At various points this season, you could have made strong cases for Torii Hunter, Chone Figgins or Kendry Morales as the Angels' most valuable player.

But manager Mike Scioscia said his choice would be someone else.

"I think Bobby Abreu," Scioscia said. "For one simple reason -- the balance he's provided on the offensive side."

Abreu leads the Angels in on-base percentage (.394) and has added an element of plate discipline that was sorely lacking in the Angels' lineup the past few seasons. The veteran has also been a mentor to the Angels' younger Latin players like Morales, Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis.

"If Torii Hunter hadn't gotten injured, I think Torii Hunter is the Most Valuable Player in the American League," Scioscia said of Hunter, who carried the Angels early in the season but missed five weeks on the DL with a groin injury. "But Bobby brought a very special need for our club -- a guy who drives in a hundred runs, who's going to score 100 runs, all the walks, getting on base the way he has, his versatility hitting in different spots in the lineup.

"He's what we call a swing guy -- a guy you set the table for who can drive in a lot of runs but who also sets the table for the rest of our lineup. Bobby's been as good a swing guy as there is in baseball for how many years now?"

Abreu and Albert Pujols are the only players in baseball to drive in 100 runs each of the last seven seasons. Abreu also has scored at least 98 runs in each of the last 10 seasons.

ANGELS 5, RANGERS 2: The Angels officially eliminated the Rangers from wild-card contention with another victory. Sean O'Sullivan held the Rangers to two runs and three hits to get the victory, his first since getting off to a 3-0 start in his first five big-league games. Bobby Abreu had a solo home run and Mike Napoli drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single.

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