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This series starts a 7 game road trip that takes the Angels to Texas and Kansas City before a day off next Monday.
After playing the Astros, A’s, and Blue Jays, the Rangers currently find themselves at the bottom of the AL West. Last year, the Angels were only 8 and 11 against their AL West foes.
Special note: Adrian Beltre has 45 career home runs against the Angels
GAME 1
Garrett Richards v. Doug Fister
Monday, April 9th @ 5:05PM
Pitcher vs. Batters
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Relevant Stats
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Summary:
Garrett Richards has had a pretty mediocre start to his year with 6 runs allowed in 10.2 innings - though he has racked up 13 Ks. He faced the Rangers once last year and allowed 2 runs over 5 innings with 7 Ks.
Once upon a time, Doug Fister was on the Angels. Of course that lasted for like two minutes before the Red Sox picked him up last season. This year, the Rangers nabbed him as part of their “last chance pitcher” tour. Fister’s debut last season was, of course, against the Angels who got to him for just 3 runs in 6 innings. He’s made a pair of starts this season and has given up 6 runs in 8.2 innings with no home runs allowed.
Verdict: Fister is beatable if Richards keeps this game close.
GAME 2
Tyler Skaggs v. Martin Perez
Tuesday, April 10th @ 5:05PM
Pitcher vs. Batters
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Relevant Stats
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Summary:
Tyler Skaggs has been sharp in his 2 starts. While not very pitch efficient in his last outing, he’s held opponents to just 2 runs over 11 innings. He’s also struck out 10 and walked 2. In his shortened season, Skaggs managed to face the Rangers 4 times in 2017. He tossed 23 innings and allowed 15 earned runs. In short? The Rangers owned him last year.
The Angels saw Perez three times last season, scoring 4, 0, and 3 runs off him. Perez has only had one start this year and the A’s scored 3 runs off 10 hits. In 7 seasons, he has a 3.27 career ERA against the Angels.
Verdict: This is a tough matchup for the Angels unless Skaggs can figure out this Rangers lineup.
GAME 3
TBD v. Matt Moore
Wednesday, April 10th @ 5:05PM
Pitcher vs. Batters
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Relevant Stats
None
Summary:
Parker Bridwell would slot in for this start based on last week’s rotation schedule, but Nick Tropeano could also be in lined based on schedules. At this point, the Angels haven’t announced who will start game 3 of this series. Tropeano had a strong outing in his Salt Lake debut (aside from 3 walks in 3 innings), so I’d like to see what he could in Texas.
Matt Moore hasn’t made it past the 4th inning in either of his starts this year. The Blue Jays and Astros both beat up with 9 ER over 7.1 innings. Moore has moved around a bit and the last time the Angels saw him was in 2016 when he was with the Rays. In that game, Moore held the Angels to 2 runs and 6 hits over 6.2 innings.
Verdict: I like a Tropeano/Moore matchup much better than Bridwell/Moore so much of this game may depend on who gets the nod.
Overall Verdict: The Angels should take game 1 but at this point, games 2 and 3 may be toss ups.