Series Preview: Angels @ Mariners (Trout Smash)

Angels 43-42
Mariners 54-31

.336/.423/.676 with 20 home runs in 66 games. Those are Mike Trout’s stats at Safeco Field. That’s a HR every 3.3 games. If you want to place a bet - place it on Mike Trout hitting a HR in this series, but I’m sure your payout won’t be huge because everyone knows he demolishes baseballs here.

Seattle again. And not just the team. The Angels are 2-4 against the Mariners this year with all 6 games taking place up in Seattle. Now with 3 more games in Seattle, the remaining 9 after this series will be played in Anaheim. In those 6 games, the Angels have actually scored 33 runs to the Mariners 30. Yep. Lot of close losses (3 of them by 1 or 2 runs).

Know your foe:

Mariners - who’s hot (last 7 days):

Ben Gamel .421 AVG, 2 walks, 1 K
Kyle Seager .455 OBP, 2 home runs, 5 RBI
Jean Segura .407 OBP
Mitch Haniger .423 OBP, 1 home run

Weather Forecast

GAME 1

Andrew Heaney (3.95 ERA) v. Wade LeBlanc (3.38 ERA)
Tuesday, July 3rd @ 7:10PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

Andrew Heaney has already been beat up once by Seattle and it was only back on June 11th. He lasted only 3 innings in that game after giving up 5 runs on 7 hits. Nelson Cruz hit 2 bombs off Heaney and Ryon Healy added another. Heaney is also coming off a rough start against Boston, so will be looking for a good bounce back here.

Pitch Arsenal:

Wade LeBlanc was masterful against the Angels back on June 11th when he bested Heaney. Okay, not really. He gave up 2 runs (solo shots to Trout and Pujols) over 5 innings - earning him the win. LeBlanc has somehow managed to allowed more than 3 runs in a game only TWICE this year.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Heaney will need to bounce back from his Boston beating if we wanted to best LeBlanc in round 2.

---

GAME 2

Garrett Richards (3.42 ERA) v. Mike Leake (4.01 ERA)
Wednesday, July 4th @ 1:10PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

At the time of this writing, Richards hasn’t been named the starter but it’s highly likely this will happen. He hasn’t pitched since June 13th when he left the game early against the Mariners after allowed 2 runs in 2 innings. In his previous Seattle start he had allowed only 4 hits and zero runs over 6.2 innings.

Pitch Arsenal:

Leake has faced the Angels twice this year and has given up only 4 runs over 11.1 innings. Except for hiccups against Boston and Texas, he’s been really solid over the past 2 months with 0-3 runs allowed in 9 out of 11 starts.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: If Richards is really healthy and starts this game, that should give the Angels an edge.

---

GAME 3

Tyler Skaggs (2.64 ERA) v. Marco Gonzales (3.77 ERA)
Thursday, July 5th @ 7:10PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

If I had asked you in January, would you have thought Tyler Skaggs would be the ace of the staff this year? Skaggs has been dialed in for sure and over the month of June had a 0.84 ERA. He also faced the Mariners back on May 5th and held them to 2 runs over 5.1 innings while striking out 7.

Pitch Arsenal:

I’m pretty stoked about Marco Gonzales anchoring this series for the Mariners. In two games against the Angels this year, he’s allowed 7 runs over 12 innings. Not just that, but Gonzales has allowed 15 runs in his last 4 starts over 26.1 innings.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: How can the Angels NOT win this one? Wait, don’t answer that.

---

Overall Verdict: I’m gonna guess the Angels will not win this series - but they COULD. Don’t be surprised if they take 2 of these games, but also don’t be surprised if they lose this series. See? Writing for this blog ain’t so hard.

Current Standings