VT'er wrote:Quite a sun field they have there in Oakland in the afternoon. Players on both sides had trouble catching the ball.

Fortunately I had the sun to my back for most of the game, though it did play havoc with my iPhone operation.


In years of yore the amount of foul territory in the Oakland Coliseum was often talked about by broadcasters. Some espoused that Oakland pitcher ERA's benefited from foul outs that would have been in the stand in most parks. I haven't heard many broadcasters talk about it lately.

Yesterday the foul ground and sun did come into play.

CALI: No, Mt Davis was there, blocking the view in center field. It went up in '96.

Thanks for sharing your pics from last night.

Angels hope home is where the wins are

By Cash Kruth / MLB.com | 5/5/2011 8:35 PM ET



Maybe when the Indians travel to Anaheim on Friday they can lend their secret of home success to the Angels. They certainly would be open to listening.

The Angels have won two in a row, but they return to Anaheim for Friday's three-game series-opener 6-7 at Angel Stadium. The main culprit behind their struggles has been their offense, which has batted only .212 at home, compared to .300 on the road. They also have hit only five home runs in Anaheim (25 on the road) and average only 2.7 runs per game at home (5.4 on the road).

If the Angels want to pull away from the Rangers in the American League West, they know they must protect their home turf.

"We need to start taking care of business in our own yard," Torii Hunter said. "We haven't really gotten rolling yet for some reason. It'll come. There's no time like now."

One team the Angels did well against at home is the Indians, taking two of three against them on April 11-13. With the Indians, perhaps, getting closer to shedding the "early-season surprise" label as the calendar moves to May, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said he likes the mix of players Cleveland has.

"They catch the ball well and have a nice nucleus of young players and veterans now," Scioscia said. "[Ex-Angel shortstop] Orlando Cabrera is a nice presence on that team. He's good for their kids. The shortstop [Asdrubal] Cabrera is coming into his own, and [Grady] Sizemore is back."

Indians: Masterful Masterson

Right-hander Justin Masterson (5-0, 2.25 ERA) will go for his sixth victory of the season Friday. On Sunday against the Tigers, the 26-year-old earned a no-decision after allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits in seven innings. Masterson is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in seven career appearances (four starts) against the Angels.

Angels: Youth continues to serve

Along with Friday's starter Tyler Chatwood (2-1, 4.94), the Angels have seven players 25 or younger, and 11 of their 25 players have fewer than two years of MLB service time. Although they have, perhaps, exceeded expectations, Scioscia said he's still going to try to bring them along relatively slowly.

"Some of our guys are still getting their feet wet in the Major Leagues," Scioscia said. "I don't think [Hank Conger, Mark Trumbo] are ready to hit 3-4-5, not yet. I'd rather have the guys we've been using there get chemistry and have a deeper lineup."

Worth noting

Chatwood made his Major League debut against the Indians on April 11, taking the loss while giving up four runs on four hits and walking four in five innings. ... Cleveland is coming off its first outright series win in Oakland since July 29-31, 2002.

Masterson has us up 1-0 in the bottom the the 4th.

Clutch DP, and we go to our 5th, up by one.

Choooooooooo!

Choo guns down the runner at 3rd!

Holy crap, Choo has an accurate cannon.