Halos hanging on, barely, to hope

In the military, they used to call this “the forlorn hope.”

For the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Tuesday’s 9-2 win over the Chicago White Sox kept a slim chance alive for making the post-season playoffs, but just barely.

The Halos trail the Minnesota Twins by five games in the race for the second American League wild card spot with five games to play. To make it, the Angels would have to win the remainder of their schedule and the Twins lose all of theirs. That’s a tall order for the Orange County team that has lost six of seven games.

“We’re in it,” starter Parker Bridwell said. “We’re not out yet. As long as we’ve still got a chance, we’ve got to be optimistic. I’m excited to see where it goes. Things kind of have to fall in place for us, but you never know.”

In Tuesday’s win, the Angels (78-79) got three home runs in the second inning to build a 6-0 lead. Brandon Phillips, Mike Trout and Luis Valbuena all went “yard” in Chicago and the team coasted to the win. Albert Pujols batted his way into the record books – again – with two RBIs. That gave him 100 runs batted in for the year for the 14th season, tying the major league mark with Alex Rodriguez.

Bridwell (9-3) pitched fairly well, working 6.2 innings and giving up five hits and three runs. On Wednesday, Garrett Richards (0-2) is scheduled to start for the Halos in Chicago.