Angels

Wins have been few and far between for the Angels this season, but on Thursday in Houston, they may have gotten a pair of victories. Not only did they rally to win the game with the Astros, 6-5, they appeared to have won a protest over an umpire's ruling as well. "The rule covering pitching changes was not applied correctly by the umpiring crew in the 7th inning of last night's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim game at Minute Maid Park," Major League Baseball spokesman Pat Courtney wrote in an email Friday morning.

CHICAGO - Major League Baseball suspended the crew chief and fined all four umpires who botched a simple application of the rules in Thursday night's game between the Angels and Astros in Houston. Angels Manager Mike Scioscia protested the ruling, which was dropped after the Angels rallied for a 6-5 win, but MLB acknowledged Friday that the "rule covering pitching changes was not applied correctly by the umpiring crew. " MLB later announced that crew chief Fieldin Culbreth received a two-game suspension for the "misapplication" of baseball rules, and the other three members of the crew - Brian O'Nora, Bill Welke and Adrian Johnson - were fined.

A judge ruled on Thursday that The Times could not be stopped from reporting on testimony from the top manager of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in a deposition for an open-government lawsuit. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Luis A. Lavin said that in asking the court to deny Times reporters access to the testimony and a prohibition against articles about it, the commission sought “essentially a gag order.” “This is a public matter,” Lavin said of the lawsuit brought against the commission by The Times and a 1st Amendment group, Californians Aware.

Herbalife Ltd. shares gained 4% and traded part of Monday above the price they were when hedge fund manager Bill Ackman first accused the Los Angeles nutritional products company of operating a long-running pyramid scheme. The company's stock price plummeted Dec. 19 after Ackman publicly disclosed that he had taken a $1-billion short position against its shares. In the four trading days after Ackman's announcement, the stock fell 43%, reaching an intra-day low of $24.24 on Christmas Eve. Taking a short position involves borrowing shares at a high price and selling them, expecting to repurchase them later when the price falls and thus profit from the decline in stock prices.

It's another hymn of an evening down here in Anaheim, the French Riviera of freeways. Took a mere two hours to drive from L.A., which exceeds the capacity of many bladders. Fortunately, the kid in the back seat fell asleep in Azusa of all places, or the trip might've verged on the unpleasant. So on this perfect May evening when everything smells of grilled meats and mowed grass, the Angels had me at halo. What's to make of these Angels? Is there a better lineup in baseball? Is there a bigger disappointment in all of sports?

HOUSTON - It's probably not what Angels fans want to hear, but Josh Hamilton is not going to beat himself up publicly or start throwing bats in frustration over his horrendous slump. That lack of emotion may give some the impression Hamilton doesn't care as much as he should, but the right fielder claims such displays of anger won't help. "When I feel a sense of urgency, I do worse," said Hamilton, who signed a five-year, $125-million deal in December. "I need to keep working the process, have good early work and cage sessions, and when it clicks it will click.

HOUSTON - At this rate, teams will soon look at the Angels as a welcome respite on the schedule, an opponent that, like the lowly Houston Astros, they can use to fatten up their record. There was no such feast for the Angels in Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night. Hank Conger became the first catcher in Angels history to commit three errors in a game, C.J. Wilson gave up a three-run homer in a five-run third inning, and the Angels lost to the Astros, 7-6. The Angels, despite home runs by Mark Trumbo, Howie Kendrick and Alberto Callaspo and a career-high 12 strikeouts from Wilson, have lost 10 of 13 games to fall to 11-21, matching the worst 32-game start in franchise history.

With home runs in five of his last seven games, Mark Trumbo of the Angels is on quite a hot streak. Just don't call him on it. "I don't want to be labeled as that type of player. A peaks-and-valleys guy," said Trumbo, who is striving to become "a steady contributor. " His track record tells another story, though. Trumbo didn't hit a home run in a team-high 74 at-bats during spring training and had only two in 24 regular-season games before going on the recent tear that gave him the team lead in home runs with eight.

When the Angels added Josh Hamilton in the off-season to what was already the most expensive team in franchise history, the expectation was that the results would be historic. And they have been, just not in the way the Angels had hoped. Because with Sunday's 8-4 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, their ninth in 12 games, the Angels (11-20) matched their worst 31-game start. They're already nine games behind first-place Texas in the division race and, five weeks into a season in which they were supposed to compete for a championship, they find themselves heading off on a six-game trip Tuesday that is shaping up as crucial.