Angels Surge in the Power Rankings!

The Angels scored over 30 runs in their sweep of the Rangers this weekend. It was astonishing. And folks are noticing.

At Sports Illustrated, "Power Rankings: Pirates up to No. 2, Angels, Cubs move into top 10":

Power Rankings: Angels soar into top 10, slumping Reds plummet. http://t.co/ApD1seNw0p pic.twitter.com/D61V55cCnL

— SI MLB (@si_mlb) July 6, 2015

It's been a dramatic turnaround for the Angels, who have ripped off wins in seven of their last eight games to pull to within three games of the Astros in the AL West and into first place in the wild card race. Despite the exit of general manager Jerry Dipoto after a reported power struggle with manager Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles went 5–1 last week, taking two of three from the Yankees in Anaheim before sweeping the Rangers in Texas.

It's been the offense carrying the Angels of late, especially against the Rangers. Los Angeles hitters battered Texas hurlers to the tune of 33 runs in three games, including a 13–0 rout on Saturday. The Angels' lineup is slowly showing signs of life beyond Mike Trout (a team-high 174 OPS+) and Albert Pujols (leading the club with 25 homers): Kole Calhoun tore opposing pitchers apart last week and has hit .308/.321/.654 in his last seven games, while Erick Aybar has hit a sterling .478 in his last 23 at-bats. Now the Angels need to get David Freese, C.J. Cron and Matt Joyce going as well.