Final Score in Canada: Angels 3, Blue Jays 8
The Angels had just solved one problem by sending 4th Starter Sean O'Sullivan down to the minors to make way for Joe Saunders returning on Wednesday. Handed an opportunity to be "the man," rookie 5th Starter Trevor Bell pretty much wrote himself a ticket back to Salt Lake City with a 1.2 inning 6-run mauling in the SkyDome. The logical choice to pitch in his place on Friday would seem to be Matt Palmer. September callups from the minors are coming soon and a beleaguered Angels bullpen got 3+ innings out of scrub-arm Rafael Rodriguez.
Were there any highlights? Raf-Rod and Shane Loux had decent mops and Jason Bulger needed a little work so he bounced one in the dirt, walked a man and then got a DP to get out of a bases loaded jam. Vlad was 3-5. Bottom line is that the rotation will have to get shuffled up a little more, and soon, and that the 6-4 road trip is something that only looks disappointing in hindsight as the home cooking awaits us for 7 games against Detroit and Oakland with a 5.5 game lead over the Rangers.