Welcome back, Kendry Morales. Just when Gohalos calls you out for your poor performance the past week, you come back and immediately make your presence felt against the Yankees. Another great decision by manager Mike Scioscia to sit Kendry at the start of the game, and bring him in as a pinch hitter. It shows that Scioscia still trusts Morales enough to send him in when the Angels really need a hit.

But this article won’t touch too much on the Yankees series, but the following series. I’m talking about finally three series of the year. The Angels will get the Athletics and Rangers at home before traveling out to Oakland to take on the A’s for a final 3 game series.

The Angels are 8-5 against Athletics this year, with a 3-4 record at home and a 5-1 record away.

It looks like the Angels have the division wrapped up. As long as they win three of the next four series, they’ll come out on top. The only team the Angels are worried about are the Rangers, who they have had trouble with all year. This year, the Angels are 5-10 against the Rangers, earning 2 of those wins in the previous 3 game series. When the Halos are hosting Texas, they are 2-5. The have a 7.5 game lead over the Rangers, and will make a four-game homestand within the next couple weeks. The outcome of that series may have a big effect on the AL West standings.

The Rangers don’t exactly have a cake walk. They’ll take on the Rays at home with and have a 4-2 record against Tampa Bay this season. They are 3-0 and have outscored the Rays 20-7 while in Texas. They are currently playing the A’s, but have a surprisingly weak 6-8 record against Oakland.

Texas will also take on the Mariners, and have a 10-6 overall, 3-3 away record.

The Angels have 12 games left, and if the these stats are any indicator of what is to come, the Angels should have the division locked up by the 25th

While starting pitching was hard to come by at the beginning of the season, the tables have turned. In September, the Angels have only allowed more than 4 runs in 5 out of 20 games and have one of the best ERAs in the American League this month.

Gohalos wants you to make a bold prediction in our comments section of when the Angels will have the division wrapped up. You can bet that we will have an article announcing when the Halos have locked up first place, so check back and see how close you were.

The Halos are close to winning the division, and just need to hold it together for a few more weeks. Then we can focus on the playoffs and winning another championship.

-Kevin H.