Resting Players and Home Field Advantage

The Angels finished a good weekend series against division rival Texas Rangers, winning three of four games.  It was kind of curious as to why Angels' manager Mike Scoiscia rested both Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter in the same game; I suppose the reason was the off-day on Monday would give both players two days off.  The only race the Angels are involved in at this point of the season is home-field advantage, a very important race as the Tampa Bay Rays have a terrific record at home.  The road to the World Series would be a lot easier if the time spent in Tampa were kept at a minimum, and home field advantage would ease that trip.  The Halos have the best road record in baseball, but Tampa has lost just 19 games in their dome, and took 2 of 3 games against the Angels last time they met in Florida.  The Rays are just a .500 team on the road.  As of today, the Angels are 1.5 games behind Tampa for the best record.  Resting players is a good idea, and with their huge division lead, is a luxury the Angels can afford.  But what they can't afford to do is lose ground to Tampa by resting key players during the same game, especially against weak pitching teams such as Texas, reducing their chances getting ahead of the Rays.

Daily Notes:

• Angels' starting pitcher John Lackey didn't look sharp during his game against the Rangers on Sunday giving up 9 hits and 4 earned runs in 5 innings.  I don't think it's anything to worry about, Lackey has been consistent all season, with just a few of these bad outings sprinkled in among his good starts.
• The Angels were unable to trade for a back-up middle infielder before the play-off rosters are set.  Rumored shortstop David Eckstein was trade to Arizona, ending any talks of the former Angel returning to Anaheim.
• Why does Major League Baseball schedule days off during national holidays?  10 teams, including the Angels, are scheduled off this Labor Day.  It doesn't make sense to me to have off days when fans are more likely to visit the ballparks.
• Magic Number:  9 (with 26 games remaining)