Hey, I remember this team. The decent starting pitchng. The shut down bullpen. The timely hitting and agressive baserunnig. The occasionally boneheaded play that ends up meaning nothing in the end. It's as if someone went down to the clubhouse and reminded Mik Scioscia what his teams used to excel at. Over the past two games the Angels have been the team on the offensive. Granted the Yankees are not what they used to be, but an extended winning streak is what the Halos need if they have any hope of getting into the playoffs. They play like this and that might just happen.

Angels 6 Yankees 2

We have officially reached the panic section of the Angels' season. The team started the night 10 games under .500 and closer to last place than the wid card race. Things are pretty bleak around Anaheim. So tonight's first game of a 10 game homestand felt more like a referendum on the future than a ballgame. Could the Angels actually salvage something of this season? Would they be able to give us a reason to care about baseball when the dog days hit? Maybe it's a bit hyperbolic to say each game is the single most important one of the 2013 campaign but here we are. Tonight the Halos had to grind a game out and, lo and behold, they came out on top. Is it a momentary respite from the misery this season has been or the start of the great comeback we are all hoping for? Only time will tell.

Angels 5 Yankees 2

They say if you love someone, set them free. If thy come back, they're yours. If that is true, I guess it means Vernon Wells is ours, in a toxic relationship sort of way.

Yes, that fateful date is upon us. The pariah that was Vernon Wells returns to Anaheim this weekend for the first time since he was banished to the Bronx. I'm sure you are all whet with anticipation of this event. I know I am. I had to put a tarp down underneath my desk and everything.

I still recall fondly the day the news that the Wells trade broke. Vernon himself described it as a dream come true as he apparently been secretly harboring a desire to don the pinstripes since he was just a wee lad. Well, the feeling is mutual for me. It was a dream come true to see Wells no longer adorned in Halo red and instead bringing down the Evil Empire from the inside. Let that be a lesson to you, kids. Dreams can become a reality if you want them badly enough.

Still, I can't help but remember that some actually tried to rain on the parade back then. The Angels gave Wells away for some monetary savings and two nothing prospects. Don't they worry that they might need a fourth outfielder? Won't somebody please think of the bench?!

Yes, there were those that actually thought the deal might blow up in the Angels' face. How that was even possible, I don't know seeing how the trade they made to initially acquire Wells years ago already exploded and left a smoldering hole where their face should be. There really isn't a face left to blow up. However, Wells did make us all a little nervous the first month of the season when he posted a shockingly great .911 OPS in April. The dream was starting to like a nightmare and became a full fledged night terror when the Halos lost Peter Bourjos to injury and had nothing but scraps on their bench to replace him with. How could this be?

Oh, it couldn't be. Nevermind. Everyone move along and return to your homes. Nothing to see here.

The June 14th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Angels tried to draft Tebow, sign a top draft pick and much more...

The Story: Former scout Tom Kotchman recalls the time the Angels tried to draft Tim Tebow.

The Monkey Says: Drafting football players was an old trick the Eddie Bane regime loved for some reason. Let's just be thankful that this didn't happen because Tebowmania coming to Anaheim might have been enough to make me quit life.

The Story: The Angels signed their third-round draft pick, Keynan Middleton.

The Monkey Says: He signed for under slot, as did two of the other top ten picks they signed. They have one other guy who signed exactly at slot, so they have some excess pool money to throw around which will be important when it comes to them top pick Hunter Green and some of the other high school talents they drafted.

The Angels are 10 games under .500. They are 11.5 games back in the division and 9.5 games back in the Wild Card race. Baseball Prospectus and Coolstandings.com each give the Angels a roughly 5% to 7% chance of earning a playoff berth. Go ahead and cling to that hope if you want. We here at Monkey with a Halo would be ecstatic if they somehow pulled that off, but we are also realistic. In all likelihood, this team is toast. Come the trade deadline, they are almost certainly to be in a position where they should become sellers.

To that end, we are going to continue a series that inadvertently started last week with Howie Kendrick by evaluating each of the potential trade pieces the Angels have. Up next is the one off-season acquisition that Jerry Dipoto got right, Jason Vargas!

Out of all the trade pieces the Angels have to deal, and it really isn't that money, Vargas is clearly the most confounding asset. On one hand, he is an impending free agent, which more often than not means he'll be traded. On the other hand, the Halos are not your ordinary basement-dwelling seller. They have designs on contending for a championship next season and desperately need pitching to reach that goal. So do they look to move Vargas, or do they keep him?

The June 13th, 2013 edition of daily news for the Los Angeles Angels including Blanton to have next start skipped, Madson wonders if HGH could help and much more...

The Story: Joe Blanton will not make his next scheduled start.

The Monkey Says: They say they are only pushing him back a few days, presumably so he doesn't get exposed by the Yankees. They haven't committed to when he will start next though. The Angels will need someone to start Tuesday the 18th, so that could be Blanton unless the Halos liked what Jerome Williams gave them yesterday. They've given themselves an out here, hopefully they follow through but my hunch is that Blanton will get at least one more shot.

The Story: Ryan Madson wonders if HGH, under the care and direct supervision of a physician, could help him in his recovery.

The Monkey Says: Madson was very careful to limit his curiousty only to HGH and only under a doctor's care so as not to stir the PED hornet's nest. Personally, I think this is a very valid question. The MLB-paid doctor in the article claims there is no recuperative benefit to HGH(and, yes, there are studies that show it helps with recovery from injury), but that is largely what athletes have used it for. That, of course, begs the question of why HGH is banned if it doesn't help? At this point, the well is probably poisoned since HGH has the taint of on it now. Even if the medical community finds that it can help with recovery without adverse long-term effects, MLB will probably never allow it. This despite the fact that they allow Adderall, which is just a brand name for speed, exemptions at several times the rate of the rest of society.

It was looking to be another snoozer with a familiar storyline. Angels offense struggles and sputters to another defeat while another starter pitches well enough to win, but doesn't. But it wasn't to be, thanks to a clutch bases-clearing, inside-the-park "grand slam" by Erick Aybar. Sure, it was technically a 3-run triple, with an run-scoring error, but let's not argue semantics.

Until the seventh inning, starter Jerome Williams had been decent, but not spectacular. After a giving up a couple runs in the first inning on ground-outs, Williams only surrendered a couple more solo home runs to Chris Davis and Adam Jones. Meanwhile, the struggling Angels offense cobbled together a couple runs on a massive Hank Conger home run into Eutaw street and an RBI double by a red-hot Howie Kendrick.

But the big blows came in the seventh on Aybar's heroics, in addition to a two-run home run by Albert Pujols, who looks like he could be on the verge of breaking out. If that happens, this offense might just be good enough to get the Halos rolling again.

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Game Notes

-- Howie Kendrick continues to rake. His average is now up to .324 after adding a couple hits on Wednesday. 

-- Brad Hawpe certainly looks like he can't hit anymore at the big league level, but the reserve outfielder appears to be able to still see the ball well at the plate. Hawpe drew two walks, including one that was key in helping load the bases for Aybar in the seventh inning.

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Halo Hero of the Game

Way to go, Aybar! His on-base % is all the way up to .283, now!