JOHN GIBSON had 34 saves in goal Sunday in the Anaheim Ducks’ 6-3 win over Edmonton (Bridget Samuels photo).

It was a good Sunday for the two Orange County major league sports teams. The Los Angeles Angels posted their sixth win in seven games, edging back over .500 again, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Oilers in Edmonton to keep hope alive in their second round Stanley Cup playoff series.

RAMIREZ KEEPS ASTROS GROUNDED

In the Angels’ case, the Halos defeated the Texas Rangers 5-2 in Arlington to improve their record to 14-13, still second in the American League West, three games back of the Houston Astros.

J.C. Ramirez (3-2) had another good performance as a starter, working 5.1 innings and giving up four hits and two runs. He struck out nine and walked two. The bullpen was near-perfect, giving up just one hit and no runs the rest of the way.

The Angels rattled 10 hits around the park, with four batters – Yunel Escobar, Kole Calhoun, Jefry Marte and Martin Maldonado – each collecting two hits. Maldonado also drew two walks and Marte ended up with three RBIs. The Halos got home runs from Calhoun (his second of the season) and Marte (second).

Monday will be an off-day for the Angels. They will resume play on Tuesday at Safeco Field in Seattle to visit the Seattle Mariners (11-15).

DUCKS BOUNCE BACK WITH 6-3 WIN

With their backs almost to the wall, the Anaheim Ducks whipped the Oilers 6-3 to cut the series deficit to 2-1. Jakob Silverberg scored two goals and added an assist. Other goals for the visitors were by Rickard Rakell, Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Wagner and Ryan Kesler.

John Gibson was very effective in goal with 24 saves. Anaheim jumped out to a 3-0 first quarter lead and swapped goals with the Oilers with rest of the way.

The third game of the series will be Wednesday at Edmonton. The fifth game will be on Friday in Anaheim A sixth game – if needed – would shift back to the Oilers’ home ice at Rogers Centre, and a seventh would be played where it all started: Honda Center.

For those of you looking down the road, the winner of this series will play the winner of the St. Louis Blues/Nashville Predators matchup. The Preds lead the series 2-1.