TORONTO — In the final weeks of a frustrating season, the
"When you're having fun, winning will take care of itself," Richards said. "We're going to finish up strong and that's the only thing we can do right now."
"This has been a locker room full of fighters the whole year," Richards said. "We went through a lot early on and even in the middle, but we're not going to lay down for anybody. We're still going to be a team that's going to give other teams trouble."
The Angels remained 9 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay for the second wild-card berth with 16 games remaining.
"Obviously, it's not the team that was imagined in
Calhoun was two for three with a walk to help the Angels win for the 10th time in 13 meetings with the Blue Jays. The Angels recorded their first sweep in Toronto since April 16-18, 2010.
The Angels, 8-4 so far in September, begin a three-game series at last-place Houston on Friday and move from there to
"It's always good when you're playing well and we're seeing a lot of good things on the field," Manager
Jose Reyes homered and finished four for four with a walk, but the Blue Jays lost for the 29th time when scoring first.
Richards left after Reyes hit a two-out double in the seventh.
Richards (7-6) gave up three runs and nine hits, walked one and struck out four. He's 3-0 with a 2.41 earned-run average in three September starts.
"Through the middle innings, there's no doubt his stuff picked up," Scioscia said. "He had better command of his fastball for sure and threw some better sliders."
Moises Sierra hit a one-out double against
Sierra posted his second straight three-hit game and has five extra-base hits in the last two games.
Reyes hit a two-out double in the ninth and Kawasaki followed with a walk, but Angels closer
"We did a good job of minimizing some damage and getting out of some innings," Scioscia said.
Aybar made it 2-1 in the second when he tagged up from second base on
Reyes hit a leadoff homer in the third, his 10th, and Sierra added a run-scoring double to put the Blue Jays back in front, but their lead didn't last.
Calhoun tied it at 3-all with a one-out homer in the fourth, his seventh. The blast gave him at least one RBI in 15 of his last 16 starts.
The Angels chased left-hander
"The thing that bit us the last two nights is two times last night and two times tonight we take the lead and don't get the shut-down inning and give it right back," Blue Jays Manager
Happ (4-6) lost for the fourth time in five starts, allowing four runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings. It's the sixth straight start in which he has failed to pitch at least six innings. He walked two and struck out six.
