Boston Swept Out The Door (63, 64/81)

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. For years, the Boston Red Sox have been a perennial playoff contender and a pain in the Angels backside. After their late season collapse last year, followed by the removal of their long-time manager and excommunication of half their roster, the Red Sox are a shell of their former selves.

The latest addition to the Red Sox, soft-hitting first baseman, James Loney, above, stares longingly at a team going in the opposite direction. Just one week ago, he was part of another playoff contending Los Angeles team (Dodgers) and now resides near the cellar of the AL East.

Thanks to their last two sweeps against the Red Sox in less than 2 weeks, the Angels are making that desperate push to reach the final AL Wild Card spot. Unfortunately for them, as the Angels have won, so has every other team in contention.

In the last ten games, while the Angels have gone 7-3, the Oakland A's have gone 9-1, the Detroit Tigers 6-4, and the only team with a losing record that had the top WC spot locked in a few days ago is the Tampa Bay Rays with 4-6. It may be a game of inches, but the Angels are slowly starting to gain ground.

Angels Answer Adversity (62/81)

Down 5-4 in the bottom on the ninth, playoff hopes slowly slipping away, the Angels were down to their final two outs. As cliché as it sounds, the Angels were not going to go down without a fight.

With one out in the ninth, Erick Aybar was hit by a pitch then proceeded to steal second. Alberto Callaspo was up next and then walked to put the go-ahead run on first base.

21-year-old rookie phenom, Mike Trout, stepped up to the plate. With the pressure on, Trout quickly found his way into a 0-2 count. Not to be rattled, the undisputed Rookie of the Year showed composure extending far beyond his years and roped a broken bat single, that had more spin than a carnival ride, up the middle for an RBI base hit.

Thanks to Trout's clutch hit, the Angels were now tied at 5-a-piece with runners at the corners and only one out. Angel's veteran, Torii Hunter stepped up to the plate with the game on the line and hit a long fly ball that allowed Callaspo to score from third and the fireworks to explode. The Angels had beaten the Boston Red Sox for the fourth time in 7 days with a final score of 6-5.

The Angels had done it. They did not fold under the pressure of a ninth-inning deficit. With this kind of tenacity, clutch, and a little bit of luck, the Angels have a shot to erase their four and a half game deficit out of the Wild Card with 33 games left.