LA Angels' Torii Hunter Reveals Faith and Belief in Halos Chances for Playoffs

Going into Tuesday night’s game between the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers, the 2011 season had passed the three-quarter pole.

With just 40 games remaining, the Rangers had a five-game lead over the Angels in the AL West standings.

The Halos are currently mired in a mini-slump, having lost five of their last six games, allowing 39 runs in those five losses.

The Angels play 24 of their final 40 games against teams with a record of .500 or lower. 22 of those remaining games come against teams in their own division—including nine against the Rangers.

So, at what point does a sense of urgency come into play, whereby each game essentially becomes a playoff game?

Los Angeles Angels right fielder Torii Hunter answers that question as well as others in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report.

Hunter, always refreshingly honest in his assessments and opinions, offers a look at what the Angels must do in order to overtake the Rangers in the final six weeks of the regular season.

Update: With the Angels’ loss to the Rangers on Tuesday night, the gap has become six games. Hunter extended his hitting streak to 14 games, however the Angels once more failed to generate adequate offense.

All quotes and sound bites in this slideshow were acquired via first-hand reporting on site at Angels Stadium as a credentialed representative of Bleacher Report, Inc.

Torii Hunter's Take on the Importance of Current Series with Texas Rangers

B/R: Torii, before Monday's game, manager Mike Scioscia downplayed the significance of the current series with the Rangers. However, after Monday night's loss dropped the Angels five games back in the AL West, do the final three games of the series now take on more importance?

Hunter: Well, the game tonight carries more importance than the two games after that. If we don't get this win tonight, it can hurt. But, it doesn't make us or break us.

If we lose this series, who's to say they [Rangers] can win the next three after, and who's to say we can't win the next three? We win the next three, they lose the next three, then we're back in there. It won't determine anything, but it's always important to beat the team ahead of you.

I can't say that he (Scioscia) downplayed it, he's just telling the truth.

Is Hunter Looking over His Shoulder?

B/R: We always hear the cliches such as "we can't worry about other teams, we need to get it done ourselves," but how much scoreboard watching are you really doing at this time of year when the stakes are high?

Hunter: You probably watch more than you usually do, like earlier in the season, you're not even looking at it at all. For the first two months, you're not looking to see...Sometimes we're asking each other, "Did Texas win, did Seattle win?"

But in August and September, it's just human nature to check. It's always politically correct to say we're not looking back; we're looking forward, which is the right thing to do. But we're human.

The Significance of Early-Season Games

B/R: So much significance is placed on games in August and September. At some point, do you think to yourself, "Geez, if we had won that particular series, we wouldn't be in this situation right now?"

Hunter: Yeah, you know what? My granddaddy used to always tell us, and I say it all the time, "If IF was a fifth, we'd all be drunk." We can sit back and second-guess all day long, in everything you did in your life, in baseball, whatever. The fact of the matter is, it's done, it happened, now what are you going to do?

What you're going to do right now is all that matters.

Taking Care of Business Against "Weaker Sisters"

B/R: Torii, 24 of the Angels' remaining 40 games on the schedule are against teams with records of .500 and below. How important is it for the Angels at this point to capitalize on these matchups?

Hunter: Very important. That's true, it's very important to capitalize on those teams. You don't really like to look forward, because you have to worry about the task at hand, but if you are going to look forward, yes, it's very important for us to jump on those opportunities to get some wins and win some series.

It would be nice for them (Rangers) to go on a cool streak, because that team has been hot. Every time we win, they win, and we've been playing pretty good ball since June. We only lost two or three series since June, so that's how well they've been playing.

Strength of Schedule for Both Rangers and Angels

B/R: The Rangers have nine games left to play against the Angels, and several games left with the Red Sox. How important will strength of schedule play into the last 40 games?

Hunter: Yup, they have seven games left against the Red Sox. They have a tough schedule, we have an okay schedule, and I think we should take advantage of that, but at the same time, at the end of the day, we have to worry about the game tonight.

If we're worrying about the game tomorrow and the next day, then we're not focusing on what we need to focus on, and that's the truth. If we can win tonight, and then win tomorrow, we'll be fine, we just can't get too ahead of ourselves.

B/R: So it's really about taking things one day at a time...

Hunter: Yes, exactly. That's why we have you guys (media), that's why we have the fans, they can all look forward for us, we have to worry about the task at hand. We just have to worry about today, because tomorrow isn't promised.

How the Angels' Offense Can Improve

B/R: Hitting coach Mickey Hatcher the other day stressed the fact that the Angels need to play better small ball in order to create offense, and that the offense just isn't that dangerous all the way through the lineup. What specifically does the offense need to do better in order to manufacture runs?

Hunter: He's right. We have to bunt guys over, have a little more bat control, for guys at second with no outs, try to hit the ball to the right side to move him over, hit and runs, we need to execute the hit and runs better along with the bunt, either sacrifice bunts or even bunting for base hits. We definitely need to try to execute a lot better.

We do not have the guys that hit 40-50 home runs, we just don't. I've never done that before, and we dont' have guys that do. So we have to play the small, and he's (Hatcher) actually 100 percent right.

Importance of the Remaining Games Against the Rangers

B/R: Torii, is it safe to say that the remaining games with the Rangers are the most important games left in the season?

Hunter: It is. Those remaining games with the Rangers are definitely the most important out of all the teams left that we have to play. Of course we have to take one game at a time with the games that we play against the Rangers, but yes, the most important series we have left is against the Rangers.

We still have the Yankees, we have Baltimore, and yes, we want to win those series too, but it's not as important as beating those Rangers.

Whether or Not the Offense Will Get It Done

B/R: Torii, do you think the Angels offense—as currently constituted—has the ability to turn it around with 40 games left?

Hunter: I definitely think the offense can turn it around. All cylinders have to click, and it's seemed like it's just one guy or a couple guys that get hot, but it's not all the guys together. We'll have one guy hot, and everyone else is cold.

If we can get all cylinders to click, everybody starts hitting the ball and swinging the bats pretty well, and just having good at-bats, that's all you really want to do. If we can do that together and get all cylinders to click, then we're going to be fine, and it starts today.

B/R: Is hitting really contagious?

Hunter: Yes, hitting is very contagious. One guy hits, the next guy feeds off of it. One guy can do that with any at-bat. Even if he doesn't get a hit, he's having a good at-bat by fouling off balls and then hitting the ball and it gets caught. You feed off that.

That's our game plan, just to try and have great at-bats and let it become contagious, and let all of us get infected by a hitting disease.

Doug Mead is a featured columnist with Bleacher Report. His work has been featured on the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, SF Gate, CBS Sports, the Los Angeles Times and the Houston Chronicle. Follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.