Maicer Izturis

— Maicer Izturis had three-hit games Thursday and Friday. Saturday, he wasn't in the Angels lineup. Sunday, he was. "I never know," Izturis said. The 31-year-old, switch-hitting utility man is batting .373 since July 29, with a career-high 15 stolen bases this season. Yet, the Angels have given him nearly 100 fewer at-bats than third baseman Alberto Callaspo , who is batting .245, with Manager Mike Scioscia previously praising Callaspo as having a Gold Glove-caliber season.

DETROIT - Zack Greinke found his command and Garrett Richards discovered how "amped" closing a major league game can make him feel. Together, the right-handers pitched the Angels to a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers that gave them a four-game winning streak, their first since June 24-28. Greinke, in a sorely needed 115-pitch performance, scattered five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in his sixth start since being traded to the Angels. He was hurt only by Miguel Cabrera, Detroit's most-valuable-player candidate, who hit a solo home run with two out in the eighth inning.

BOSTON - Whoever that lanky 6-foot-7 right-hander with the scraggly blond hair was on the mound in Anaheim last Friday, the Angels were glad he didn't show up in Fenway Park on Wednesday. On a night the Angels might have lost slugger Albert Pujols to a calf injury for a few games, they regained their ace. Jered Weaver rebounded from the worst start of his career with a splendid seven-inning, two-run, seven-hit effort to lead the Angels to a 7-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Weaver, who was rocked for nine runs and eight hits in three innings of a 12-3 loss to Tampa Bay on Friday, improved to 16-3, and the bottom four hitters in the Angels' lineup - Howie Kendrick, Maicer Izturis, Erick Aybar and Chris Iannetta - combined to go 10 for 16 with six runs and three runs batted in. Two straight wins in a quirky, 100-year-old stadium that has often been a house of horrors for the Angels - and two quality starts from a rotation that entered the series with a 3-7 record and 6.53 earned-run average this month - somewhat erased the sour taste of a four-game sweep at the hands of the Rays.

CHICAGO -- The struggles of the Angels bullpen may have reached crisis levels Sunday after reliever Jason Isringhausen, summoned to protect a one-run lead in the seventh inning, gave up a two-run, pinch-hit home run to A.J. Pierzynski, which keyed the Chicago White Sox's 4-2 victory at  U.S. Cellular Field. Angels relievers have now given up 23 earned runs in 21 1/3 innings in seven games against the Texas Rangers and White Sox, suffering four losses and three blown saves. And, well, there appears to be little relief in sight, with veteran left-hander Scott Downs (shoulder strain)

It was another game the Angels would love to forget. They overcame a three-run first-inning deficit to take a two-run lead, let it slip away and lost when Alex Rios hit a two-run home run in the 10th inning to give the Chicago White Sox an 8-6 walk-off victory Friday night at U.S. Cellular Field. After grueling four-hour losses in Texas on Wednesday and Thursday, a third straight gut-wrenching defeat, in which newly acquired Zack Greinke was roughed up for six runs and 10 hits in seven innings, dropped the Angels six games behind the Rangers in the American League West.

The Dodgers'Jerry Hairston Jr. is among a group of major leaguers whose ability to play capably at multiple positions enhances their value to their teams. A look five other top utility players: Jeff Keppinger, Tampa Bay Rays Keppinger has played in 27 games at third base, 18 at second base, and also has played first base and designated hitter. He has been especially effective against left-handed pitchers, batting .426. During his career, he's played every defensive position except for center field and catcher.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Angels thrived offensively in four nights of Bikram Baseball at the Ballpark in Arlington, where game-time temperatures ranged from 102 to 105 degrees and their bats sizzled with the weather. The Angels hit .312 (48 for 154) with 40 runs against the Texas Rangers, clubbing 13 homers — a franchise record for a four-game road series — and 10 doubles and going 13 for 35 (.371) with runners in scoring position. And all they had to show for it were some lousy sweat-drenched T-shirts, a split of the series and the same five-game American League West deficit they came with.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Kendrys Morales sent Angels public relations officials scurrying for the record books Monday night, hitting a two-run home run from the left side of the plate and a grand slam from the right side in a nine-run sixth inning to lead the Angels to a 15-8 victory over the Texas Rangers at the Ballpark in Arlington. Morales became the third player in major league history to homer from both sides of the plate in one inning, joining the Chicago Cubs' Mark Bellhorn, who accomplished the feat on Aug. 29, 2002, against Milwaukee, and Cleveland's Carlos Baerga, who did it on April 8, 1993, against the New York Yankees.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The gloves came off - literally - for Kendrys Morales on a steamy 102-degree evening, and the fight soon returned to the Angels designated hitter, who had not put up much resistance in the batter's box this month. Mired in a slump in which he had one extra-base hit in 67 plate appearances and was beginning to fray emotionally, the Cuban switch-hitter unleashed his fury and frustration on the Texas Rangers with an outburst that sent Angels media relations officials scurrying for the record books Monday night.

Adding Zack Greinke to solidify the starting rotation may ultimately carry the Angels to the heights they seek. Now they need to rediscover their offense. Tampa Bay starter Jeremy Hellickson and three relievers combined for a 2-0, four-hitter Sunday, and the Angels are saddled with a 23-inning scoreless streak as they open a four-game American League West showdown series at Texas on Monday. The Angels got singles by Maicer Izturis and Howie Kendrick against closer Fernando Rodney with one out in the ninth inning, but Albert Pujols grounded into a game-ending double play.