Angels 2; A's 1

That was obviously a huge win. The Angels had to avoid a sweep. Otherwise, even the most optimstic among us may have started to doubt.

To be honest, there are still plenty of things to be worried about. The offense continues to sputter, although part of that was the wildly inconsistent strike zone. The bullpen continues to be less than stellar. Frankie is still struggling with his control (note to Rex Hudler: he didn't throw any sliders to Scutaro because he was behind in the count the whole time).

One of the things we don't have to worry about is Lackey. He's finally putting it together this year, and he and Bart will really have to be the glue that holds this team together down the stretch.

Vlad picked a nice time to show up and get a couple of hits. Cabrera has been playing fantastic defense at short ever since his boot lost the game for the Angels a few weeks ago. He's been flashing the leather in this series, and dare I say it, he's been somewhat reliable at the plate. Garret has to get hot, though. Otherwise, as soon as Vlad turns it on, he's not going to get anything to hit. Honestly, I'm a lot more excited about this win than I'm letting on, but I've cast myself, however inadvertantly, in the role of pessimist, so I can't break character.

The Kid versus Joe Kennnedy tomorrow night, as Harden gets skipped, and no one really knows how long he'll be out. The Angels got great news, while my fantasy team got horrible news with the injury to Bobby Crosby, who may be lost for the season. It's the first time I've been in playoff position (it's a non-traditional points league, with 6 head to head games per week). I'll need decent numbers from Juan Uribe to win it all. In other words, I won't be winning it all.