Ervin Santana and John Lackey will be activated from the disabled list this week, throwing the starting rotation into flux. Matt Palmer will start today against Tim Wakefield as scheduled before Santana makes his 2009 debut Thursday afternoon against Brad Penny.

Joe Saunders, originally scheduled to pitch Thursday, will take the mound in the opener of the series at Texas Friday before Lackey makes his debut Saturday.

The Angels retained their 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the sixth inning when leftfielder Juan Rivera threw a one-hop frozen rope home, nailing Jacoby Ellsbury’s attempt to try to tag up from first base.

Ellsbury led off the sixth with a single off Jered Weaver – who has given up only three hits thus far – and stole second before advancing to third on a tag up off a Julio Lugo fly ball to right. David Ortiz hit a slightly shallow fly ball to left, which Rivera caught and threw home to get Ellsbury on a bang-bang play.

Boston starter Justin Masterson’s three walks and one hit batter in the first two innings apparently didn’t move home plate umpire Jim Joyce, who gave Masterson and both clubs a warning after Masterson threw a pitch behind Torii Hunter to lead off the bottom of the third. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

It’s a 1-1 tie right now, with the Angels having left five runners on base during the first two innings. A Kendry Morales sacrifice fly brought in Maicer Izturis in the bottom of the first for the Angels, while J.D. Drew hit a solo homer in to straightaway center off Jered Weaver in the second.

With starting pitcher Anthony Ortega sent down to Triple-A Salt Lake Sunday, the Angels brought up catcher Bobby Wilson from the Bees. Wilson, who made a cameo for the Angels last September, made his first appearance in the Angels clubhouse since the tragic death of pitcher Nick Adenhart, a good friend of his, on April 9.

Wilson made it a point to stop by Adenhart’s locker, which is as it was left after Adenhart’s last game the night of April 8. Stopping by his former roommate’s locker gave Wilson the perspective he needed.

“The way the locker looks is vintage Nick,” Wilson said. “That’s exactly how I would imagine he would have left it. (Going by the locker) was a hard thing to do, but I guess it gives a little more closure. Not complete closure, but I’m glad I saw it.”

Wilson, who keeps in regular contact with the Adenhart family, could very well be sent down later this week, when John Lackey and/or Ervin Santana are recalled from the disabled list. But that’s something that Wilson is at peace with, especially after the tragedy that befell his close friend.

“Ultimately, it’s just baseball and just a game,” Wilson said. “We are blessed to be playing in it and quite frankly, it’s supposed to be fun. That doesn’t mean that I’m not going to try hard or put all my effort out there, but it’s just a game.”