How many times are the Angels going to come back to win games this year? Brian Fuentes already has 30 saves in 33 chances this year, and he got the win last night in extra innings. The Angels win close, exciting games, which is a great reason to think that they will go far this year. They’re continually facing great adversity and prevailing as the better team.

I was at the game last night, and believe me, when I saw that Jason Kubel 2 run shot in the first inning, I was ready for a longgg day at the park. But Jered Weaver (7in, 4ER 5K) got through it and ended up lasting longer than Scott Baker, who was absolutely lights out before he hit the 5th inning. Since Torii Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero, and Juan Rivera were all out of last nights game, we had to rely on Bobby Abreu and Kendry Morales to be our source of power. They combined 0-8, but Abreu walked 3 times, while Morales a key sacrifice fly in the 5th to get the Angels on the board. It was the unlikely heros that carried the Angels into extra innings. There were key hits from the bottom of the order, including Howie Kendrick’s RBI single off the second base to tie the game. And of course, you can’t forget about Mike Napoli’s drive to right center to win the game. More excitingly, the Angels were able to get the best of Joe Nathan, one of the league’s premier closers.

Nothing can explain the feeling of being in that park when Howie Kendrick, who has had his share of ups and downs this season, gets that single off second base off of Nathan. Then to have your closer come in and go three up, three down, which brings out the heart of your order. Napoli is up with 2 on and 2 down, makes contact as you see Carlos Gomez tracking that ball running faster than the average human, only to see it drop and plate Abreu. Que the fireworks…

-Kevin H