Angels Surge to Sole Possession of Second American League Wildcard Spot

There's video at MLB, "8/12/17: Pujols' late double propels Halos to 6-3 win."

And here's AP's report at LAT (the Times has no beat reporter covering the Angels right now), "Angels rally for 6-3 victory over the Mariners and to get back into a wild-card playoff spot."

Finally, check Jeff Fletcher, at the O.C. Register, "Angels move into 2nd wild card spot with 5th straight victory."

Let's see how long this lasts. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, considering the Angels' (inconsistent) experience this season. Sheesh:

SEATTLE — The Angels have reached a notable, although meaningless, moment.

They are currently sitting in the second wild card spot, after running their winning streak to five games with a come-from-behind, 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.

“It gives us a little taste of what’s left to come,” Jesse Chavez said.

The Angels have taken the first three games of this series against the team that was leading the race for the second wild card when it began. The Mariners were since passed by the Minnesota Twins, who also lost on Saturday to allow the Angels to pass them both.
At 60-58, the Angels still have 44 games to play, which is why being in playoff position now means little.

Asked if there was any small significance to draw from the standings now, Manager Mike Scioscia said flatly: “No. Nope. We’ve got a game tomorrow.”

To JC Ramirez, the standings don’t mean as much as the way the Angels are currently playing. They have now won 11 of their last 15 games.

“You’ve seen the tough season we’ve been through and now we finally gained that spot,” Ramirez said. “People that weren’t hitting are now hitting. People who weren’t pitching very well are now doing good. This is the kind of team we are. This is the kind of team we were supposed to be since the beginning of the season.”

The characteristic that has been on display most lately is a penchant for late-inning heroics. They scored the decisive runs in the eighth and ninth innings in all three victories so far in Seattle. And in the past two games, they overcame seventh-inning deficits, of four runs on Friday and two on Saturday...

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