LA Angels News: Team struggling, but continuing to believe

The LA Angels had lost nine out of their last 12 entering Sunday.

By the third inning on Sunday, the LA Angels were already down 4-0. While many teams would lay down, resort to the ‘here we go again’ mindset, and fold, the Angels refused to quit.

They tacked on a run in the fourth, they tacked on a run in the sixth. In the seventh, they put together a lengthy inning where they put up a three spot.

It was 4 to 5 in the eighth, but they ended up losing the lead. The bullpen was pitching so well. 4.2 innings with no runs at all, and now the lead was lost.

Again, the Angels had every right to start pitying themselves, and start thinking about how they were going to spend their off day on Monday.

But that’s not what this Angels team is. One can say a lot about them, but nobody can say that they don’t fight.

The Angels got out of the top half of that inning, and Justin Upton, who’s been slumping all year, ended up hitting a sac fly to bring Taylor Ward home. It ended up being the game-winning run.

“I know from the outside it doesn’t look the greatest, but these guys are fighting every single day,” Justin Upton said. “We as a team, we feel like sometimes we’re putting ourselves in positions [to win], but it just hasn’t worked out for us. But we battled back today and put ourselves in position to win one and we were able to. Hopefully this can spark the club.”

These wins certainly can spark fire in a ballclub, as come-from-behind wins are what build character.

Dylan Bundy had a rough start, only lasting 2.1 innings. In his previous start, he only lasted four innings and the team lost. In his start before that, he only lasted 3.1, and the team lost that one too.

The Angels had every reason to assume the same result would occur. When the bullpen struggled, it was the same thing.

Aaron Slegers, Steve Cishek, and Mike Mayers all dealt, getting the Halos’ hopes up. When Tony Watson made a tough error that led to the run in the eighth, it felt like Deja Vu. Watson had been pitching well overall this season.

The Angels had every reason to get flustered, lose hope, assume they’re a cursed franchise, you name it. But that’s not the type of character that this team has.

This team showed their heart on Sunday.

No matter how the game started, they were not about to have a division rival take three straight on their home field. The Halos are resilient, and a resilient team is an easy team to root for.