Mark Trumbo

OAKLAND - The Angels are a mess. There's really no other way to put it. Their ace, three of their top relievers and their third baseman are on the disabled list. They got their shortstop back from the DL on Tuesday but lost their center fielder and productive leadoff batter to a hamstring strain. Their rotation is thin, their bullpen is thinner, and their mercurial right fielder, the one they invested $125 million in last December, looked completely lost at the plate for most of April.

SEATTLE - The hardest ball Angels pitcher Jason Vargas threw Sunday may have been the bullet he fired in disgust to first base on Jesus Montero's comebacker to end the eighth inning. The left-hander was venting his frustration after giving up a home run to Michael Morse with one out in the eighth, a solo shot to left field that gave the Seattle Mariners a 2-1 victory in Safeco Field and sent the Angels to their fifth loss in seven games. "I mean, who wants to give up a homer in the eighth inning with their closer getting loose and they take the lead?"

SEATTLE - It seemed like progress for Joe Blanton, who delivered his first quality start of the season Saturday night, but even after matching Seattle ace Felix Hernandez for six innings, the Angels right-hander took no solace in a 3-2 loss the Mariners in Safeco Field. “I'm not pleased, not with four walks,” said Blanton, who has averaged only 2.4 walks per nine innings in his career. “I don't like walking guys no matter what. I can live with myself when guys are smacking the ball all over the place and I'm throwing strikes.

— The Angels have two of the fastest players in baseball at the top of their lineup in Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout . But entering Thursday, Trout had three stolen bases in 20 games — far off last season's pace, when he swiped 49 — and Bourjos hadn't attempted to steal. The Angels had six stolen bases total, tied for fewest in the American League. Blame opposing pitchers and a lineup that is built for power with Albert Pujols , Josh Hamilton and Mark Trumbo . "All the pitchers have been really quick to the plate, and you don't want to run into an out with Trout, Pujols, Hamilton and Trumbo hitting behind you," Bourjos said.

SEATTLE - If C.J. Wilson's intent was to add a little drama to the proceedings at Safeco Field on Friday night, the Angels left-hander did a bang-up job of it. Staked to a five-run lead in the third inning, Wilson allowed a weak-hitting Seattle club to load the bases with no outs in the fourth and one out in the fifth and to put runners on second and third with no outs in the sixth. But as Wilson's pitch count soared, so did his strikeouts, and those bursts of dominance allowed him to minimize damage in the middle innings and the Angels, despite some nail-biting moments in the later innings, to claim a 6-3 victory over the Mariners.

  Join Times Dodgers writer Dylan Hernandez and Angels writer Mike DiGiovanna at 11:30 a.m. today as they discuss their respective teams. You will be able to submit questions to them during the live chat. The Angels lost a tough game to Texas on Monday. As DiGiovanna wrote , "The Angels got a quality start Monday from Joe Blanton , their pitcher who has struggled the most, and a potential breakout night from the weakest link in their lineup, Josh Hamilton , who had his 16th career four-hit game and scored twice.

The Angels got a quality start Monday from Joe Blanton, their pitcher who has struggled the most, and a potential breakout night from the weakest link in their lineup, Josh Hamilton, who had his 16th career four-hit game and scored twice. But they had nothing to show for it after the Texas Rangers stormed back from a three-run deficit with three runs in the seventh inning and rode A.J. Pierzynski's two-out, solo home run to right field against closer Ernesto Frieri in the ninth to a 7-6 victory in Angel Stadium.

Mike Scioscia dropped struggling right fielder Josh Hamilton from the cleanup spot to fifth in the batting order for Monday night's game against the Texas Rangers, but the Angels manager said the move is not permanent. Until Hamilton, batting .176 with 23 strikeouts in 68 at-bats before Monday, snaps out of his funk, first baseman Mark Trumbo will bat cleanup against left-handed starters. Texas was scheduled to start lefty Derek Holland on Monday. Hamilton is expected to return to the fourth spot against right-handers Alexi Ogando and Yu Darvish Tuesday and Wednesday night.

As the ball left the bat of Mark Trumbo, as his teammates rushed out of the dugout in celebration, the Angels finally had the look of a championship contender. Trumbo hit a walk-off home run in the 13th inning Sunday, giving the Angels a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers. The Angels had their first sweep of the season; for that matter, their first three-game winning streak of the season. If they can get Josh Hamilton on track, the Angels really might have something special.

With Albert Pujols playing despite an injury to his left foot, the Angels are prepared for him to be limited to designated hitter for an extended period. "I'm dying," Pujols said Sunday. "It's hurting real bad. " Pujols started at DH for the fourth consecutive game, and has started more games at DH than at first base. He is suffering from plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tissue that stretches across the bottom of the foot. The most effective treatment can be to stay off the foot - in the case of a baseball player, a stint on the disabled list to let the inflammation subside.