Angels can’t see first place for the tease

The Angels were doing it again, teasing us into thinking they could sneak into the playoffs through the wild-card door after Texas outdistanced them atop the American League West.

That pretty much ended with their crushing 4-3 loss Thursday at Toronto, their playoff hopes all but ended when Edwin Encarnacion pummeled a breaking pitch by reliever Garrett Richards deep to left in the 12th inning.

The Angels have faltered and revived before. They were a game out of the division lead Aug. 7, dropped seven games behind 10 days later after losing three straight games to Texas and then won six in a row. They barged into the wild-card picture only in the last few weeks by capitalizing on the stumbles of the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.

But after Thursday’s loss at Toronto — which was followed by a cross-continent flight home — they were three behind Boston and a game behind Tampa Bay for the wild-card berth with only six games left, all at home. Even though they’re 12-3 in their last 15 games at Angel Stadium, the obvious is unavoidable: Time has nearly run out.

Their loss in Toronto symbolized how the Angels have fallen so tantalizingly short too often this season.

Ervin Santana, who has pitched a career-high 228 2/3 innings this season, gutted his way into the seventh and was pulled after giving up a leadoff home run to Eric Thames. The Blue Jays scored another run to pull even with an Angels-like flurry: a walk, an error, a wild pitch and a double.

But the Angels had no response and got the ball out of the infield only once after Peter Bourjos’ two-out single to center in the seventh. When they needed it most they got the least out of their offense, and not for the first time.

They went 5-5 on a trip to Oakland, Baltimore and Toronto, a stretch in which they should have won seven games. Maybe eight. They return home Friday for three games against Oakland and three against Texas and must win at least five of six — and even then will need a lot of help, without any certainty of getting it.

The Rangers’ magic number to clinch the division is two, and they could have the title secured by the time they come to Anaheim for a season-ending three-game series. But that doesn’t mean the Rangers would rest their regulars and empty their bench against the Angels because they’re competing with the Detroit Tigers for home-field advantage in the AL division series. The Rangers and Tigers are each 90-66 entering Friday’s games, giving both teams motivation in the final days. Detroit would have the tiebreaker over Texas if they finish with identical records.

Tampa Bay finishes with three games against Toronto and three against the New York Yankees. Texas next plays three games at home against Seattle, and that’s one place to look in analyzing why the Rangers are on top of the division and the Angels are relying on hope and help.

The Rangers are 34-17 against division foes this season and the Angels are only 26-25, including a 7-9 record against Texas. Both teams are 25-18 against the Central Division and Texas is slightly better against the East at 22-22 to the Angels’ 21-23. The Angels were 13-5 in interleague play to 9-9 for Texas. A few more division wins for the Angels and they wouldn’t be in this mess.

Looking back at where things went wrong for the Angels produces no revelations, just a lot of reasons for head-shaking. Vernon Wells’ .223 batting average. Little production from their catchers. A pitching staff with starters pushed to their limits, with Santana and Jered Weaver (227 1/3 innings) at career-highs and Dan Haren (230 1/3 innings) within five of his.

Texas is the class of the division but the Angels should have pushed them harder. The Angels might have one more push left. Or just another tease.

helene.elliott@latimes.com

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