LT Sports

After cruising for 6 innings, the Angels were up 4-0 on the New York Yankees in game 5 of the ALCS. Then John Lackey started to

unwind. A few walks here, and a few hits there, and all of a sudden the Yankees were leading 6-4. Many Angels fans panicked, as they were aware of how many times the Yankees completed a come back this season. They were just hoping that game 5 wasn’t the next one on that long list.

Lucky for the Angels and their fans, it was not.

The Angels followed the Yankees’ 6 run 7th inning with 3 runs of their own, and they regained the lead right back from the Bronx Bombers 7-6.

Following a scoreless 8th by both teams, the Angels were 3 outs away from forcing this series back to New York. Of course, they needed to sweat it out.

Closer, Brian Fuentes, who was the pitcher who gave up a series-changing home run to A-Rod, actually got into a situation where he had the bases loaded with 2 outs and Nick Swisher up. Swisher has struggled throughout the postseason, and the Angels were probably happy to see him up. But just like the rest of this series, this at-bat was exciting as could be: A 3-2 count with the game on the line. A walk ties the game, a hit wins the game for the Yankees, and an out forces a game 6.

The latter happened, as Swisher popped out to Erick Aybar, and he left the bases loaded and Yankee fans scratching their heads.

The way that the game played out is perfect for the Angels because that is exactly what they will need if they want to come back and win this series. They proved to themselves that they can come back when times seem tough, and they showed that they can get out of tight situations with their bullpen. They did just enough to grind out a victory, and it will take that kind of resiliency if they want to beat the Yankees over the course of this series.

At this stage of the season, I believe that heart outweighs skill, and the way things stand right now, I have to give the slight edge to the Angels in that category. However, with this series going back to New York, I am sure the Yankees will be able to display some heart of their own in at least one of the next two games.

But through all of the talk of skill and heart, I believe that one thing is certain: The remainder of the series will be just as exciting as it has been up to this point.

Baseball fans, enjoy.