Angels hot on playoff trail after winning again in Texas

Reporting from Arlington, Texas —  What a long, strange — and wildly successful — trip it’s been for the Angels, who closed a grueling 10-game swing through Houston, Minnesota, Cleveland and Texas with eight straight wins, including Thursday night’s 7-3 victory over the Rangers at Globe Life Park.

The Angels (91-55) effectively filled the rotation spot of injured right-hander Garrett Richards with eight pitchers and scored three late runs to pull away for their 14th win in 16 games.

They pushed their American League West lead over Oakland to 10 games and reduced their magic number to clinch the division title to seven, prolonging a remarkable month-long run in which they have gone from a four-game deficit to a commanding lead.

“I don’t think we allow ourselves to view it as stunning or anything like that,” said third baseman David Freese, who hit a two-out, two-run single in the third inning Thursday night.

“We’re very good at worrying about the task at hand. We understand what’s happened in the last month, but we’re always looking ahead. We’re happy where we’re at, but there’s more to accomplish.”

After a 3-1 loss to Boston on Aug. 10, the Angels were four games back and showing few signs of breaking out of a lengthy offensive funk.

“I thought if we could tread water with Oakland for a couple of weeks and get hot in September, we’d make a run and be where we want to be,” catcher Chris Iannetta said.

The Angels didn’t tread water. They went all Michael Phelps on the rest of the league, winning 23 of 29 games despite the loss of Richards and Tyler Skaggs to season-ending injuries.

The A’s, meanwhile, went into a tailspin, losing 20 of 29 to fall 10 games back, a 14-game swing in the standings in 32 days.

As a comparison, the 1995 Angels, who suffered one of the worst collapses in baseball history, went from 10 1/2 games ahead on Aug. 16 to three games back on Sept. 26, a 131/2-game swing in 41 days.

“It’s a little surprising,” catcher Hank Conger said. “I know there was a lot of doubt about how we’d respond with Skaggs and Garrett going down, but it’s been great. Our pitching stepped up, and you’ve seen what the bats have done.”

The Angels, who averaged about three runs a game for the first three weeks after the All-Star break, have scored 70 runs and had 101 hits, including 11 homers, in eight games, an average of 8.75 runs a game.

“Hitting is a crazy thing,” Conger said. “When you have that sense of confidence, one through nine, there’s no sense of panic. Guys are putting together good at-bats knowing the guy behind him will come through.”

The Angels have no plans to let up. All of their regulars, with the exception of injured left fielder Josh Hamilton, have played virtually every day for weeks.

“Until one team clinches,” Iannetta said, “you want to put the pedal to the metal and try to win every game.”

The way they have been hitting, no one wants to take a day off.

“We’re not going to let up, we’re going to keep pushing,” center fielder Mike Trout said. “I feel good. I’ve got that second wind. Mentally, knowing you’re pushing for the playoffs and that every game is huge. It gets your blood pumping a little more.”

The thought of playing October baseball for the first time in five years has motivated the Angels through the grind of a schedule that included three games in three cities in three days this week.

“Having that sense that you have something to fight for livens up the clubhouse,” Conger said. “It’s a long season, but everyone is upbeat. Everyone is hungry.”

Pitching coach Mike Butcher was a reliever on that 1995 Angels club, and third-base coach Gary DiSarcina was the shortstop.

“I don’t think about stuff that happened that long ago,” Butcher said, “but it’s nice to be on the other end.”