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This weekend, the Angels really pulled off something cool, and pretty damn surprising: They beat up on the AL West-leading Houston Astros. This wasn’t a case of a handful of nail-biters; the Halos scored 21 runs in the Friday and Sunday wins, while also setting a new franchise record for most stolen bases in a series (10). That’s a statement, right there.
Today, the Angels wowed us while down 6-3, the Astros having come back, tied and taken the lead in the game right after the Halos had been up 3-0 after three innings (Albert Pujols homer and Kole Calhoun two-run single). When Houston came back and tied it, thanks to a couple homers given up by Jesse Chavez, on top of some other big knocks, and the Angels were in that 6-3 hole, they could have easily called it a day.
They fought back, though. They ran all over the Astros, they got big hits, the bullpen shut them down the rest of the way, after Chavez’s lackluster time on the bump was done. This was a comeback of epic proportions, not just a little rally; a Halo Blitz on steroids.
You had a huge homer from Eric Young Jr., who also had an RBI hit in the later innings; you had all those stolen bases, including some more SB magic from Cameron Maybin (who now leads the AL in stolen bases, by the way). Maybin also joined company like Chone Figgins and Dave Collins as Angels who have had 5 or more stolen bases in a series.
You had Andrelton Simmons getting multiple RBI knocks, and Luis Valbuena and C.J. Cron joining in on the action, too. The Angels just kept pouring it on, and not relenting one bit, and they punched these big bad Astros in the mouths. That’s a statement.
This offense is really blowing up, here in the sans-Trout world we now live in, and that’s a beautiful thing to see. This team continues to baffle, but in a glorious way. I’m in awe of this weekend’s appearance by the one, the only Team of Destiny.