Oops!

The Angels blew their second straight winnable game today, losing 5-4 to the A's on a dumb mistake by Francisco Rodriguez. LAist cannot remember the last time a pitcher missed a routine throwback from a catcher, which caused a run to score. We certainly can't recall it ever happening to end a game.

Theoretically the Angels should feel good about this series with the A's. They easily won the first game, and should have swept the last two. Los Angeles of Anaheim looked like it had the better team each game. Instead, the Angels have given the young A's newfound confidence heading down the stretch.

Meanwhile, the Angels need to pull themselves back together. The bullpen is officially exhausted with Brenden Donnelly and Scot Schields both giving up major hits this series. K-Rod's momentary loss of focus is embarrassing. And the hitting is borderline abysmal outside of Vladimir Guerrero. Maybe it's not too late for the Angels to add some bullpen help during the waiver trade period. A quality bat is probably unattainable at this stage. But if the Halos can just hold leads that their starting pitching has been providing, they should have a puncher's chance heading into the playoffs.