in recent days, but he informed Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke — in no uncertain terms — that he wanted to play Saturday night.

“It’s hard to keep him out of the lineup when he does the things he does,” Roenicke said, smiling. “He came in today and pretty much told me he was playing. He said hes fine.”

And now the Brewers’ overall vital signs look improved, too.

“It’s September — 140 games in the book already,” Ramirez noted. “So nobody is going to feel 100 percent; and I’m not. But I’m good enough to play, and I’m gonna be out there.”

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — There is still life in the Angels.

Not a lot mind you, but enough to keep them pushing forward, watching the standings, looking for an edge. Stranger things have happened.

“I saw St. Louis do it,” Torii Hunter said Tuesday night. “They were 11 games back last year (and won the World Series). And in 2006 when I was with the Twins, we were 8 games back and we ended up winning the division.

“I’m a believer.”

It will take that kind of belief for the Angels keep their hopes alive. It may also take a few more walk-off wins like the one they pulled off against the Boston Red Sox at Angel Stadium.

If momentum can be created by a rousing win, it’s possible their 6-5 victory over the Red Sox did just that. Mike Trout tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single, and Hunter won it with a sacrifice fly that scored Albert Callaspo.

How important was the win? A loss would have dropped the Angels 5 games behind Baltimore and Oakland in the wild card race. With 33 games remaining, every defeat becomes critical. Every win sustains hope.

“It’s obvious the situation we’re in, but it won’t change our approach,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s ahead of us. We’re going to have the games ahead of us we need to win to reach our goal. Hopefully, we’re going to start to create momentum getting into this pennant race.”

It’s a race that continually threatens to leave them behind. They came home Sunday night after winning four of six games on a road trip to Boston and Detroit but without gaining ground on first-place Texas in the American League West.

They lost another half game to the Rangers on Monday, an off day, making the likelihood of winning the West almost improbable — except in the mind of Hunter.

“As long as we get in there it’s fine, but we still want to win the division,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 priority. We’ve got 30-plus games left. If we run off about 10, 15 in a row, and they lose 10 in a row, you never know. We’ll see what happens.”

A come-from-behind win can create that kind of optimism. The Angels fell behind 5-2 to Boston in the sixth inning but got two runs back on a homer by Albert Pujols and a double by Howie Kendrick, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Pujols, playing for the first time in six days because of soreness in his right calf, was 2 for 4.

The Angels actually had a 2-0 lead in the first, partly with the help of Trout, who already has a lock on AL Rookie of the Year but continues campaigning for MVP votes. He led off the game with a home run, becoming the youngest player ever to total 25 homers and 40 stolen bases in the same season.

Trout came through again after hard-throwing Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves put two runners on base, hitting Erick Aybar on the foot and walking Callaspo, who was hitting for Chris Iannetta.

Trout fell behind 0-2 on fastballs, shortened up his swing and drove a pitch past a diving shortstop Jose Iglesias to bring in Aybar.

“I was just trying to stay up the middle and shorten up my swing,” said Trout, repeating a familiar mantra.

Said Scioscia: “Mike has a pretty compact swing and a unique approach for a young player. He’s not afraid to get into deep counts, he doesn’t change his approach very often, and he just relies on his approach in those situations. In the ninth inning, he’s just going to try and put the ball in play and find a hole. It was a big hit.”

Big enough to keep the Angels believing they have a chance. The pressure is on, but they haven’t given up hope.

“You try not to feel (the pressure) too much,” starting pitcher Jered Weaver said. “We know what we have ahead of us. We just have to keep grinding it out.”

And believing.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. — There is still life in the Angels.

Not a lot mind you, but enough to keep them pushing forward, watching the standings, looking for an edge. Stranger things have happened.

“I saw St. Louis do it,” Torii Hunter said Tuesday night. “They were 11 games back last year (and won the World Series). And in 2006 when I was with the Twins, we were 8 games back and we ended up winning the division.

“I’m a believer.”

It will take that kind of belief for the Angels keep their hopes alive. It may also take a few more walk-off wins like the one they pulled off against the Boston Red Sox at Angel Stadium.

If momentum can be created by a rousing win, it’s possible their 6-5 victory over the Red Sox did just that. Mike Trout tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with an RBI single, and Hunter won it with a sacrifice fly that scored Albert Callaspo.

How important was the win? A loss would have dropped the Angels 5 games behind Baltimore and Oakland in the wild card race. With 33 games remaining, every defeat becomes critical. Every win sustains hope.

“It’s obvious the situation we’re in, but it won’t change our approach,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s ahead of us. We’re going to have the games ahead of us we need to win to reach our goal. Hopefully, we’re going to start to create momentum getting into this pennant race.”

It’s a race that continually threatens to leave them behind. They came home Sunday night after winning four of six games on a road trip to Boston and Detroit but without gaining ground on first-place Texas in the American League West.

They lost another half game to the Rangers on Monday, an off day, making the likelihood of winning the West almost improbable — except in the mind of Hunter.

“As long as we get in there it’s fine, but we still want to win the division,” he said. “That’s the No. 1 priority. We’ve got 30-plus games left. If we run off about 10, 15 in a row, and they lose 10 in a row, you never know. We’ll see what happens.”

A come-from-behind win can create that kind of optimism. The Angels fell behind 5-2 to Boston in the sixth inning but got two runs back on a homer by Albert Pujols and a double by Howie Kendrick, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games. Pujols, playing for the first time in six days because of soreness in his right calf, was 2 for 4.

The Angels actually had a 2-0 lead in the first, partly with the help of Trout, who already has a lock on AL Rookie of the Year but continues campaigning for MVP votes. He led off the game with a home run, becoming the youngest player ever to total 25 homers and 40 stolen bases in the same season.

Trout came through again after hard-throwing Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves put two runners on base, hitting Erick Aybar on the foot and walking Callaspo, who was hitting for Chris Iannetta.

Trout fell behind 0-2 on fastballs, shortened up his swing and drove a pitch past a diving shortstop Jose Iglesias to bring in Aybar.

“I was just trying to stay up the middle and shorten up my swing,” said Trout, repeating a familiar mantra.

Said Scioscia: “Mike has a pretty compact swing and a unique approach for a young player. He’s not afraid to get into deep counts, he doesn’t change his approach very often, and he just relies on his approach in those situations. In the ninth inning, he’s just going to try and put the ball in play and find a hole. It was a big hit.”

Big enough to keep the Angels believing they have a chance. The pressure is on, but they haven’t given up hope.

“You try not to feel (the pressure) too much,” starting pitcher Jered Weaver said. “We know what we have ahead of us. We just have to keep grinding it out.”

And believing.

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What will it come down to?

Of all the factors that will determine whether the Tigers win the Central Division, settle for a wild-card berth or miss the playoffs … what will be the tipping point?

Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland both agree that its starting pitching, but the GM included something else.

Starting pitching and health are the two key ingredients, Dombrowski said. And our top three pitchers are pitching remarkably well.

“(Justin) Verlander and (Max) Scherzer have been great, and (Doug) Fister has come on strong lately, though his last start wasnt good. (Rick) Porcello has been up and down, and (Anibal) Sanchez is looking to get on track.

Dombrowski spoke on the phone Wednesday, hours before Sanchez attacked the strike zone against the Blue Jays for an impressive win he desperately needed. He allowed one earned run in 6 23 innings to drop his Detroit earned run average to 6.33 since coming over from the Marlins.

It all depends on your starting pitching, Leyland said. They not only put you in a position to win, but allow you to use your bullpen like you want to.

That means not wearing out your relievers and being able to pitch deep enough into games that only Octavio Dotel, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde are needed.

It all starts with Thursday’s starter, Verlander, and its so important that the Tigers win the division in order to avoid the wild-card game and pitching him in that winner-take-all contest. If thats the case, Verlander would get one start instead of two in the five-game, opening-round series.

If Leyland skips somebody in the rotation on off days to keep Verlander pitching every fifth day — which he almost certainly will do — Verlander would be scheduled to pitch the final regular-season game on Oct. 3 at Kansas City.

He would not pitch that game if Detroits playoff fate is already determined. Verlander would then pitch the wild-card game or rest as the division champs await the playoff opener.

Scherzer has been good all year but great of late. He has a 1.35 ERA with 26 strikeouts and six walks in 20 innings over his last three starts — all wins. And hes been 7-1 since starting the season with a 6-5 record.

When Max throws his breaking ball on a consistent basis, Dombrowski said, and throws his three pitches for strikes, hes a real blue-chip pitcher. And his breaking ball has been the difference for him.

Thanks to Verlander (180 strikeouts) and Scherzer (186), Detroit has the leagues top two strikeout pitchers. This staff is on pace to obliterate the franchises 111-year-old strikeout record of 1,115 set in 1968, with Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich leading the way, and matched in 2011 with Verlander and Scherzer totaling 424.

Justin is pitching just like he did last year, said Leyland, when asked to compare Verlanders 2012 showing to his MVP and Cy Young Award performance last season. Hes been terrific.

Terrific, yes, but not quite up to his 2011 numbers. Verlander is 12-7 with a 2.53 ERA (second to David Price) and 1.07 walks plus hits in innings pitched (second to Jered Weaver). He was 19-5 with a 2.28 ERA at this point in 2011.

Fister had seven consecutive quality starts and knocked 1.5 runs off his earned run average since July 7. However, he suffered a groin injury in his last outing and gave up seven runs. His Sunday start is in question as he tries to recover from the injury.

Fister was 8-1 with a 1.79 ERA after Dombrowski obtained him from Seattle at the trade deadline last season.

We thought we got a solid starter last year in Doug Fister, Dombrowski said, but we got much more than that. We got one of the best pitchers in the American League.

… I felt the same way about Anibal Sanchez when we got him this year as I did with Fister last year. I thought hed give us quality starts and a chance to win. It has not worked out great for us with Sanchez, though, I believe it will. He gets another start tonight.

And Sanchez got his second quality start in five starts as a Tiger against Toronto.

Porcello is 9-8 with a 4.67 ERA after going 14-9 with a 4.75 ERA last year.

Leyland was asked what needs to take place for Porcello to turn the corner on his great promise.

Time will take care of it, Leyland said. But I think he has improved this year. Hes a little bit of a (Dr.) Jekyll and (Mr.) Hyde at times, but people forget hes only 23.

Porcello has 47 big-league wins at an age when even the best prospects are just coming up to the majors. Chris Sale, a Cy Young candidate for the White Sox, is 23 and had his first full season in the majors last year.

Everyone in the rotation will be counted upon coming down the stretch, and how they perform very likely will determine whether this team is remembered with a frown or a smile.

It also should play a large role in whether Leyland, working on a one-year contract, is back in 2013.

When I asked him about returning last week, Leyland said he didnt want to become a distraction but that hed like to come back.

I hope so, he said. But Im not getting into that.

Dombrowski was asked about the Skipper coming back.

We always wait until near the end of the season on that, he said. But weve discussed it plenty.

There are questions to be answered about the future of the manager and the pitching staff. Pull up a seat in the ballpark or your den and enjoy the drama.

Playing games that mean something in September is what baseball is all about.

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ANAHEIM, Calif. He’s been through these moments so many times already that it just seems like routine stuff to Mike Trout. But it’s not.

He hits home runs, steals bases, makes jaw-dropping catches and then smiles and shrugs his shoulders when he tries to describe them.

His answers to questions are pretty much always the same: He’s just trying to drive the ball up the middle and keep his swing short, he says. He wants to help the club win and have fun. In truth, he’s doing all of that in his rookie season with the Angels.

But now that the team is driving toward the finish and hoping to stay relevant in the American League West, this is business. And every big hit helps.

Trout was standing in the on-deck circle Friday night when teammate Peter Bourjos scurried home from third base on a bases-loaded wild pitch to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5, but his contributions were no less important than the final play.

He drove in five runs on a three-run homer in the third inning and added two more in the fifth when his sacrifice fly into the right-field corner scored two yes, two runs off Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez.

“It was real big to get a W,” Trout said afterward. “This is a big home stand for us.”

They’re all big now. The Angels trudged home after a 4-6 road trip that dropped them seven games behind the Texas Rangers in the AL West. Friday at Angel Stadium, they fell behind 5-0 in the third inning to the Mariners and King Felix, who had been at his dominating best of late, going 6-0 since June 23.

In fact, Hernandez had surrendered just one home run in his previous 11 starts until Trout took him deep over the fence in left-center field, starting the comeback.

But here’s the funny thing about Trout: He insists he doesn’t change his approach or his swing, even though his team is trailing and need a big hit.

“No, I’m just trying to hit the ball up the middle,” he said. “I stayed short and it just went out of the park. I’m comfortable right now. I got a good pitch to hit, a 3-2 changeup, and it was right there in my wheelhouse.”

He almost took Hernandez deep again with the bases loaded in the fifth, driving a ball to the opposite field before Mariners right fielder Eric Thames made a running catch near the foul pole. Howie Kendrick, who was on third base, tagged and scored, and Erick Aybar, who was on second, tagged and never stopped running as the relay throw went to second base.

The two-run sac fly tied the game and marked the second time in his career that Trout has knocked in five in a game.

“Mike understands what he can do in the batter’s box,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “I don’t think he’s trying to do too much. He’s certainly not intimidated by failure. There’s times you’re going to strike out, and he knows that. But he keeps his head squared on right and goes out there and is ready for an opportunity to help the club.”

Trout salvaged the game and prevented starter Ervin Santana from suffering the loss despite more struggles. The Angels right-hander gave up two mammoth third-inning homers, one each to Dustin Ackley and John Jaso that put Seattle in front 5-0. But he pitched into the seventh inning and gave up just one hit after Jaso’s blast.

“There were some things you could see Ervin took a step forward with, and some things where he regressed,” Scioscia said. “He’s going to compete, and 5-0 is tough. But he made pitches, kept us in the game, got into the seventh and gave us a chance to get our bats going.”

Specifically, it was Trout’s bat that got going. And in the ninth, against reliever Josh Kinney, the Angels got a leadoff double from Kendrys Morales and intentional walks to Alberto Callaspo and Aybar to load the bases.

With Maicer Izturis batting, Kinney threw a fastball wide of the plate, allowing pinch-runner Peter Bourjos to score the winning run the Angels’ second walk-off win of the season.

“It’s a good team win,” Trout said. “We’ve been on the wrong side lately, so to be on the right side tonight was awesome.”

Awesome, and necessary.

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