Halos Heaven

Up next for Angels: Saturday vs. New York Yankees - Los Angeles Times
Jered Weaver vs. Andy Pettitte

Even without heart of order, Angels don't miss a beat - Los Angeles Times
On the same day they lost the heart of their order, No. 3 hitter Torii Hunter and cleanup batter Vladimir Guerrero, to the disabled list, the Angels showed they still have a pulse. Facing a club that had won 13 of 15 games, the Angels rode three-run home runs by Kendry Morales and No. 9 batter Erick Aybar to a 10-6 victory over the New York Yankees on Friday night.

Team Reports - MLB at CBSSports.com
--OF Juan Rivera left Friday's game after seven innings with tightness in his left quadriceps and his right hamstring. Rivera took a tumble at first base after reaching on an error by Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez in the fifth inning. Rivera's status will be re-evaluated Saturday.

--LHP Joe Saunders got a no-decision Friday after allowing five runs on nine hits in five innings. Saunders is 2-2 with a 6.65 ERA in eight starts since the start of June. He has allowed 21 home runs this season (19 to right-handed batters), matching his season total for 2008 (and career-high) and leading all American League pitchers.

The Injuries...

Angels' Torii Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero could be out for a month - Los Angeles Times
Both are put on 15-day disabled list, Hunter because of a muscle strain in groin area, Guerrero because of a strained muscle behind his knee. Hunter will miss All-Star game.

Hunter's DL stint dismays him, Angels - OCRegister.com
"It's not in my DNA to sit out," Hunter said.

Angels Sluggers Land on DL: Panic Time in O.C.? - Bleacher Report
No team wants its top offensive threats to miss 15 days, let alone 15 minutes. But the situation the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim find themselves isn't as bad as it could be.

Injuries have Wood taking on big role - angelsbaseball.com
"When you loose two big bats out of your lineup, you are going to be looking at a number of different bats and see who is swinging well and what the matchups will be," Scioscia said. "Brandon could be right in that mix. "It isn't going to be an everyday role -- probably not right now -- but there is a role for him here and to get at-bats."

Oh yeah, it gets worse...

Angels lose Rivera to leg tightness - angelsbaseball.com
Rivera hurt his left quad when he accidentally ran into Mark Teixeria while running down the line to beat out a throw by Alex Rodriguez in the fifth. While the throw was off the mark and Rivera was safe, he was noticeably in pain after losing his footing.

Morales ably fills void left by Teixeira - Yahoo! Sports
On Friday night he hit his 15th home run (all of them from the left side), this from a gorgeous no-effort swing that jolted a Joba Chamberlain(notes) curveball nearly 450 feet to center field. The homer covered the final three runs of what had been a four-run deficit for the Angels.

Clay Daniels' firing has Angels backing out of international market - ESPN
The Los Angeles Angels' recent firing of international scouting supervisor Clay Daniels, who is under investigation by Major League Baseball as part of a probe into bonus skimming, has stalled the organization's actions in Latin America.

Giants' Sanchez baffles Padres for MLB's first no-hitter of 2009 - USATODAY.com
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jonathan Sanchez pitched a no-hitter and that was amazing enough. If not for an eighth-inning bobble, he could've been perfect.

A peek at the filming of Ken Burns' sequel - Yahoo! Sports
The nine-part "Baseball" series Burns delivered on PBS in 1994 wasn’t just a documentary about a sport. It was an oral history of the nation’s last 100 years told through a game that so often mirrors its country’s fortunes, and the 15 years since begged for Burns’ eye to be turned on baseball once more.