Thursday Halolinks: Albert Pujols' Right Calf Is Sore, Jered Weaver's Right Arm Is Awesome

An afternoon sweeping in Boston on this wonderful Thursday. Halolinks will be here to guide you to all of those nasty dust bunnies and empty Rolling Rock bottles:

• Okay, I admit it, I was a little worried Jered Weaver might have drank from the same suck-well as Dan Haren, C.J. Wilson, and Zach Greinke after his last start. My fears were unfounded: Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox - August 22, 2012 - MLB.com. "Weaver gave the Halos their second quality start in as many games, stifling the Boston bats over seven solid innings. The Angels trail the Athletics by 3 1/2 games for the second Wild Card spot. If the Halos continue to pitch like they have in Boston and their offense remains a constant, that gap could continue to shrink." Shrinking gaps are a good thing.
  
• Weaver helps Angels beat fading Red Sox 7-3 - Yahoo! Sports. "Jered Weaver has struggled at Fenway Park. He even fell down while throwing a pitch in the first inning on Wednesday night. ''I slipped a little bit,'' the gangly 6-foot-7 Weaver said, smiling as he recalled the moment. ''It's bound to happen with all the body limbs flying around.'' I'm surprised to hear about flying limbs considering he's now married and Mike Napoli is in Texas.
  
• More Richards. Less Isringhausen. Richards joins 'pen as Halos put Bourjos on DL - angels.com. "The Angels recalled Richards from Triple-A before Wednesday's game against the Red Sox. Outfielder Peter Bourjos was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right wrist, retroactive to Aug. 19. Richards started nine games before he was sent down on Aug. 2, going 3-2 with a 4.42 ERA. For now, the Angels think he can help the bullpen, which has a 5.92 ERA after the All-Star break entering Wednesday's game. The Angels' rotation has also struggled recently, with a Major League-worst 6.56 ERA in August entering Wednesday. Richards figures to be a middle reliever, but his role could expand if he pitches well."
• If Wilson can pull himself together and return to his early season success, would it be just a tease? Los Angeles Angels at Boston Red Sox - August 23, 2012 - MLB.com. "On Thursday at Fenway Park, the Angels will be looking for their first sweep of Boston since July 2008 as left-hander C.J. Wilson takes the mound opposite Boston's Franklin Morales." And a 3-game sweep of Boston could be the oil greasing the skids for a much longer winning streak. Oh, and speaking of skids: Angels-Red Sox Preview - Yahoo! Sports. "C.J. Wilson hasn't won in almost two months, but a meeting with the Boston Red Sox may help. It's unclear if Albert Pujols will be there to provide some assistance. With Pujols' status uncertain due to injury, Wilson will try to avoid the longest victory drought by an Angels starter in 16 years as Los Angeles goes for a three-game sweep of the fading Red Sox on Thursday night."
• Pujols to have MRI after exiting with tight calf - angels.com. ""I'm feeling sore right now," Pujols said after the Angels beat the Red Sox, 7-3. "How I did it, I don't know, I can't tell you." Yes, you can tell us, we're all friends here. And don't call me Shirley. "While I was running from second to third that's when I felt it the most," Pujols said. "I ran fine on that double and then all of a sudden I can't tell you, just one of those things. It was more when I was running from second to third, I kind of pulled up a little bit." Neat.
  
• Mike Trout Porn:
  
  Angels FYI: Mike Trout is a national story - latimes.com. "Trout, 21, is on the cover of Sports Illustrated, holding a bat under the headline, "The Supernatural." Trout is the seventh Angels player to make Sports Illustrated's cover, a list that includes Nolan Ryan, Reggie Jackson, Rod Carew and Albert Pujols. Several players from the 2002 team graced the cover after the Angels won the World Series."
  
  
  BP Unfiltered: When Aaron Cook Struck Out Mike Trout - Baseball Prospectus. "Maybe the stars were aligned, or maybe Cook just had his best strikeout stuff. He gave up 11 hits and five runs in five innings, but he struck out four batters, as many as he'd struck out in his four previous starts and twice as many as he'd struck out in any other start this season." I touched on this a little in yesterday's links. Coming into the game, Cook had struck out seven batters this season.
  
• Read yesterday's news today! Angels' pitching coach insists he doesn't fear for his job - Yahoo! Sports. "Earlier this season, with the Los Angeles Angels' offense massively underperforming, longtime hitting coach Mickey Hatcher was fired. Related or not, the Angels' offense has been much better in the three months since Hatcher's firing. Now, with the Angels' pitching staff (the starters, in particular), the heat has been turned on pitching coach Mike Butcher." Is there anyone more interested in an Angels' pitching staff turn-around than Mike Butcher? Probably not.
  
• Oh look, an Angels' Diamondbacks' prospect made a nice debut: D-backs' Skaggs looks sharp in winning MLB debut - Yahoo! Sports. "Skaggs won his major league debut Wednesday with a 3-2 victory over Miami in the first game of a the Diamondbacks' doubleheader sweep, giving up a two-run home run to Justin Ruggiano and not much else. Skaggs gave up three hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out four and walking five."
• I don't know why this bugs me so much, but it does. Yeah, we get it. It's a dumb name, but frickin' get over it. We have. Rob Neyer's continued use of the lame joke "Orange County Angels" is kind of like that irritating uncle who repeated tells the story about how you bit the head off of a turtle when you were 4-years old. "Yeah, uncle Rob, that's a good one!" Or, "Take my wife. Please!" It wasn't funny then, it's certainly not funny now. Angels Need Pitching Talent To Show Up - Baseball Nation. "And then you've got the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Orange County. Where the A's have five or six good starting pitchers -- yes, even with this surprising news (Bartolo Colon) -- the Angels have ... one, maybe?" I did a quick search through Neyer's SBN career (a little over a year) and there are 31 search results for "Orange County Angels" or some variation of the tired line. For example, Los Angeles Angels Exceeding Expectations, "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Orange County (et Cetera) weren't supposed to be this good." And: Braves' TV Money A Problem Going Forward?, "depending on if you count los Anaheim Angels of Orange County". I know he's one of our SBN brethren, but screw you Rob.