Angels Brooms Getting Put to Work (66, 67/81)

Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Torii Hunter and the rest of the Angels lineup knew how important this series was. The Angels pitching staff, with Jered Weaver not pitching due to shoulder tendinitis, knew how important this series was. The Angels fans knew how important this series was, and everyone brought their to take down another contender in the AL Wild Card by sweeping the Detroit Tigers.

Good bye, Miguel Cabrera. You won't be missed in Anaheim this year. 

Not lost in the Angels late season surge has been 1B/OF/DH Mark Trumbo. Number 44 has disappeared lately, going 2-22 over the last few games that included a benching by manager Mike Scioscia to get his head on straight. Trumbo struck out swinging at a high pitch in Oakland last week and walked back to the dugout about ready to cry. He began mumbling to himself and shaking his head for the rest of the inning.

The difference between Trumbo before the All Star break and after is night and day. It also has everything or nothing to do with his Home Run Derby swing. After the break, Trumbo came out swinging, clobbering 6 home runs over the next two weeks. It seems lately that all he's trying to do is crush that ball over the fence when, at the beginning of the season, he was adjusting to pitches and hitting the ball to the opposite field. His recent downswing has him in a mental funk, and rather than make the adjustments and work on pitches he's missing, Trumbo just swings harder.

Lucky for Mark, the rest of the team has been playing fabulous, and he hasn't been asked to do too much. Mark my words though, the day will come when the Angels are struggling offensively again, and we'll all look to Trumbo to see what he can do.

Playoff Atmosphere at the Big A (65/81)

As slim as the Angels chances are of making the postseason thanks to Oakland, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay all playing out of their minds right now, the Angels increased their chances astronomically with a walk-off, two-out single by Alberto Callaspo to beat the Detroit Tigers in a game that might as well have been the one game Wild Card playoff.

The Detroit Tigers, with their nightmare-inducing lineup and their flame-throwing starting pitchers, are THE scariest matchup in baseball right now. You never know when their team will explode for 10 runs a game (one of the biggest reasons their still in the Wild Card race), and it takes some skilled pitching to navigate those treacherous waters. Then Ervin Santana gave up 2 home runs.

Santana, who gave up solo home runs in the 2nd and 3rd innings, had Angels fans throwing up expletives early as Santana had blown an early 2-run lead. After that second home run though, Santana became a different person.

Santana kept the ball low, zeroed in on batters, then proceeded to tame the Tigers by striking out 10 batters in 6 2/3 innings. Despite giving up 34 long balls in the season, Santana has been throwing terrific in the last 8 games as he tries to carry his Angels team to the playoffs and earn himself a new contract in the process. In the last 8 games, Santana is 7-1 and has given up no more than 5 hits a game. Yeah, the guy has still given up home runs (11), but he's lowered his ERA from an ugly 6.00 to a less ugly, but still ugly 5.20 in the process. It shows improvement and the Angels are going to need improvement from every one of their starting pitchers down the stretch, especially with Jered Weaver going down for an undisclosed amount of time with shoulder tendinitis.

Every game from here on out is going to have a playoff atmosphere around it. Scioscia showed it last night by using 4 pitchers in 4 batters to face the matchups despite having a tie game. Angels have to do everything they can to win, and over the past two weeks, they've sure been living up to that.