3 LA Angels players who deserve credit for the series win against the Athletics

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The Los Angeles Angels completed a 5-2 homestand after taking three of four against the Oakland Athletics. It's unfortunate that the Angels didn't sweep either the Athletics or Royals, especially considering the fact that they blew the two games that they lost, but nonetheless, a 5-2 homestand isn't anything to complain about.

The Angels head to Milwaukee with a 14-12 record just 0.5 games outside of first place in the AL West. It's been a very hectic start to the season, but again, being 0.5 games out is nothing to complain about.

The Angels enter possibly their toughest stretch of the season where they play a ton of formidable opponents on a high note. These three players are to thank for that.

1) LA Angels infielder Brandon Drury had one of the best series I've ever seen

The Athletics pitching staff is embarrassingly awful, but that doesn't mean every player destroys them. After a great series against the Royals, Mike Trout had just four hits in 19 at-bats against an Oakland team he usually destroys with seven strikeouts. Fortunately, Brandon Drury played like Mike Trout this week.

Drury had gotten off to an abysmal start, slashing .179/.208/.269 with just one home run. His OPS was raised from .477 all the way to .824 in just four games. Yes, Drury was that good.

The Angels infielder had nine hits in 15 at-bats. He smacked four home runs, two doubles, and a triple. He drove in 12 runs in the four games. He even drew three walks after drawing only two walks entering this series.

Yes, it's just the Athletics, but Drury went hitless in eight at-bats when the Angels went to Oakland to begin the season. He's seeing the ball extremely well right now, which can only mean great things for an Angels lineup always searching for length.

2) LA Angels pitcher Carlos Estevez is one of few relievers Phil Nevin can trust

It's no coincidence that the game Carlos Estevez was unavailable to pitch in the Angels lost. Andrew Wantz and Jaime Barria melted down late, and after an incredible comeback attempt, the Angels blew it.

The Angels offseason signee was available for the second and fourth games of the series, and locked down two saves.

In that second game, Estevez came into a two-run game in the eighth inning. Matt Moore had just walked a batter after recording one out. So Estevez was called upon for a five-out save, something he had never done at the big league level.

He was asked to get five outs, he accomplished that in five batters. He threw just 17 pitches, 13 for strikes to get those five outs.

After a rough Spring Training where his command was nowhere to be found, Estevez has looked much better in that area of late. He's gone four straight appearances without walking a batter, and has allowed a run in just two of his 12 appearances. He's one of only a couple of guys Phil Nevin can trust late in a game, especially after Jose Quijada nearly threw another game away.

3) LA Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon is starting to come around

It's been a strange start to the season for Anthony Rendon. He's driving in runs at a pretty high clip when the Angels have runners in scoring position, but he's hit for virtually no power.

While we're still waiting for Rendon's first home run of the season, the veteran third baseman had a great series offensively against the Athletics. Notably, he tripled his extra-base hit total from one to three, after hitting two doubles this series. One of the doubles he hit drove in two runs and helped the Angels get back into the game in the opener of this series.

Rendon got on base twice in all four games of this series. He had multi-hit games in three of the four, and drew two walks in the third game. While it'd be nice to see Rendon show some power, he played a big impact getting on the bases that much, and he scored a run in each game as well.

Rendon's OBP jumped from .339 entering the series to .372. That'll work!

The Angels could use some more four baggers and two baggers from Tony Two-Bags, but getting on base multiple times in every game in a series is impressive, and clearly helped the team get a much-needed series win.

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