vlaze.com

Heading into last weekend the Angels and A's were tied for first place in the AL West with a 14-9 record. The Angels bullpen problems seem behind them now that Scott Shields is off the DL and Frankie Rodriguez took the necessary time off to heal his ankle sprains. Jon Garland was acquired through free agency from the White Sox last season and has been hit this season as opposing teams are batting .336 against him and has only 4 strikeouts through 30 1/3rd inning's pitched. Chad Gaudin has pitched well for the A's this season. In 4 starts Gaudin is 3-1 with an ERA of 3.38. Gaudin doesn't give up base runners as the righty is ranked ninth in the AL in WHIP at 1.08. WHIP measures walks and hits divided by inning's pitched. Gaudin has had back-to-back quality starts after making an adjustment to his delivery. Gaudin no longer raises his arms over his head during his delivery and rather keeps them at chest level keeping his eye of the target. The results have been 14 innings and only 1 earned run allowed with 12 K's and only 1 walk. The Angel bullpen will only be effective here in keeping the Angels from falling further behind in this game. Let's take Oakland here +120.