What a difference 72 hours can make. Thursday night in Anaheim, the Los Angeles Angels were down 1-0 to the Texas Rangers heading to the bottom of the ninth inning. Texas was about to complete a four-game sweep of the Angels, in Anaheim no less, and widen their lead in the American League West to eight games. To make things worse, ex-Halo Mike Napoli hit a solo home run for the only run on Thursday, continuing to torment his former teammates.

However, since about 9:50 p.m. PDT Thursday, just about everything has gone right for the Angels:

• Down 1-0 on Thursday, Torii Hunter singled and Mark Trumbo homered off Mike Adams, giving the Angels a 2-1 win, a two-game swing in the standings
• On Friday, the Angels recalled 20-year old super prospect Mike Trout back from Double A Arkansas, fast forwarding the future
• Saturday night the Angels were down 8-6 in the bottom of the 12th inning, but staged an improbable rally to win 9-8
• The Angels completed their sweep of Baltimore on Sunday thanks in part to Jerome Williams, making his first MLB start since 2007 and getting his first win since 2005
• Texas lost two of three games to the White Sox, and the Angels are now just four games back of Texas in the division
  
• Jered Weaver signed a five-year, $85 million contract extension that bought out four years of free agency and was a good deal for both sides

That the Rangers hold a four-game lead in the division makes them the favorites. But the Angels head to Arlington on Friday for a weekend series and, given what the Angels have accomplished in a 72-hour period, there is at the very least reason for hope in Anaheim.

For more news on the Angels, be sure to read Halos Heaven.