Major League Baseball’s regular season schedule presents a myriad of challenges to every ball club. When the calendar turns to April, there awaits 162 games on the docket over a stretch of six months. There are inevitable injuries and guaranteed slumps to contend with. Teams face long road trips and extensive traveling. There is also the familiar attrition of squaring off against each division foe 18 times a season.

So when the schedule presents opportunities to gain ground in the standings, playoff teams tend to take advantage. If you want to be playing in October, you’d better win the majority of the games that are most winnable. And that is exactly what the Angels have done recently.

When Kendry Morales broke his leg at home plate after hitting a walk-off grand slam ten days ago, it was hard to imagine a baseball team experiencing a higher high and such an immediate low in a matter of seconds. The Halos looked to be surging ahead and turning the corner coming off the walk-off win, only to find out their best offensive player would be sidelined for at least ten weeks. It looked grim and felt even grimmer. But there remained a looming potential for positivity on the horizon: the schedule – specifically the fledgling Royals and the underperforming Mariners.

With Morales sidelined, the Angels were looking at ten straight games against Kansas City and Seattle, two of the American League’s weaker teams. Anything less than a 6-4 record in this stretch would have been a missed opportunity. The Halos had to make hay.

Turns out, the Angels left Seattle Sunday night with bales of the stuff, finishing off a road sweep of the Mariners and ending the ten-game stretch with an 8-2 mark. They did what they had to do and it was good enough to propel the team back above the .500 mark and put them within striking distance of first place.

Monday’s combination of the Angels win over Oakland and a Texas loss remarkably has the Halos atop the AL West despite their early season struggles. They seem to finally be clicking on all cylinders, winning six in a row and nine out of ten. And it’s a good thing for Halo fans that they are, because the schedule won’t always be so kind.

The Angels have three games left in Oakland and complete their season-long 14-game road trip with a weekend set against the cross-town Dodgers. They finish the month of June at the Big A with series against LA, Colorado, and their division rivals from Texas. These teams are a combined 17 games over .500, while the Mariners and Royals are a combined 21 games under the .500 mark. There lies a much tougher road ahead for the Angels, but they have done what playoff teams traditionally do: beef up on the weak sisters of the league.

The Halos have rallied around their injured star and come together. They are playing their best ball of the season so far and appear to be rolling going into the upcoming tough stretch of games. They were supposed to beat Kansas City and Seattle. Now we’ll see how they carry their recent success forward when the schedule ceases to be so Halo-friendly.

- Blake Warren