The arrangement is made through Sunfare, and Napoli is one of its newest clients.

The company bills itself as the "leading provider of personalized, healthy meals," and who is Napoli to argue? He began the system in spring training and has dropped more than 20 pounds since the end of last year.

"Makes going first to third a lot easier," he quipped.

The game has generally been kind to catchers and power hitters who have carried a few extra pounds. Even at 240 pounds last September, Napoli had one of his most productive months as a professional, batting .453 with six home runs and 16 RBI.

"I feel a lot better," he said. "It's just hard to try to eat healthy. If you're tired and go home, the last thing you want to do is spark up the grill, cook chicken for yourself. The easiest thing to do is go out and eat somewhere, and it's hard to eat healthy.

"It's about taking care of myself and taking care of my body. I have a tendency to gain some weight during the year, which isn't normal for a catcher."

Reliever Darren Oliver, 38, joined Sunfare a few weeks ago to lose some pounds. He prefers the steak and egg breakfast and yogurt.

The system isn't cheap - it can run about $60 a day for three meals and three snacks - but both Napoli and Oliver said they can feel the results.

"I haven't been on a scale yet," Oliver said. "I'm going to give myself six weeks."

* * *

LIL' LAREDO ACTION

Napoli called for a curveball. He didn't expect the Laredo.

Facing Boston's Mike Lowell with two outs in the ninth, Matt Palmer dropped down and delivered a sidearm curve that froze Lowell and dashed across the plate for strike three. The pitch, referred to by some as the Laredo, was made popular by All-Star David Cone.

"He kind of fooled me a little bit when he dropped down like that," Napoli said.

Palmer, who said he threw the Laredo twice Wednesday, threw it with two strikes in the ninth because he saw Lowell diving over the plate.

"If they don't swing, it's good on my part," he said. "If they swing a few times, that thing goes a long way."

* * *

REINFORCEMENTS HERE

Told that Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and John Lackey would start consecutively over the next three days, Angels center fielder Torii Hunter flashed a sheepish grin.

"That feels so much better," he said. "Seriously."

The Angels' rotation is starting to resemble the staff of old now that Lackey and Santana have recovered from their injuries. Not that their replacements struggled.

Entering Wednesday, Angels starters had the league's top ERA (3.49), and Shane Loux and Palmer went 6-0 with a 3.11 ERA over their past seven starts. The two entered the year a combined 1-6 with a 6.78 ERA.

Manager Mike Scioscia said he's splitting up Santana and Lackey in the rotation to give Saunders an extra day of rest after his May 9 complete game, and because Lackey and Santana will be on pitch counts around 90, and Scioscia doesn't want to tax the bullpen should either pitcher bow out early.

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BIG NUMBER

19 . . . Consecutive Red Sox that Angels pitcher Matt Palmer retired to end Wednesday's game