The Angels did the bare minimum to stay alive in the race, taking two of three from Texas over the weekend to inch to within two and a half games of a playoff berth. Problem is, the Halos only have 26 games remaining to make up that difference. And this week is going to suck; the Astros and Dodgers come to town for six games. You may recall the last time the Angels played these two clubs in late July/early August on the road, when they dropped six in a row to kick off their embarrassing August swoon. We’ll know a lot more about where the Angels stand next weekend.
The Skinny
AL West – Third place, 5-1/2 games behind Houston
AL Wild Card – Fourth place, 2-1/2 games behind Texas for the second slot
Playoff Odds (entering Monday) – Baseball Prospectus: 15.8%; FanGraphs: 22.5%
Early Week Series
Rays at Tigers
Tampa Bay, trolling the Angels since 2009. First they trade the Angels Bad Scott Kazmir, before we realized he was actually a phoenix and he turned into Again Good Scott Kazmir. Then they traded the Halos Matt Joyce. And now Kevin Kiermaier is stealing Mike Trout’s moves.
[mlbvideo id=”435261883″ width=”400″ height=”224″ /]Screw this team.
Root: Tigers
Indians at White Sox
Neither of these teams will make the playoffs, but I have a Facebook “friend” that is a Cleveland fan and he made fun of the Angels after last week’s sweep.
Root: White Sox and pettiness.
Astros at A’s
Only 5-1/2 games back. Anything is possible when you use your…
Root: A’s
Rangers at Mariners
As Jack Z was drug out of Mariners HQ by security, I imagine this is how he felt about Jesus Montero. And Justin Smoak. And Dustin Ackley. And Mike Zunino. And…
Root: Mariners
Twins at Royals
OK now THIS is the series where the Twins finally start losing, right?
Root: Royals
Weekend Series
Jays at Yankees
Look at these people. They don’t deserve nice things.
Root: Jays
Royals at Orioles
RIP, Orioles.
Root: Royals
Red Sox at Rays
Sometimes we have to do bad things for those we love; in this case, that means rooting for Boston to take down the Rays, who are two games behind the Angels. Ugh.
Root: Red Sox
A’s at Rangers
We really need the A’s to win. Don’t count on it because baseball is the worst.
Root: A’s
Twins at White Sox
It’s September. For real, how are the Twins still a thing?
Root: White Sox
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