Alright, Who Stole The Bats?

Someone check the ebay listings for "Authentic MLB Bats, Full of Hits".  They've got to be out there somewhere, I've seen 'em.  They were around last month when the Angels where getting hits, scoring runs by the bucketful, and winning games (at one point going 21-6).  Someone question the clubhouse guy in Tampa Bay, because in the games prior to those in Tampa, the Angels were hitting like serious World Series contenders.  After last night's offensive no-show, the angels have lost 7 of their last nine and scored an anemic 28 runs.  One consolation (or excuse) for the Halos' recent play has been that they've been playing good teams with excellent pitching.  So, it can be understandable that during this stretch, the hitting has disappeared.  It won't be consolation come October when they possibly face one of these two teams in the playoffs.  As things stand now, the Angels would be facing-off against the Red Sox and the Twins would play the Rays.  If the Angels manage to get past the Chowds, they've shown in the last week they'll have their hands full in getting to the Series, regardless if it's against the Twins or the Rays.  Angels manager Mike Scioscia held a closed door meeting with the team after last night's loss, hopefully some of the things he did during the meeting was to assemble a search party, explore the yellow pages for a private detective, and consulted a psychic who can track down the missing lumber.

Daily Notes:

• According to recent comments by Scoiscia, the Angels will mainly be looking to add a catcher and bullpen depth after the September 1st roster expansion.  One of the catchers who might be called up from AAA Salt Lake is 25 year-old Bobby Wilson.  Wilson's hitting .328 in a little over 200 AAA at-bats and has thrown out 24 of 54 runners attempting to steal.  Throwing out base runners has been a weak spot for the Halos as Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis have thrown out a combined 27 of 88 attempted steals, with recent starter Mathis getting just 8 of 39.  Wilson was a Texas league (Double A) all-star last year, but is not included on any lists of top prospects.  Brandon Wood will probably be called up to back-up Erick Aybar at SS, if not prior to September 1st, then shortly after.
• Joe Saunders struggled again in last night's start.  Over the last 2 weeks, Saunders ERA is 6.23 while he's allowed 28 base runners in his last 17.1 innings and is winless in his last 4 outings.
• Magic Number: 20