When the Angels entered their four-game series against the Astros, they had only won three games in a row once this season and never had won four in a row.\n\nBut the Angels changed that with a four-game sweep of Houston, keyed by late lead changes, including a four-run rally in the eighth inning of a 9-5 win in the series finale on Sunday at Angel Stadium. It was their second-ever four-game sweep of the Astros, and their first since 2014; it was their first four-game sweep of any club since doing it against the Mariners from Aug. 10-13, 2017.
After an incredibly slow start to the season that saw the Angels serve as sellers at Monday's Trade Deadline, they've been playing much better recently. They improved to 8-3 over their last 11 games, but at 17-25, they are still five games behind second-place Houston with 18 games remaining. But Angels manager Joe Maddon believes this club isn’t out of it yet.\n\n“I've been involved in some really dire-looking situations,” Maddon said. “This week is pretty pertinent, but the most important game of the year is going to be Tuesday. And then the most important game of the year is going to be Wednesday. We have to reduce it to one day at a time. All the time, but it's true. If we're able to do that, you can see something good happening.”
Rookie right fielder
The Angels have seen better starting pitching and timely hitting during this stretch, which were both huge issues early in the season. Right-hander
\"I think the first inning I couldn't really focus; it was really hot,\" Barria said through an interpreter. \"But from there, I tried to amp myself up and be more aggressive with all my pitches, just going out there to get outs. I just wanted to try to get through five innings because our bullpen has been used a lot.\"
Upton, who provided a key hit in the eighth, has also started to heat up, while
The defense has also been better, with several highlight-reel plays over the last week, including yet another one from
The main issue has now become the bullpen, which Maddon admitted needs to start to take shape and hold leads better. The Angels lead the Majors with 12 blown saves, including another one on Sunday, with