Angels lose to Rangers 5-3: Playoff hopes dwindling, division title hopes dead

Angels 3 Rangers 5

Josh Hamilton. It had to be Josh Hamilton, right?! I mean, that's what it was all building towards,  yeah? That makes the most sense; that there was some outside, universal force that would have him at the center of the probably the biggest play of the game. That's just how the world works sometimes. Not all poetry is pretty and easy on the ears, and not all machinations of the baseball world, that twist and churn, creating seemingly random but awesome plays, end up in favor of our team, the Angels. The Now Eliminated From The AL West Angels.

When discussing the Josh Hamilton ire that i'm sure i'm not alone in wallowing in, I'm of course talking about the broken-clock-is-right-twice-a-day, basket catch and slide he did in the beginning of this game. Albert Pujols managed to score on a tag play...just barely, in a supreme show of broken, old man lack of speed...but it could have broken things up more, and those runs would have come in handy later, but nope. They got hosed by Josh Hamilton, and we all began thinking of the outcomes of that play had he done it in an Angels uniform: embarrassing drop, probably an injury or two, leading to a loss. But he's with the security blanket Rangers, and he made a play that is going to sting for a day or two.

Andrew Heaney did his best to keep his team in the fight. In what began as a low scoring affair,  things busted wide open when Delino Deshields doubled in a run to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth. Then, with the bases juiced, Adrian Beltre hit a bases-clearing double and put the Angels down 1-4. They would fight back throughout the game, but Texas would answer...it was all futile. It was over with the Beltre hit, the rest seemed like a formality.

But the Angels did give it a shot. They made it close(r), sort of...the old college try, and what not. Yet, the division was lost tonight, valiant effort or not. That is going to sting for a month or two. They no longer hold their destiny in their own hands, and are praying for a Wild Card.

There is still hope...but it is dwindling.