Dein erstes Forum » me, Zach, KAT and Wiggs, said Jo

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Its going to take a lot more than winning a series from the struggling Tampa Bay Rays for the last-place Los Angeles Angels to turn their season around.Winning three straight for the first time in nearly three months is encouraging, though, especially considering the type of pitching performance the team got from Hector Santiago in Thursdays 5-1 victory.Santiago limited the sputtering Rays to three singles over seven scoreless innings, C.J. Cron drove in two runs and Albert Pujols snapped a scoreless tie with a single that gave him 15 RBI in his last 15 games.When you rebound with three games like we have, youre going in the right direction, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after Los Angeles won for just the fifth time in 17 games.But we have our work cut out for us. We need to keep getting better, and were not going to get better until our rotation gets solid and these guys get comfortable and keep throwing like you saw Hector (Thursday), Scioscia added. Once that starts to happen, I think were all going to feel more comfortable with where we are.Pujols put the Angels ahead with his sixth-inning single off rookie Blake Snell (1-4). Cron followed with a RBI grounder that the Rays, whove lost 19 of 22, were unable to turn into an inning-ending double play.The Angels, whove taken three straight for their longest winning streak since they won four in a row from May 13-16, added two more runs in the eighth on Crons bases-loaded sacrifice fly and a perfectly executed double steal that saw Pujols swipe second base while Mike Trout sprinted home without drawing a throw to make it 4-0.Santiago (6-4) walked four and struck out nine. The left-hander worked out situations with runners in scoring position in the second and third innings, then only allowed two men to reach base over his last four innings.Tampa Bays Brad Miller homered on reliever Joe Smiths first pitch, breaking up the shutout.I feel really comfortable from the stretch, Ive been saying that for the last four or five starts, Santiago said. I feel when Im in the stretch I have a great mindset and a positive mindset.Snell, who has taken the loss in four of his six career starts, allowed two runs and four hits over six innings for Tampa Bay. The 23-year-old left-hander walked two and struck out seven.The Angels move on to Baltimore, where theyll finish a 10-game road trip heading into the All-Star break. Theyve scored 57 runs through seven games while batting .323, including .382 with runners in scoring position.We got three out of four here, and this road trip weve been pretty good, pitching-wise and offensively, Santiago said. All around, were clicking.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: RHP Cory Rasmus is expected to miss a minimum of six more weeks after surgery on Thursday to repair a right groin injury. ... C Geovany Soto, out since May 18 with a right lateral meniscus injury, might be activated this weekend.Rays: RHP Alex Cobb (Tommy John surgery) felt fine one day after his first rehab start Wednesday night for Class A Charlotte and will make his next appearance Monday. ... C Curt Casali, who left Wednesdays game with a bruise on the left side of his head after being struck by a back swing, sat out the series finale and is day to day. ... INF Steve Pearce (strained right hamstring) is scheduled to start on-field batting practice Friday.RARE COMBOTampa Bays Chris Archer (4-11, 127 strikeouts) and Drew Smyly (2-10, 108) are the second pair of teammates in major league history to lose 10 or more games while fanning at least 100 batters before the All-Star break. Clay Kirby (6-11, 126) and Steve Arlin (8-11, 115) did it for the San Diego Padres in 1972.HOT BATSAngels 3B Yunel Escobar went 3 for 5, extending his hitting streak to a career best-matching 12 games. SS Andrelton Simmons, meanwhile, doubled in the eighth inning, giving him a nine-game hitting streak.UP NEXTAngels: Continue a 10-game East Coast road trip leading into the All-Star break, with RHP Matt Shoemaker (3-9, 4.40 ERA) making his second start of the season against Baltimore. He pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out a career-high 12 in his start against the Orioles at Angel Stadium on May 21.Rays: Archer, who lost eight straight decisions against the Red Sox, starts the opener of a weekend series in Boston. The right-hander, whos gone from an All-Star a year ago to leading the majors in losses this season, is the first pitcher since Phil Niekro (Braves) in 1977 to have as many as 11 losses and 127 strikeouts at the All-Star break. The other times that happened occurred in 1973, when Nolan Ryan (Angels), Gaylord Perry (Indians) and Wilbur Wood (White Sox) all did it.Lance Stephenson Lakers Jersey .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Kobe Bryant Jersey . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. http://www.lakersbasketballshop.com/Kobe-Bryant-Jersey/ . The team says the Spain international has a muscle pull in his right leg. Barcelona hosts third-division side Cartagena in the return leg of their round-of-32 tie after winning their first meeting 4-1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Jersey . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Vlade Divac Jersey . The 31-year-old Spain midfielder hasnt played since Madrid lost in the Copa del Rey final to Atletico Madrid in May due to back and foot injuries.MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves are not big into hazing their rookies. If they were, it would be a little awkward for some of the teams veterans to give Kris Dunn a hard time.At 22 years old, Dunn is older than four of his teammates, all of whom have been in the league for at least one season. So if 20-year-olds Karl-Anthony Towns or Tyus Jones wanted a beer on the road, they might need Dunn to buy it for them.If fourth-year pro Shabazz Muhammad started to razz Dunn, all that the No. 5 overall pick in the June draft would have to do is remind him that the two of them were in the same high school graduating class.They try to call me rook. The guys that are younger than me, I tell them it doesnt faze me because Im older than you are. Its kind of irrelevant you guys saying that, Dunn said with a chuckle. Were all just joking around.After overcoming shoulder injuries early in his career at Providence to win the Big East Player of the Year award in his final two years in school, Dunn declared for the draft as a fourth-year junior and surprisingly fell to the Wolves, who boast one of the leagues best young rosters. He is the third-oldest player drafted in the first round.The Baby Wolves include Towns and Jones, 21-year-olds Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, and the 23-year-old Muhammad.New coach and president Tom Thibodeau grabbed Dunn to address one of the teams biggest weaknesses last season -- a physically ready backup to starting point guard Ricky Rubio. And one of the things that appealed most to Thibodeau was Dunns experience in college. On a team with so much youth, Dunns polished game fits well for the present and the future.I like guys that have played in college a long time, Thibodeau said. With Jimmy Butler in Chicago, he played four years. Some people you look at and say, `Well theres not a big upside. Those guys, you look at JJimmy, you look at Draymond Green, those guys have proved a lot of people wrong.ddddddddddddDunn will make his NBA debut on Saturday when the Wolves play the Miami Heat in an exhibition game in Kansas City, Missouri. The Wolves are one of the last remaining teams to have yet to play a preseason game, getting a full two weeks of training camp to absorb Thibodeaus system, and Dunn has made a strong first impression.He knows how to lead a team. Hes aggressive. He wants it. He goes after it, said Wiggins, who added that Dunn is far more ready for the league than he was when he came in as the No. 1 overall pick after one year at Kansas three years ago. He knows what to do. You can tell he knows what hes doing. College teaches fundamentals and he has all of that.Kris coming in as the rookie and hes older than me, Zach, KAT and Wiggs, said Jones, who wont turn 21 until May. Its different. You dont see that every day.So far Dunn has been running the second unit, along with Muhammad, Brandon Rush, Nemanja Bjelica and Cole Aldrich, giving the Wolves a balance between starters and bench that they did not have last year. Long term, he could eventually supplant Rubio as the starting point guard, or morph into a combo guard that can play -- and defend -- both spots in the backcourt.Hes ready for this league, Rubio said. You can tell.Dunn credited the NBA-style system that Friars coach Ed Cooley runs for getting him ready for what Thibodeau is teaching in training camp.I feel like I could adjust to the plays a lot easier. Im learning the game a lot easier because I know so much through college, he said. The people that come out their first year, I dont think they get to be as knowledgeable as they can be doing it all four years. ' ' '