Join us » tors in Rashids favour when it comes to the chances of a c

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Its going to take a lot more than winning a series from the struggling Tampa Bay Rays for the last-place Los Angeles Angels to turn their season around.Winning three straight for the first time in nearly three months is encouraging, though, especially considering the type of pitching performance the team got from Hector Santiago in Thursdays 5-1 victory.Santiago limited the sputtering Rays to three singles over seven scoreless innings, C.J. Cron drove in two runs and Albert Pujols snapped a scoreless tie with a single that gave him 15 RBI in his last 15 games.When you rebound with three games like we have, youre going in the right direction, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after Los Angeles won for just the fifth time in 17 games.But we have our work cut out for us. We need to keep getting better, and were not going to get better until our rotation gets solid and these guys get comfortable and keep throwing like you saw Hector (Thursday), Scioscia added. Once that starts to happen, I think were all going to feel more comfortable with where we are.Pujols put the Angels ahead with his sixth-inning single off rookie Blake Snell (1-4). Cron followed with a RBI grounder that the Rays, whove lost 19 of 22, were unable to turn into an inning-ending double play.The Angels, whove taken three straight for their longest winning streak since they won four in a row from May 13-16, added two more runs in the eighth on Crons bases-loaded sacrifice fly and a perfectly executed double steal that saw Pujols swipe second base while Mike Trout sprinted home without drawing a throw to make it 4-0.Santiago (6-4) walked four and struck out nine. The left-hander worked out situations with runners in scoring position in the second and third innings, then only allowed two men to reach base over his last four innings.Tampa Bays Brad Miller homered on reliever Joe Smiths first pitch, breaking up the shutout.I feel really comfortable from the stretch, Ive been saying that for the last four or five starts, Santiago said. I feel when Im in the stretch I have a great mindset and a positive mindset.Snell, who has taken the loss in four of his six career starts, allowed two runs and four hits over six innings for Tampa Bay. The 23-year-old left-hander walked two and struck out seven.The Angels move on to Baltimore, where theyll finish a 10-game road trip heading into the All-Star break. Theyve scored 57 runs through seven games while batting .323, including .382 with runners in scoring position.We got three out of four here, and this road trip weve been pretty good, pitching-wise and offensively, Santiago said. All around, were clicking.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: RHP Cory Rasmus is expected to miss a minimum of six more weeks after surgery on Thursday to repair a right groin injury. ... C Geovany Soto, out since May 18 with a right lateral meniscus injury, might be activated this weekend.Rays: RHP Alex Cobb (Tommy John surgery) felt fine one day after his first rehab start Wednesday night for Class A Charlotte and will make his next appearance Monday. ... C Curt Casali, who left Wednesdays game with a bruise on the left side of his head after being struck by a back swing, sat out the series finale and is day to day. ... INF Steve Pearce (strained right hamstring) is scheduled to start on-field batting practice Friday.RARE COMBOTampa Bays Chris Archer (4-11, 127 strikeouts) and Drew Smyly (2-10, 108) are the second pair of teammates in major league history to lose 10 or more games while fanning at least 100 batters before the All-Star break. Clay Kirby (6-11, 126) and Steve Arlin (8-11, 115) did it for the San Diego Padres in 1972.HOT BATSAngels 3B Yunel Escobar went 3 for 5, extending his hitting streak to a career best-matching 12 games. SS Andrelton Simmons, meanwhile, doubled in the eighth inning, giving him a nine-game hitting streak.UP NEXTAngels: Continue a 10-game East Coast road trip leading into the All-Star break, with RHP Matt Shoemaker (3-9, 4.40 ERA) making his second start of the season against Baltimore. He pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out a career-high 12 in his start against the Orioles at Angel Stadium on May 21.Rays: Archer, who lost eight straight decisions against the Red Sox, starts the opener of a weekend series in Boston. The right-hander, whos gone from an All-Star a year ago to leading the majors in losses this season, is the first pitcher since Phil Niekro (Braves) in 1977 to have as many as 11 losses and 127 strikeouts at the All-Star break. The other times that happened occurred in 1973, when Nolan Ryan (Angels), Gaylord Perry (Indians) and Wilbur Wood (White Sox) all did it. Angels Jerseys 2020 . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Los Angeles Angels Shirts . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. https://www.cheapangels.com/ . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St. Angels Jerseys China . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. Wholesale Angels Jerseys . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. In the era of leaving no stone unturned in terms of coaching support, it is an oddity - or even an oversight - that the England Test side has not had a dedicated spin-bowling coach since Mushtaq Ahmed left in early 2014.It is not that by having someone around the squad, they will magically emerge with a match-winning spinner. As Trevor Bayliss said earlier this week we have to work with what weve got, and theres also the argument that the place for intensive coaching is not around the Test set-up, but in terms of mentoring, guidance and a sounding board it could hardly hurt at a time where England are thin in spin resources.For this week - and that is all it is for now - Saqlain Mushtaq, the former Pakistan offspinner, is with the England side at Old Trafford as they aim to level the series against his countrymen. If he fits in well, it could well lead to a longer-term deal for the winter series in Bangladesh (if it goes ahead) and India. On the evidence of Lords, both the facing and bowling of spin will stretch England to their limits.While Mushtaq was fortunate to work with England at a time when they had two of their finest spinners - Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar - and therefore his impact may have appeared greater, the reverse argument can apply to Saqlain; in the few days he has been around the side, he cant be expected to transform Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid into world-beaters.But he may be able to impart something that makes a difference. It is telling that one of the key pieces of advice that aided Moeen in his first season of Test cricket - when he helped secure the series win over India in 2014 - was after a conversation with umpire Kumar Dharmasena in the nets, when the former Sri Lanka spinner told him to grasp his pocket with his non-bowling arm to impart the required pace for international cricket. Sometimes little tips can make all the difference when there are raw skills to work with, which is clearly the case with Moeen and Rashid.Saqlain is the second overseas guest coach to be used since Andrew Strauss took on his role at the head of English cricket following the use of Mahela Jayawardene in the UAE and during the World T20. The onus of Jayawardenes time was on the playing of spin for the batsmen, but Saqlains expertise does not have to be restricted to Moeen and Rashid as England search for a way to combat Yasir Shah on a ground where five of the last seven five-wickett hauls in Tests have been taken by spinners.dddddddddddd.Youve got to use the knowledge of the people youre lucky enough to have come in and work with you, Ben Stokes said. From the batsmen, the questions hell probably get asked are: Who are the best players you bowled at, and how did they go about it?It would be silly if the batsmen didnt try to get anything out of him, pick his brains and ask how the guys who were successful against him played.Saqlains first spell in an England training top, however, was alongside Rashid in a one-on-one session on the Old Trafford square, appearing to use his mobile phone to take some ad-hoc footage (unless he was catching Pokemon). Conflicting views abounded as to whether that meant Rashid was more or less likely to be playing in the Test, but he fizzed a few legbreaks on a pitch adjacent to the Test surface. Later in the session, after a spell in the nets, Saqlain returned to the middle this time with Moeen and then the pair of spinners spent a stint together, eventually with Jonny Bairstow behind the stumps.There are factors in Rashids favour when it comes to the chances of a call-up for a first home Test, either as a replacement for Moeen or as a second spinner. His record at the ground in first-class cricket is healthy - 29 wickets in five matches at 23.48 with four five-wicket hauls - and he also bowled well here in one of the two ODIs against Australia last year, taking 2 for 41 as he and Moeen combined with five wickets.There is a strong link to Old Trafford for Saqlain as well. In 2001, he helped bowl Pakistan to a dramatic final-day victory when England had appeared set for a draw: from 174 for 1 they were bowled out for 261 late in the final session in a match that became remembered for a raft of missed no-balls on the last afternoon, although the overstepping did not change the fact that his spin befuddled England.Five years later, England were the winners by a vast margin of an innings and 120 runs. Steve Harmison took 11 wickets - after Pakistan had prepared for Manchesters bounce by practicing on marble slabs - and Monty Panesar eight on a pitch offering considerable pace. Any margin of victory will suffice for England over the next few days, and this time Saqlain will be hoping to help, even if only a little. ' ' '