The AL West may have shifted considerably today. The Angels got a walk-off grand slam from Kendry Morales, then moments later watched in horror as Morales jumped into the celebration at home plate and promptly broke his leg. Earlier, the Rangers and C.J. Wilson had stumbled again and fallen to just 3 games over .500.
Meanwhile, Brett Anderson returned to live action and tossed 5.2 IP of scoreless ball, dominating a dangerous Tigers' lineup with one big helping hand -- Gabe Gross going over the left-center field wall to bring a Gerald Laird HR and turn it into one of 16 straight Anderson retired from the 1st to the 6th. The A's pitching staff leads the league with 7 shutouts.
Ellis got the A's on the board first with a 5th inning solo HR, and then helped ice the game when the A's led 2-0 in the 8th and Ellis cleared the bases with a double, took 3rd on the throw and then scored on Pennington's sacrifice fly, as the A's added on 4 to make life easy for relievers Brad Ziegler and Craig Breslow.
The end result? The A's are alone atop the AL West at day's end, riding as 4-game winning streak -- on the road, no less -- and feeling like right now they can beat anybody. Except maybe Roy Halladay -- congratulations, Roy, on throwing baseball's 20th perfect game today ... and the second one this month!
