ANAHEIM -- Buried beneath the flurry of injuries to the Angels' pitching staff lies a silver lining -- 25-year-old reliever Mike Morin.
Morin, who entered play Thursday having posted a 1.84 ERA in 18 appearances this season, is pitching arguably the best he has in his three-year career. He had two perfect innings of work in the Angels' 5-2 loss Wednesday, extending his scoreless-innings streak to 10 1/3. He entered Thursday having retired 31 of the last 35 batters he'd faced.
One of the secrets to the right-hander's success has been balancing his pitches, notably by increasing the frequency of when he throws his slider.