The Fire Is Lit

If you watched the end of the Angels / Rangers game last night you would have seen Mark Teixeira act like a player who had just won a very big game.  Teix recorded the final out of the Angels' come-from-behind 7-5 win over the Rangers that featured an 8th inning, 5 run rally.  After Wednesday night's comeback fell short, last night's victory was a big game.  It showed the Halos have the ability and "fire" to never give up, that no matter how far down they are, they can comeback.  An important attitude for the team to have if they want to win a World Series.  Clutch performance from Jon Garland provided the opportunity for the Angels' comeback.  After giving up 4 runs in the first inning and another run in the fourth, Garland kept his team in the game by going 8 innings and not allowing any further scoring.  Garland's 8-inning outing also afforded the Angels' tired bullpen a much needed rest after Wednesday's 7-plus inning relief effort.  The big hit for the Angels' offense was off of the bat of pinch-hitter Juan Rivera's bat.  Rivera blasted a bases loaded double off of the right-centerfield fence that was just a couple feet from being a grand slam. 

To me, the highlight of the game was Teixeira's show of emotion.  It'd be real easy for Teix to come to Anaheim and put in his time until the off season and his impending free agency.  But instead, he's playing like he's been part of the team from day one.  The Halos would most likely have won the division without the trade deadline deal that brought Teixeira to Anaheim, but his winning attitude might be the edge the Angels need to put them over the top.

Daily Notes:

• A lot of Angels news on ESPN today.  About time the East-coast Sports Programming Network found out about the West Coast's best team.  Jason Stark writes about 10 Key Questions for the last month of the season.  Number 4 asks if the Angels will lose their mojo and if they can keep "that extra edge".  One interesting point was "We found eight teams in the wild-card era that entered September with division leads of 15 games or more. The bad news for the Angels is this: Only one of them -- the 1998 Yankees -- won the World Series. But here's the good news: Half of those teams at least played in the World Series. And all told, those teams played 18 postseason series and won 11 of them."  The need to keep "that extra edge" makes the Teixeira deal look even better.
• Also on ESPN, the leading article on their MLB page features an article by Gene Wojciechowski about how the Angels are built to win, not just the division, but the World Series.  Once again Torii Hunter shows his sense of humor within the write-up.  When asked about Angels' owner Arte Moreno, "Arte's awesome," Hunter says. "First of all, he knows my name. [Twins owner Carl Pohlad] called me 'Kirby Puckett' sometimes."  That cracks me up, is there a team owner who's a bigger douche than Pohlad?
• Last night's line-up featured what could be the 2009 Angels version of Detroit's great double-play combo of Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker when Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez both started.  Wood was called up from AAA Salt Lake when Howie Kendrick was placed on the 15-day disabled list.  This is Wood's fourth trip to the majors where he's hit a weak .134 (13 for 97), but after working on his swing during the AAA all-star break, Wood feels he is a better hitter.  In the 42 games after the break, Wood hit .361 with 17 home runs.
• Magic Number: 13 (with 29 games remaining)