Series Preview: A’s @ Angels (Our House)

Angels 58-58
A’s 68-47

Despite the A’s playing like a much better team this year, the Angels are up 6 games to 4 in the season series. Of course 3 of those win were at the start of the season when the Angels were on their 13-3 tear. Still, the Angels have won 2 of the last 4 games and their last two losses were by only 1 run. The Halos have also been playing better ball lately so they could give the hot A’s some trouble. In this series, the Angels will be facing 3 veteran pitchers who have a combined 32 years of big league experience.

Know your foe:
A’s - who’s hot (last 7 days):

Matt Chapman .333 OBP, 2 home runs, 1 triple

Weather Forecast

GAME 1

Felix Pena (4.97 ERA) v. Brett Anderson (4.64 ERA)B v.
Friday, August 10th @ 7:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Summary:

Felix Pena has yet to put up a game score higher than 62 this year. He’s been decent as a starter but not overwhelming. In his last start he gave up only 3 hits and 2 runs over 5.1 innings agains the Indians.

Pitch Arsenal:

Oh great, a lefty! The Angels are 29th in all of baseball in terms of batting average against lefties. Brett Anderson is coming off an excellent start against Detroit with 7 innings of shut out ball and only 2 hits allowed, but has been a bit sporadic this season.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Given the Angels lack of success against lefties this year, the A’s should have an edge with Anderson on the mound.

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GAME 2

Tyler Skaggs (3.34 ERA) v. Edwin Jackson (2.87 ERA)
Saturday, August 11th @ 6:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

While not officially announced yet, it’s likely Tyler Skaggs will be on the bump Saturday. A groin injury hampered Skaggs gave up 10 runs to the Rays in his last start. Skaggs has faced the A’s twice already this year and over 13.1 innings hasn’t allowed an earned run.

Pitch Arsenal:

Edwin Jackson has made 8 starts so far this year with only one blemish (5 runs against the Angels). He’s been pretty solid and is coming off back to back starts in which he didn’t allow an earned run.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: I’m going with Skaggs on this one because he’s been hard on the A’s this year. Jackson has been good but I think the Angels can get to him.

GAME 3

Andrew Heaney (3.96 ERA) v. Trevor Cahill (3.12 ERA)
Sunday, August 12th @ 1:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Summary:

Andrew Heaney’s stellar July is but a memory now as he’s been beat up in back to back starts. Over his last 2 games, Heaney has allowed 9 runs and 14 hits in just 11 innings. He did have a quality start against the A’s back in June when he struck out 8 and allowed 3 runs over 8 innings of work.

Pitch Arsenal:

In 13 games, Trevor Cahill has racked up 1.6 WAR. He’s allowed more than 3 runs only twice and in his last two starts has struck out 16 with 2 runs allowed in 12 innings.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: If Heaney has a good start, this is a much more even odds game. However, the A’s probably have the edge in the series finale.

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Overall Verdict: Realistically, the Angels could win the series despite the A’s emerging as a powerhouse. We’ll need some good starts out of Heaney and Skaggs to make that a reality

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