Overall Record: 89-66 Pythagorean Record: 90-65 Games Ahead: 4 Magic Number: 4 Week Record: 5-1 Pace: 93-69
Record after 155 games:
2002: 96-59 2003: 72-83 2004: 87-68

Opponents: vs. Texas (3-0), vs. Tampa Bay (2-1)

Hot: Figgins was awesome this week, setting the table at 8-22 with a triple, 4 walks and 5 steals in 5 tries. He was rewarded with 7 runs and was able to tie for the league lead in steals with 56 and tying him for 2nd on the Angels for steals in a season (Mickey Rivers had 70 in 1975 and Gary Pettis had 56 in 1985). Flying Molina the Elder was a solid 8-23 with 2 doubles and a home run. Vlad was also effective at 7-21 with a home run and 3 walks. Old Man Fins did not play much, but was 3-7 with a home run and 2 doubles. Washburn ended up with the only decent week among the starters, even though he looked terrible in the first inning of his game. He finished with 6 innings, 2 runs allowed, 5 hits allowed, and a walk. The bullpen faired much better, though, with the combination of Christiansen, Shields, Frankie K, Greg Jones, Kevin Gregg, and Escy giving up 1 run, 4 hits, 7 walks, and striking out 19 in 17 innings. Frankie was able to pick up 3 saves, giving him 41 for the season and making him only the 3rd 40-save man for the Angels (Bryan Harvey had 46 in 1991, Percy had 42 in 1998 and 40 in 2002). Shields was able to pass Minnie Rojas for pitching appearances in a season with 75 (Rojas had 72 in 1967). Lots of records have been dropping for the Angels.

Steve Finley Award: Rivera mostly failed at protecting Vlad, going 4-21, but he did have a home run and a double. GA was missing most of the week, but the offense seemed to click even without him, which is good because when he did play, he was 1-11. The rest of the starters were pretty piss-poor, with only Colon actually having one good start (and one terrible one). Lackey couldn't make it through 6 and Byrd couldn't even make it through 5. Three of the starters were able to pick up wins, though. As far as the bullpen goes, it was all excellent except for Yan (1 run allowed in 1.1 innings) and Donnelly (2 runs allowed in 1.2 innings).

Coming up: The Angels basically cannot win the wild card at this point. The reason is that the A's have been all but eliminated from the wild card race (Cleveland's Magic Number to the A's is just 1). The A's also need to win at least 3 games in the 4 game series, which, even though it is in Oakland, will be tough to pull off. The A's have to play this series like they need to win every game, because if they don't, they have to rely on the Rangers (whom the Angels have owned) to take at least 2 of 3 against the Angels on the weekend (and themselves to sweep the Mariners. All of this means that the Angels are in great position to clinch the division before the final game of the season. Of course, these are the Angels, and they have often collapsed in similar situations before (I, for one, will never forget the 1995 team, just for that reason). I have to imagine that Colon will only pitch against the A's if the Angels have lost the first three games of that series. If the Angels clinch before then, I would say it is probably even odds that he even starts against Texas (depends on his back and Cy Young possibilities, probably) as the scheduled could easily stick him as a Game 1 or 2 starter on normal rest. As far as the other things go, I expect Saunders, Finley, Flying Molina the Younger, etc. to start some games if the Angels do clinch sooner rather than later. Basically, this week will be crazy in some way or another, and hopefully will be enjoyable and end happily. This is it Halos...time to finish things up.

Opponents coming up: at Oakland (85-70) Sept 26-29, at Texas (77-79) Sept 30-Oct 2

Probable Starters: Lackey vs. Blanton, Santana vs. Kennedy, Byrd vs. Haren, Washburn vs. Zito, Colon vs. Dickey, Lackey vs. Dominguez, Santana vs. Loe