Jered Weaver K-King, Ervin Santana goes for 18. Halolinks

Weaver takes lead in K's but Halos fall - angelsbaseball.com
Pitching in 97-degree heat, Jered Weaver tired in the seventh when Chicago scored twice to take the lead. Omar Vizquel's single to center broke a 3-3 tie and knocked out Weaver, who threw 106 pitches. Juan Pierre's triple past left fielder Bobby Abreu, who was playing shallow and gambled by trying to cut off the ball off on the fly, tied the game one batter earlier. Weaver, though, was still as sturdy as he has been at home all season. Sunday was his last start at Angel Stadium this season, and all 16 times here, he delivered a quality start. He allowed three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, struck out nine to regain the Major League lead in strikeouts (229) from Seattle's Felix Hernandez, and for the sixth time this season, walked none.

Steve Stone, the White Sox TV play-by-play guy said, "most left fielders would have had that". Well, Abreu isn't most left fielders, he's a DH with a glove. Here's some highlights: Weaver mows down nine White Sox batters - Jered Weaver was solid against the White Sox, striking out nine and passing Felix Hernandez for the League lead in strike outs, Kotsay reaches on Romine's error at short - Mark Kotsay reaches first safely on Andrew Romine's fielding error in the top of the second, Conger ropes a single to right to plate one - Hank Conger singles in Torii Hunter in the bottom of the first to extend the Angels' lead, Conger notches first career caught stealing - Hank Conger throws out Omar Vizquel attempting to swipe second in the seventh, recording his first career caught stealing (just in case you've forgotten what a caught stealing looks like without Torii Hunter being involved), Romine singles for his first career hit - Andrew Romine ropes a single off Tony Pena to collect his first Major League hit in the bottom of the second. This clip is pretty interesting because they show what happens to the ball once it gets into the dugout. They put a holograph on the ball for authentication. Pierre legs out a triple to tie the game - Juan Pierre hustles into third with an RBI triple, knotting the game at 3 in the top of the seventh. Triple? Whatever. Weaver flashes the leather on Pierre's liner - Jered Weaver makes an outstanding stab on Juan Pierre's liner back at the mound to record the out in the third inning. This could have been really scary...check out how much Weaver's play looked like this: Hawksworth hit in the face on comebacker - Blake Hawksworth is hit in the face by Sam Fuld's comebacker, but is able to stand and leave with some help from the trainers (here's the follow-up story: St. Louis Cardinals' Blake Hawksworth being released from hospital)

Athletics-Angels Preview - FOX Sports on MSN
While Scioscia's club collectively is stumbling, Santana (17-9, 3.77 ERA) continues to pitch outstanding ball. The right-hander has a 2.13 ERA over his last five starts and has won four straight decisions to set a new career high in victories. Santana pitched a five-hitter in a 2-0 win over Texas on Tuesday, striking out eight. Equally impressive in September has been Athletics probable starter Brett Anderson (6-6, 2.73), who is 3-1 with a 1.59 ERA in his last five outings. He allowed one run in 6 2-3 innings against the White Sox on Wednesday, but didn't get a decision as Oakland lost 4-3.

Dear John letters: Your 2010 Los Angeles Angels - Big League Stew - Yahoo! Sports

Thank you for your concerns about my spending too much time watching Angels baseball. No, really: Your concerns for my well being are much appreciated. However, you didn't have to go so far as to not make the post season this year. Another month of baseball really wasn't going to kill me. On the other hand, your not making the postseason might actually be harmful to my health. Don't try to explain yourself. You know I hate it when you make excuses. Let me make this easy for both of us. It's time for a break. You leave me no choice but to say ... see you next spring.

Our buddy James Rygg from True Grich has a nice post on Yahoo!

Angels " Win Probability " Sunday, September 26, 2010 - FanGraphs Baseball

San Francisco vs. Colorado - Recap - September 26, 2010
San Francisco moved a half-game ahead of San Diego, which lost to Cincinnati 12-2. The Rockies, who have dropped six of seven, fell 4 1/2 games behind the Giants and four back of the Padres in the wild-card race.

The Padres are 1/2 game ahead of the Braves for the N.L. wild card.

Rangers clinch AL West and first playoff berth in 11 years - USATODAY.com
Across the room, Bengie Molina and Vladimir Guerrero danced to Latin music blaring from nearby stereo speakers. Cigars were lit and the sweet smell of celebration wafted through the air. Texas is back in the playoffs after an 11-year drought.

Congratulations to the Rangers. (Oh, and by the way, Troy Glaus, David Eckstein, Orlando Cabrera, Garret Anderson, Jim Edmonds, Hideki Matsui, John Garland, Brian Fuentes, Scot Shields, and Jeff Weaver are free agents after this season. Just in case you think you 'll need some more former Angels for next year's playoff run).

September 27 - BR Bullpen
Events, births and deaths that occurred on September 27.
1919 - Babe Ruth's 29th HR is his first of the year in Washington; he is the first to hit one in every park in the league in one season.
1930 - In Yankee Stadium, Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays hits what his biographer John Holway will call "perhaps the longest home run ever hit in the House that Ruth Built," and Gibson himself describes as hit "on a line into the bullpen in deep left field." The Pittsburgh Courier's guess-timate is 430 feet while the Amsterdam News says 460. The bullpen in question extends quite a long way, and could easily accommodate anything from a 415-footer to a 500-plus-foot blast.
1941 - Ted Williams starts the day with a .401 batting average and refuses Boston manager Joe Cronin's suggestion that he sit out the rest of the season to preserve his average. Against the A's he hits one single in 4 at bats to drop his average to .3995.
1973 - The Angels' Nolan Ryan fans 16 in 11 innings, beating the Twins 5 - 4. The final strikeout victim, Rich Reese, is the 383rd of the season for Ryan, enabling him to surpass the major-league record set by Sandy Koufax in 1965. Ryan opts to skip his next start on the 30th, thus passing on a shot at 400 K's. What a wuss.
1996 - The Angels score two runs in the top half of the 15th inning, then hold on as Texas fights back for one in their half, to earn a 4-3 victory. LF Garret Anderson gets six hits for California and drives home three runs.
2000 - The A's defeat the Angels, 9-7. Anaheim's Darin Erstad hits a home run in the 2nd inning for his 99th RBI of the year from the leadoff spot to set a new record. Nomar Garciaparra drove home 98 in 1997 for the previous mark.
Happy b-day:
1949 - Mike Schmidt, infielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer also known as "the next Brandon Wood". Wait. What?

Are we there yet?: