Page 310 - 2025 Los Angeles Angels Media Guide

2005
CLUB POSTSEASON

2005 SEASON
The Angels clinched second straight A.L. West title with a 4-3
victory Sept. 27 at Oakland, marking the Club’s fifth Western
Division crown and sixth overall trip to the postseason (2002 Wild
Card entrant). The Halos finished with a 95-67 record, seven games
ahead of Oakland in the West. The 95 wins marked the second most
in Club history (99 in 2002) while the seven-game division lead was
the biggest game differential during a division title.
SEASON NOTES: The Club was in first place 171 of 183 days
of the season...Halos went 22-9 to finish regular season (14-2
over final 16 games)…44 of 95 wins were in comeback fashion,
including 16 when trailing after six innings (most in MLB)…Halos
led MLB batting .296 with RISP and .279 with RISP and two outs…
The Club also led MLB with 161 stolen bases…Garret Anderson
set or extended the Angels’ all-time records in hits (1,929), total bases (3,062), extra-base hits (565), doubles (403) and
RBI (1,043)…Chone Figgins set the club record for base hits by a switch-hitter (186) and led MLB with 62 stolen bases…
Despite missed time with a shoulder separation, Vlad Guerrero finished third in A.L. in average (.317), tied for 10th in
home runs (32) and tied for ninth in RBI (108)...Figgins and Bartolo Colón shared team MVP honors...Angels finished
with a 3.68 ERA, ranking third in A.L., and ranked first in strikeouts (1,126)…Francisco Rodriguez led the bullpen with
45 saves (T1st in A.L.), converting his last 18 opportunities…Scot Shields set a club record with 78 appearances…Seven
Angel pitchers finished with a record above .500, led by Colon’s 21-8 mark, the most wins in the A.L. and paving the way
to his first Cy Young Award.…Three Angels ranked in the top 10 in ERA in the A.L., including Jarrod Washburn (4th, 3.20),
Lackey (6th, 3.44) and Colon (8th, 3.48)…Halos tied for first in league with Club-record-tying .986 fielding percentage…
Orlando Cabrera tied the Club mark for fielding percentage by shortstop (.988, also David Eckstein in 2004), which also
tied for MLB lead in 2005...Angels finished with a home attendance club record of 3,404,686, the second highest mark
in the A.L. and third highest in MLB.
POSTSEASON
2005 DIVISION SERIES RECAP
The first round of the Division Series matched the Angels against the New York Yankees, a team they had defeated in
the 2002 DS. The Halos’ win on the last day of the regular season was crucial as it gave the Club home field advantage
over New York for the series.
Game 1 matched Mike Mussina vs. Bartolo Colón at Angel Stadium. A first inning, bases-clearing double by Robinson
Cano proved to be too much for the Angels to overcome as it lifted the Yankees to a 4-2 win and a 1-0 series lead. It
marked the fifth consecutive postseason series the Angels dropped Game 1.
In Game 2, the Halos defeated the Yankees 5-3 rallying from 2-0 deficit. Bengie Molina’s solo HR in the 8th inning
marked his second postseason HR in as many games. His two-out RBI single in the sixth frame tied the score at 2-2 and
Orlando Cabrera’s two-run single in the eighth inning proved to be the game-winner.
As the series shifted to the Bronx for Game 3, a three-run home run by Garret Anderson off Randy Johnson in the first
inning sparked the Halos’ offense to 11 runs on 19 hits (19 hits established a franchise playoff best). Anderson finished
with four hits and five RBI and Bengie Molina homered for the third straight game.
The Halos would have to wait out a day of rain before Game 4. John Lackey, pitching on three days rest for Jarrod
Washburn (scratched due to throat infection), limited the Yankees to one run on two hits in 5.2 innings of work. New
York rallied from a 2-0 deficit, scoring one run in the sixth inning and two runs in the seventh frame for a 4-3 win. Both
CLUB
clubs totaled just four hits in the game. The series was tied at 2-2 with Game 5 being played the next night, over 3,000
miles across country in Anaheim.
POSTSEASON
The deciding game of the series was a rematch of Game 1 starters in Mussina and Colón. Colon would leave after just
1+ IP due to a strained right shoulder. The season came down to 22 year-old Ervin Santana, who was summoned from the
bullpen. After an early 2-0 lead taken by New York in the top of the second inning, the Halos put up three runs in the bot-
tom half of the frame with Adam Kennedy’s two-run triple serving as
the key blow. Santana would settle in and work 5.1 innings, allowing
just three runs. A solo HR by Derek Jeter in the 7th inning brought
the score to 5-3 but Francisco Rodriguez closed the door with the
tying runs on base in the 9th. For the second time in four seasons,
the Angels bounced the Yankees from the first round of the playoffs.
Santana became the sixth rookie winning pitcher in a winner-
take-all postseason game and third to do it in last 20 years, along
with John Lackey (2002 World Series vs. Giants) and Jaret Wright
(1997 ALDS vs. Yankees).

346 2025 ANGELS MEDIA GUIDE