After season-ending loss, Angels still feel a sense of achievement

The adrenaline rush from three weeks of playoff-intensity baseball and the euphoria of several heart-stopping victories gave way to the emptiness of a long, cold winter for the Angels on Sunday.

Postseason longshots after a 10-19 August, the Angels kept their playoff hopes alive right up to the final day of the season, going 20-10 in September and October, winning 12 of 13 one-run games since Sept. 9 and staging a remarkable comeback with a five-run ninth inning Saturday.

But those visions of a momentum-fueled run through October were dashed amid a flurry of walks, fielding miscues and hits during a 37-minute seventh inning in which the Texas Rangers scored six runs against five Angels relievers en route to a 9-2 victory in Globe Life Park.

Left-hander Cole Hamels, acquired from Philadelphia in a July 31 trade, gave up two runs, three hits and struck out eight batters in a complete-game effort to help the Rangers clinch their sixth American League West title and knock the Angels out of playoff contention.

Adding salt to the Angels’ wounds: Houston lost to Arizona on Sunday. Had the Angels defeated Texas, they would have forced a one-game tiebreaker against the Astros on Monday to determine the second AL wild-card team. Instead, Houston will play the New York Yankees in Tuesday night’s wild-card game.

“My emotions are all over the place,” said third baseman David Freese, who was coming to grips with the loss, two plays he couldn’t make in the seventh inning and the fact that, as a free agent, he may not be back next season.

“Obviously, it was a rough game. I could have made some plays to help the flow of the game head in our direction. It’s frustrating it ended this way, but I’m proud to be a part of this team and organization.”

Freese echoed the prevailing sentiment in a clubhouse that seemed filled more with a sense of achievement than disappointment. And that started with Manager Mike Scioscia, who made his feelings very apparent when he addressed the team.

“No one in that room has anything to hang their head about,” Scioscia said. “This game is funny. I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder of a group of guys. There were so many times they could have said, ‘Hey, it’s not our year, we don’t have the depth.’ There were a lot of things going on that they couldn’t control, and every day they came to the park, they got after it.

“They played hard, they played long, and for us to even be talking about a playoff opportunity the last week of the season had everything to do with the guys in that room. They were incredible. They left their hearts on the field. It was an inspiring group. The bleaker things looked in the last month, the brighter they shined.”

The Angels opened spring training amid controversy, Josh Hamilton suffering a substance-abuse relapse, getting banished from the team and traded to Texas in late April. General Manager Jerry Dipoto resigned July 1 amid renewed friction with Scioscia.

There were significant injuries in the rotation (Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson), bullpen (Huston Street, Joe Smith) and lineup (Freese, Johnny Giavotella, Albert Pujols), and two opening-day starters, catcher Chris Iannetta and left fielder Matt Joyce, failed to hit .200.

But the Angels stayed afloat behind the core four of Mike Trout (.299, 41 home runs, 90 runs batted in), Pujols (.244, 40 home runs, 95 RBIs), Kole Calhoun (.256, 26 home runs, 83 RBIs) and Erick Aybar (.270, 74 runs). Freese and Giavotella returned Sept. 1 and sparked the offense, and the Angels got hot at the right time.

When their top two relievers, Street (left groin strain) and Smith (left ankle sprain) wound up on crutches in late September, young relievers such as Trevor Gott, Mike Morin and Jose Alvarez filled the void, helping the Angels win far more close games than they lost down the stretch.

“We had one job today, to win — it didn’t happen, but it’s not going to put a damper on our season,” Giavotella said. “I’m proud of everyone in this room. A month ago, everyone counted us out of any kind of playoff hopes, but we battled back and showed a lot of heart to get to this point. We just fell a game short.”