Angels have cloudy recollections
Players say sweep means little now
It seems the best team in the major leagues has short-term memory.
Roughly a week ago, the Los Angeles Angels, who lead the majors in wins (64), began the second half by sweeping the defending World Series champion Red Sox, winning three in Anaheim by a combined score of 20-8.
On the outside, the sweep seemed revealing. But on closer inspection . . . David Ortiz was playing in the minors, Clay Buchholz was acclimating his adjusted mechanics to the major league level, and Manny Ramírez was, well, trying to track down a blooper in left field.
The Angels maintain that series may as well have been in another century, or never happened at all.
"It's got nothing to do with Boston. It's got nothing to do with the Red Sox," said center fielder Torii Hunter before last night's game. "We're just confident we can play with anybody."
Angels manager Mike Scioscia said a sweep in the last series doesn't have any bearing on this one.
"I don't think anything's happened in the past that's going to make a difference with the schedule moving forward," he said.
One area Scioscia said he'd like to see improve is his team's pitching, which is surprising considering the numbers. The Angels' starters lead the majors with 51 victories, with quality starts in 22 of their last 33 games.
Then there is Francisco Rodriguez, who leads the majors with 43 saves in 46 chances and is on pace to break the major league record (57).
But that staff didn't face Ortiz, who homered against the Yankees Sunday, his first since May 31.
"That's certainly a different dimension," Scioscia said. "You have your hands full with that lineup certainly with David and Manny back to back in the middle. But they're so much more than that. They have a deep lineup from top to bottom. They can pressure you in a lot of ways."
The Red Sox haven't done it to the Angels this season. The Halos have won five straight since losing April 22 at Fenway.
It's a different story in the postseason, though. The Sox have won nine straight, including sweeps in the Division Series last year and in 2004 - both years the Sox won it all.
Do these regular-season games provide a measuring stick for the postseason?
"Yeah, you know if you play this series good, maybe to think if we face them in the playoffs, we can play good and see what happens," said shortstop Maicer Izturis. "It's important for us, these three games in Boston."
The Angels' one-game-at-a-time mentality has worked: the Angels have won 8 of their last 10 games.
Not that it matters.
"It has nothing to do with who we're facing. It has to do with winning," said third baseman Chone Figgins. "Our objective is to try to win and that's it. The good thing about our team is that we don't try to look forward to the next series or the next night, we try to focus on that night and that's it."
Winning three straight is hard enough, said Hunter, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single to center in the second inning last night.
"It's hard to sweep a major league ball club," Hunter said. "It's going to be a grind this week."
Though it may be a chore to win three consecutive games against the same team in any venue, Hunter said, "It don't matter. Baseball is baseball. You can sweep a good ball club and they still can be good. We swept Boston, but it's over with now. Now we've got to come to their house and grind it out again."
