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Oakland Athletics (71-87) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (86-72)

Pitching Probables: OAK – Rich Harden (4-4, 5.17 ERA)  LAA – Joel Pineiro (7-7, 5.36 ERA)

Game Info: 12:35 PM PT; TV - Fox; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Hanging around.  Hanging around.  The Angels seem to have shot themselves in the foot ten times in this last month, yet the Red Sox just can't shake them in the Wild Card race.

I think I personally have declared the Angels' season DOA at least four times since that first fateful series with Texas.  Yet here we are with the Halos perfectly poised to either finally put themselves out of their misery or put themselves right on the Red Sox heels in the race should the Angels win today and the Sox drop both games of their doubleheader.

Hanging around.  Can't get rid of them.  Kids have alligator blood.

Leader (n.) -- a person who rules, guides or inspires others; head.

Also see Hunter, Torii.

Any doubt about how bad Torii Hunter wants to be in the playoffs is now put to rest. All players say they want to win, but it is true leadership that demonstrates this when the chips are down. Hunter is a consumate leader. He speaks for the team, mentors the youth movement with grace and wisdom, and plays his biggest when he needs to. It was apparent tonight that the Angels were sleepwalking through another game until Hunter put them on his back. His on and off the field leadership has kept the faint playoff hopes alive.

Angels 4 A's 2 

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Oakland Athletics (71-86) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (85-72)

Pitching Probables: OAK – Guillermo Morosco (8-9, 3.35 ERA)  LAA – Jerome Williams (3-0, 3.22 ERA)

                                                                    Game Info: 6:05 PM PT; TV - KCOP; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Well, it was always going to be the wild card anyway right? The Angels now have to pick themselves up from last night's loss and turn the business of chasing the down the Red Sox and the Rays. Karma says that if the Sox do complete this historic collapse (and all signs point to it happening), then the Angels should be the beneficiaries. To accomplish this Jerome Williams is now the man in the middle of it all. Williams has been better than advertised since his insertion and should be enough to give the boys a shot. Which then turns the attention to the offense. This is where things get sticky...

We come here to both bury the Angels AL West hopes and lay blame for the predicament they now find themselves in. Tonight's game was a microcosm of what has been plaguing the Angels all season: lack of the big hit when needed. As a result, the Rangers are now on their way to the playoffs. The Angels...there's still a faint pulse, but this patient is on life support.

Angels 1 A's 3

Time for some Monkeying Around, with a special emphasis on keeping Angel fans' hopes alive in these desperate times; a time to talk about all the Angels-related topics that slipped through the cracks this week, as well as any other totally unrelated topic you feel like bringing up.

Here are a few topics for you to discuss amongst yourselves:

• I realize I am venturing into dangerously delusional territory here, but I am not quite ready to give up on the Angel season.  First off, why give up with six games left?  That's like the fans who start heading out to the parking lot even though there is still one out left in the ninth and their team is down by one.  I will say that the AL West is probably out of reach since the Halos wasted yesterday's Ranger loss.  The Wild Card though, is not.  All that needs to happen to force a one-game playoff is the Angels going 5-1 while the Red Sox go 2-4, which is entirely possible with how bad they are playing right now.  The Rays would need to do worse than 5-1 themselves, which is also entirely plausible.  I know none of it is likely, but I'm not giving up hope yet.
• If the Angels do miss the playoffs, 2011 will be remembered as the season the Blue Jays just couldn't stop screwing over the Angels.  First they tricked Tony Reagins into trading for Vernon Wells, then they double-crossed him by sending Mike Napoli to Texas where he has had a monster season.  Now they beat the Halos twice in extra innings down the stretch.
• By my count, the Angels have had four losses (including last night) since the trade deadline that might have been avoidable if the Angels had trusted reliever depth beyond Walden and Downs.  That may not sound like a lot, but four losses of the Angels' 21 losses in less than two months.  Had they been able to acquire someone like Mike Adams or a lesser reliever, I can't help but think one or maybe two of those losses could have been avoided.  That would have put the Angels still in contention in the AL West and in great position in the Wild Card.  So my point here is, once again, great work, Tony Reagins.
• Here is an interesting question.  Which would you rather see happen in the final week: the Rangers clinching the division BEFORE they arrive in Anaheim, making that series largely meaningless, or Texas coming to Anaheim up by three games, meaning the Angels would have to sweep them and then win a one-game playoff to advance to the post-season, which strikes me as pretty unlikely, but it means the Angels have a chance but also means that there is a high chance that the Rangers will celebrate the division title on the Angel Stadium grass?  I'll be honest, I'm not sure which one I would choose.

Or just feel free to bring up a topic of your own.  I don't really care (as long as you keep it clean) because it's Friday.

Due to some time restraints, I'm going to have to make this game recap short and week, unlike last night's game. I see a lot of you on twitter fretting with hysterics over the death of the Angels season last night, and I need to slap some sense into you guys. Stop being such babies, I know it's late in the season but we only lost a half a game in the standings. Last night was a game we could afford to lose with the Red Sox off, unfortunately the Angels have no more room for error so at this point it's do or die.

Angels 3 Blue Jays 4