rotation with rookie Jamal Murray. It worked well enough ag

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Its going to take a lot more than winning a series from the struggling Tampa Bay Rays for the last-place Los Angeles Angels to turn their season around.Winning three straight for the first time in nearly three months is encouraging, though, especially considering the type of pitching performance the team got from Hector Santiago in Thursdays 5-1 victory.Santiago limited the sputtering Rays to three singles over seven scoreless innings, C.J. Cron drove in two runs and Albert Pujols snapped a scoreless tie with a single that gave him 15 RBI in his last 15 games.When you rebound with three games like we have, youre going in the right direction, Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after Los Angeles won for just the fifth time in 17 games.But we have our work cut out for us. We need to keep getting better, and were not going to get better until our rotation gets solid and these guys get comfortable and keep throwing like you saw Hector (Thursday), Scioscia added. Once that starts to happen, I think were all going to feel more comfortable with where we are.Pujols put the Angels ahead with his sixth-inning single off rookie Blake Snell (1-4). Cron followed with a RBI grounder that the Rays, whove lost 19 of 22, were unable to turn into an inning-ending double play.The Angels, whove taken three straight for their longest winning streak since they won four in a row from May 13-16, added two more runs in the eighth on Crons bases-loaded sacrifice fly and a perfectly executed double steal that saw Pujols swipe second base while Mike Trout sprinted home without drawing a throw to make it 4-0.Santiago (6-4) walked four and struck out nine. The left-hander worked out situations with runners in scoring position in the second and third innings, then only allowed two men to reach base over his last four innings.Tampa Bays Brad Miller homered on reliever Joe Smiths first pitch, breaking up the shutout.I feel really comfortable from the stretch, Ive been saying that for the last four or five starts, Santiago said. I feel when Im in the stretch I have a great mindset and a positive mindset.Snell, who has taken the loss in four of his six career starts, allowed two runs and four hits over six innings for Tampa Bay. The 23-year-old left-hander walked two and struck out seven.The Angels move on to Baltimore, where theyll finish a 10-game road trip heading into the All-Star break. Theyve scored 57 runs through seven games while batting .323, including .382 with runners in scoring position.We got three out of four here, and this road trip weve been pretty good, pitching-wise and offensively, Santiago said. All around, were clicking.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: RHP Cory Rasmus is expected to miss a minimum of six more weeks after surgery on Thursday to repair a right groin injury. ... C Geovany Soto, out since May 18 with a right lateral meniscus injury, might be activated this weekend.Rays: RHP Alex Cobb (Tommy John surgery) felt fine one day after his first rehab start Wednesday night for Class A Charlotte and will make his next appearance Monday. ... C Curt Casali, who left Wednesdays game with a bruise on the left side of his head after being struck by a back swing, sat out the series finale and is day to day. ... INF Steve Pearce (strained right hamstring) is scheduled to start on-field batting practice Friday.RARE COMBOTampa Bays Chris Archer (4-11, 127 strikeouts) and Drew Smyly (2-10, 108) are the second pair of teammates in major league history to lose 10 or more games while fanning at least 100 batters before the All-Star break. Clay Kirby (6-11, 126) and Steve Arlin (8-11, 115) did it for the San Diego Padres in 1972.HOT BATSAngels 3B Yunel Escobar went 3 for 5, extending his hitting streak to a career best-matching 12 games. SS Andrelton Simmons, meanwhile, doubled in the eighth inning, giving him a nine-game hitting streak.UP NEXTAngels: Continue a 10-game East Coast road trip leading into the All-Star break, with RHP Matt Shoemaker (3-9, 4.40 ERA) making his second start of the season against Baltimore. He pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out a career-high 12 in his start against the Orioles at Angel Stadium on May 21.Rays: Archer, who lost eight straight decisions against the Red Sox, starts the opener of a weekend series in Boston. The right-hander, whos gone from an All-Star a year ago to leading the majors in losses this season, is the first pitcher since Phil Niekro (Braves) in 1977 to have as many as 11 losses and 127 strikeouts at the All-Star break. The other times that happened occurred in 1973, when Nolan Ryan (Angels), Gaylord Perry (Indians) and Wilbur Wood (White Sox) all did it.Cheap Shoes . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Fake Shoes . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. https://www.fakeshoeswholesale.com/ . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Shoes Outlet . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Cyber Monday Shoes . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area.The Denver Nuggets experimented with two 7-footers in the starting lineup but it didnt work out. They stumbled to a 3-5 record with Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic manning the post together, so coach Michael Malone inserted Kenneth Faried at power forward.It took a couple of games but the Nuggets finally got a win with Faried starting and Jokic coming off the bench. Turns out, Faried thought he should have been starting all along.When I came out of that starting spot, it kind of gave me a wakeup call, Faried said after Denvers 120-104 win over Phoenix on Wednesday. Like, Hey, you need to get back to who you are.Faried had 20 points and 15 rebounds, both season highs, in the win, and he and the Nuggets want to ride that momentum against the Toronto Raptors on Friday night.The Nuggets (4-7) also want to get even with the Raptors, who won the first meeting between the teams, 105-102, in Toronto on Oct. 31.The Raptors (7-4) are going to be hungry for a win after losing back-to-back games to the two NBA Finals teams from last season. Toronto lost by four at Cleveland on Tuesday and then fell to Golden State at home on Wednesday.These two games are a good test for us, they let us know how quickly mental mistakes will cost you and breakdowns will cost you and then in the second half when we got focused in, locked in, we started switching some things properly, talking, communicating we kind of got back in the game, Toronto coach Dwane Casey told the Torontto Sun.dddddddddddd But you cant have lulls like that against great teams.Star guard DeMar DeRozan hasnt had any lulls this season. He has scored 30 or more points in nine games this season, including 34 against the Warriors on a night he was 17-for-17 from the line.One of those 30-point games came against Denver. He had 33, and his backcourt mate, Kyle Lowry, had 29.Stopping those two will be a tall task for the Nuggets. Their best perimeter defender, Gary Harris, is out with a foot injury and Will Barton hasnt played since spraining his ankle against Toronto, leaving Denver thin at guard.Malone started backup point guard Jameer Nelson against the Suns and went with a three-guard rotation with rookie Jamal Murray. It worked well enough against the Suns, but it will be a different story against the Raptors.Fridays game is the beginning of four road games in six nights for Toronto. The Raptors also play Sacramento, the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston.The Pacific Division-leading Clippers will provide a tough challenge, but Denver thinks it has found something with Faried back in the lineup, so the Nuggets will be tough to beat, especially after getting their first home win in four games.Very happy to get the monkey off our back, get the first home win, Malone said. Now we have to turn around and get ready for Toronto. ' ' '