It wasn't another no-hitter, but Ervin Santana still seemed to have plenty of that same magic left in his arm as he cruised to a complete game shutout of the visiting Twins.

Angels 5, Twins 1

I don't know how much longer Ervin can keep this up, but I'm glad to watch and find out.  He was lights out once again tonight, just as he has been, really since late June.  Granted, Santana has hardly faced a murderer's row of lineups over that stretch, but that shouldn't detract too much from what he's done.

With tonight's complete game, Santana has now gone nine straight starts allowing three runs or less and gone at least seven inning in seven of those nine starts.  That is some Weaver-esque stuff right there.  And his brilliance tonight comes at a perfect time since it shows the Rangers that the Angels aren't going away even though they did nothing at the trade deadline.

Really, who needs bullpen help when your starters finish what they started?  Keep it up, Ervin.

@

Minnesota Twins (50-58) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (59-50)

Pitching Probables: MIN – Brian Duensing (8-8, 4.35 ERA)  LAA – Ervin Santana (6-8, 3.47 ERA)

Game Info: 7:05 PM PT; TV - KCOP; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

So much emotion for just one little game, it hardly seems fair and I hardly know what to expect from the Angels tonight.

Will they come out fighting after they got their blood boiling in that fiasco in Detroit?  Some say that, despite the general level of stupidity on display, the Halos could use that as a rallying point for their playoff push.

Or might they come into the series with their heads hung low after seeing the Rangers make two flashy moves at the deadline and their own team make none?  I'd like to think the players are professional enough to realize that is just part of the business, but with so many youngsters, the improvements by Texas could prove to be discouraging.  Or, the vets on the team could turn that frown upside down and try and frame the lack of trades as a vote of confidence from management that they believe that the current roster is good enough to get the job done.

And then there is Ervin Santana who is making his first start since his no-hitter.  Who knows where his head will be at?  Will he remain as locked in as he was against the Indians or will the success go to his head and cause him to lose focus?

Needless to say, this game should be VERY interesting.

And so Mike Trout's first cup of coffee in the majors comes to an end with the team announcing that our hero has been demoted to the minors, reporting to the Arkansas Travelers.

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!?!?!  The Travs?  Again?  Hasn't he already destroyed the Texas League enough with his .950 OPS?

The short answer is, "yes."  The long answer is, "yes, sort of, but it is complicated."

I, for one, definitely thought the Angels would be sending Trout to Triple-A to play for the Salt Lake Bees, so I understand why some are concerned that he is being asked to remain at the Double-A level.  Some have speculated that it is because the Angels have decided to slow his career curve down a bit after he scuffled during his brief stint in the bigs.  Those people would be wrong.

Yes, it is unusual to have a guy like Trout not jump up to the next level after he has so thoroughly proven himself at a lower level, but there is a unique confluence of circumstances that led to this CORRECT decision to keep Trouty in Little Rock.  First, the Travs are a playoff-bound team, something the Angels are very big about.  They want Mike to get post-season experience, which is somewhat odd since refining skillsets should be a higher priority, but it seems pretty clear the Angels want him to learn to play under pressure, a hint that they might have plans to use him sooner rather than later.  Trout won't get that experience with the Bees because, well, the Bees are horrible and currently sit 14.5 games back in the standings.

Second, Salt Lake might actually be bad for him.  The level of competition and talent might be better at Triple-A, but it isn't that much better than in Double-A.  The problem with Salt Lake, and the Pacific Coast League in general, is that it is a hitter's haven with all of the high altitude ballparks, Salt Lake chief amongst them.  That kind of environment can lead to some bloated stats that have a tendency to cover up flaws in one's skillset, leading to the creation of bad habits (see Wood, Brandon or McPherson, Dallas).  On the flip side, the Travelers play in an extreme pitcher's park, so Trout is going to have to earn every one of his offensive stats AND hone his defensive skills by patrolling the spacious outfield.  I actually think the defensive development might be one of the bigger driving factors here.  Trout is a good defender due to his speed, but in his small sample size of big league time I witnessed, he looks like he still has a fair amount of work to do on getting reads and taking smarter routes.

Finally, and I hate that this is part of the reasoning, but keeping Trout in Double-A turns down the volume on the Trout hype machine.  Trout was met with much fanfare during his promotion and many wanted him to stick around.  Had Mike gone to Triple-A and started putting up monster numbers in the thin Utah air, those calls for his permanent ascension into the Angel lineup would only grow louder.  Stuck back in Arkansas, those calls will still ring out, but without much substance since the team will always have the built-in excuse that he has yet to even attempt Triple-A.

That's it for this week, check back in next week to see what happens to our future hero.  Same Trout Time.  Same Trout Channel... err, blog.

Loyal readers, I have a favor to ask.  For the last three years I, along with Ryan Falla and Jon Lyons, have busted our ass to provide you with a constant stream of daily Angels content and we almost never ask anything in return, but today I am going to ask you to help us out.

This fall, Blogs With Balls, the top sports blogging organization out there, is presenting awards to the top sports blogs in the land and I want your help to make this blog one of them.

The USMAP awards are a chance for little blogs like this one to get the notoriety they deserve and you can help us get that by nominating us in all applicable categories (Best Sports Site - Writing Quality, Best Team-Specific Site, Best Sportswriter) by going to this link.  The more nominations we get, the better the chance that we will get the attention of the good folks at Blogs With Balls and hopefully be named a finalist for the general public to vote on.  If you like this blog, please nominate us and have your friends nominate us and help us get this chance to get our name out there in a big way.

Don't make me beg, because I totally will, I just want to wait until closer to the end of the nomination process so that it looks like I have some pride in myself.

You hanging in there, Angel fans?  Hopefully none of you are too distraught over the Angels becoming the first team ever to have officially been eliminated from the playoffs in August despite being just two games out of the division lead.  I'm just as shocked as you are by this turn of events, but we have no choice but to listen to what the national media is telling us, right?

Try not to slip in the puddle created by all the dripping sarcasm, but I'm dead serious about the national media basically declaring the Rangers the unquestioned winner of the AL West all because they landed two high quality middle relievers.  Don't believe me, here is a quote directly from ESPN's Steve Berthiaume:

"The Rangers have won the division. Not only that, they made themselves a team that will be very difficult to beat in the postseason."

And Berthiaume is not alone, I've seen multiple national media outlets make similar assertions, though not with quite so much certainty.

Ummm, not so fast there, folks.  Last time I checked, they still actually have to play the games.  And the last time I checked, no team ever ran away with a division because of middle relief.

The August 2nd, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Posnanski settles the Weaver-Guillen "unwritten rules" debate, Trout sent back to Double-A, Santana named AL Co-Player of the Week and much more...

The Story: Joe Posnanski declares Carlos Guillen the biggest offender in the Angels-Tigers dust up from Sunday.

The Monkey Says: If Poz deems it so, then so it shall be written.  I had assumed my team allegiances had clouded my judgment, but Posnanski is totally impartial and even he can't understand how anyone could justify Carlos Guillen's actions.

The Story: The Angels sent Mike Trout back to Double-A Arkansas and called up Andrew Romine to take his place.

The Monkey Says: Trout going to Double-A instead of Triple-A is a bit of a surprise, but I understand the logic, which I will delve into alter today now that the Trout Tracker will be returning later today.

The trade deadline has come and gone and the Angel roster looks remarkably unchanged.  Few thought the Angels would make a big move, but most thought at least some kind of move would go down for sure.  The Angels said they explored the market but ultimately couldn't find an deal that worked for them.  Whether you believe that or not, the fact of the matter is the Angels are in a tight playoff race and opted to stand pat.  The question you must now answer is: was NOT making a trade actually a smart move by the Angel front office.

Turns out nobody is on the other end of that phone call.

Time to vote!