Halos Heaven

Final Score in Detroit: Angels 2, Tigers 1

They call him Magic for a reason. A nosebleed that showed up in the pregame tossing did not stop Angels pitcher Ervin Santana. It looked like he stuffed a rabbit's foot up his right nostril and the luck was with him as he scattered 6 hits, including lead off doubles in the 6th and 8th innings. His 7 strikeouts included striking out the side in the bottom of the 3rd inning.

When he finally did get into trouble after two were out in the bottom of the 9th inning, Santana and Angels manager Mike Scioscia spelled relief Fuentesaurus, as Brian Fuentes induced a Curtis Granderson pop-up into the first row of seats beyond 3B that Chone Figgins managed to get into his glove amid a gaggle of timid Tiger fans.

The Angels scoring was limited to the top of the 9th where they broke a scoreless game on base hits by Torii Hunter, Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera, whose base hit scored Hunter. Ground out specialist Howie Kendrick did not disappoint those who seek predictability in the world but managed to chop a high infield bouncer just hacked enough that the only play was at 1B. The Angels would need that run as Santana's hopes for CG shutout were dashed in the 9th inning, but he still go the W and that is what counts.

Meanwhile, sleepy Angel bats hacking terribly and brain fawt baserunning made tigers ace Justin Verlander look like mid-70s Nolan Ryan with only 4 hits allowed and 7 strikeouts recorded, but he threw too many damn pitches and Fernando Rodney choked when it counted in the fateful top of the 9th. The Angels were quite happy to face anyone but Verlander. Ryan himself might not have stood a chance with the team eager to show that with their great pitchers healthy they are the team to trun tragedy into destiny.

In his postgame comments, Ervin Santana explained to Fox Sports West interviewer Jose Mota that the noseblled began as he was warming up, "I just put this in my nose and I said 'F-ck it, let's pitch'." Yeah... it was pretty awesome.