David Murphy hit a 3-run home run in Tuesday’s victory at Seattle/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Angels

– With time winding down and the Angels’ playoff chances getting slimmer and slimmer as each day passes, this was one of the team’s biggest wins of the year. With 18 games to play, the Angels are four games behind the new first-place team in the AL West – the Texas Rangers. The Angels are 3 1/2 games back of Houston, which currently holds the second wild-card spot. There is another team in the mix, and that’s the Minnesota Twins.
They are two games ahead of the Angels in the wild-card race and just 1 1/2 back of Houston. The Angels have four games left with the Twins, three with Houston and four with Texas.

– Mike Trout hit a home run. It was his third this month after he hit just one in all of August. Trout now has tied his career-high with 36 home runs. He has 78 RBIs, but won’t come close to reaching his career-high of 111 set in 2014. Unless he goes on a binge down the stretch, he likely won’t reach 100.

– Albert Pujols, with his sore right foot, is struggling mightily. He went 0-for-4 and his batting average is down to .243. His on-base-percentage is down to .304. He is batting just .174 this month with a home run and seven RBIs.

– David Murphy hit a 3-run home run in this game. Of the three outfielders the Angels acquired before the non-waiver trade deadline – Murphy, Shane Victorino and David DeJesus – Murphy is the only one making any real noise. He is batting .263 for the Angels with four home runs and 14 RBIs in 114 at-bats. Victorino is batting .194 in 62 at-bats, DeJesus .115 in 52 at-bats.

– Catcher Carlos Perez had three hits and is batting .333 (10-for-30) this month – but with only one RBI. His season average is up to .233 and he’s getting more starts that Chris Iannetta, who is batting just .180.