The Angels got two good starts during their series against the Tampa Bay Rays (by Jon Garland and Joe Saunders) but lost both games when they were shut out by the opposition

Each time his miserable 2007 season has been mentioned this year, Ervin Santana has had a version of the same response. "I just forget what happened last year. This is a new year," Santana said after the latest evidence, a four-hit, complete-game shutout of the Kansas City Royals on Monday. Santana has indeed put last year's 7-14 season in the past with his 6-0 start this season. A year ago, he was 1-10 with an 8.38 ERA on the road. This year, he is 4-0 with a 2.54 ERA.

Angels outfielder Garret Anderson's slow start landed him on the bench Friday. With the Tigers starting a left-hander (Nate Robertson), Angels manager Mike Scioscia kept Anderson out of the starting lineup. Anderson is just 2-for-19 against left-handers this season but the benching was about more than that. Anderson was hitting .234 with just seven hits in his past 44 at-bats (.159) before Friday. "It doesn't matter who's pitching. Overall, it's not happening right now," Anderson said.

The pop is back in the Angels' lineup after last year's power shortage. Casey Kotchman and Gary Matthews Jr. added to it Wednesday night. Kotchman's solo home run put Los Angeles ahead in the sixth inning, Matthews hit two solo homers of his own and the Angels snapped the Boston Red Sox's six-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory. "It's good to see the home runs tonight, but we're definitely not going to sit back and just rely on batter's box offense," Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said.