Ervin Santana

His 13-3 career record and 1.97 earned-run average in 23 games against Oakland might give the impression Angels pitcher Ervin Santana has an easy time with the A's. So might the right-hander's pitching line from the Angels' 4-1 victory over the A's on Wednesday night, when Santana yielded one run and six hits in six innings, struck out six and walked two. But the game was anything but a breeze for Santana, as the A's forced him to throw a...

Reporting from Surprise, Ariz. -- Angels right-hander Ervin Santana continued to show no ill effects from a comebacker that hit him in the throwing shoulder earlier this month. He gave up only one run and five hits in five innings of a 3-2 exhibition victory over the Texas Rangers in Surprise Stadium Saturday. Santana, who has 2.19 earned-run average in 12 1/3 spring innings, struck out two and walked two against a lineup of Rangers regulars, his only blemish Ian Kinsler's solo home run to lead off the fifth inning.

Baseball season challenges our attention span. It can be a 162-game drone. In Los Angeles, multiply that by two. Before Wednesday, the Dodgers were a well-documented disaster, the stories more about loans and bankruptcy than wins and losses. As for the Angels, most of the time they were more confusing than compelling. You'd get solid pitching and little hitting, day after day. Texas went on a hot streak and the Angels seemed unable to close the gap. It was a team of Jered Weaver and Dan Haren, and had their last names rhymed properly it would have been the 2011 version of Spahn and Sain and pray for rain.

CLEVELAND -- At the top of their rotation, the Angels have two All-Stars in Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson. After that, they have ... well, not much. And the situation is getting more dire with each passing game. On Wednesday, just hours after Dan Haren and his balky back moved a big step closer to joining Jerome Williams on the disabled list, Ervin Santana became the latest member of the rotation to self-destruct, giving up eight runs in 1 1/3 innings of a 12-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians.

The Angels have been saying all season that they'll only go as far as their starting pitchers can carry them. If that's true, then they probably won't go much further. On Saturday, the Baltimore Orioles pounded right-hander Ervin Santana for two home runs in a five-run first inning, then cruised to a 6-2 win. The loss, the Angels' fourth in six games, combined with Texas' 7-6 win in Seattle, extended the Rangers' lead in the American League West to 4½ games with 10 days left in the season.

Right-hander Ervin Santana thought his changeup was his best pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. Manager Mike Scioscia said Santana's fastball command was his most effective weapon. Told of Scioscia's comment, Santana chuckled and said, "He's not pitching, I'm pitching." Why quibble? The way Santana was locating his fastball, changeup and slider, and the way Toronto hitters were hacking — these guys make those Vladimir Guerrero-led Angels clubs of a few years ago look like the princes of plate discipline — just about everything Santana threw toward the plate was his best pitch.

It's a common refrain for Torii Hunter, one that usually follows an extra-inning marathon, a bizarre late-game meltdown, a game that ends at 2:45 a.m. or with a nine-time Gold Glove Award winner losing a fly ball in the sun as the winning run scores. "It's a crazy game," the Angels outfielder has said on numerous occasions this season. Sometimes, it can be crazy good. The Angels busted out for six runs in the third inning en route to a 9-0 interleague victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night, rookie first baseman Mark Trumbo capping the rally with that rarest of feats for the Angels: a three-run home run. Ervin Santana (2-4)

SEATTLE - Ervin Santana is so even-keeled you wouldn't know if he was throwing a no-hitter or getting shelled, a temperament that helps him cope with the stress of being a big league pitcher but irritates those who want him to show more fire on the mound. So it's hardly surprising that Santana, in his 12th year with the only organization he has known, attached no special significance to what very well could be his last game as an Angel, Sunday night's 2 2/3-inning, six-run, seven-hit effort in an 8-7 loss to Texas.

Jered Weaver extended his long-toss sessions to nearly 300 feet Wednesday and could resume throwing off a mound early next week, a strong indication the Angels ace could return from a lower-back strain soon after he is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list June 15. "Some people are quick healers, I guess," said Weaver, who was injured in the first inning of a May 28 game against the New York Yankees. "I don't want to take any more time than I need. " A quick return for Weaver might give Garrett Richards only one more start to prove he deserves to remain in the rotation over struggling right-hander Ervin Santana , who is 2-7 with a 5.33 earned-run average and has given up a major league-high 16 home runs.

Ervin Santana was on top of his game in eight solid innings on the hill, as the Angels pulled out a much-needed 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers in the third meeting of a four-game series between the American League West rivals. Santana (9-7) came in with a 6.06 earned-run average in 16 career starts against the Rangers but silenced the division leaders to two runs on five hits and two walks, finishing with eight strikeouts. Erick Aybar went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, Jeff Mathis went 2- for-4 with a solo homer and Alberto Callaspo drove in two runs for the Angels, who recorded 13 hits to help snap a three-game slide.