Series Preview: Rangers @ Angels (One last time)

Angels 75-81
Rangers 66-89

It’s a good thing the Angels have the Rangers to toss around for 3 days in hopes of forgetting the debacle of this past week. This year, the Angels are 10-6 vs. their division rivals and have won 4 of the last 6. With only 6 games left in the season and Oakland coming to town over the weekend, it sure would be nice to notch some wins over the next few days.

Things can’t get any worse - can they? Here we go...

Know your foe:

Rangers - who’s hot (last 7 days):

LOL

Weather Forecast

GAME 1

Felix Pena(R) (4.20ERA) v. Adrian Sampson(R) (4.09 ERA)
Monday, September 24th @ 7:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

Felix Pena had his second worst start of the year when Oakland beat him up for 6 runs over 4 innings. In his prior start, Pena had shut out the Rangers over 6 innings, so will look to repeat that effort to open this series.

Pitch Arsenal:

Sampson has made only 2 starts this year and of course the rookie held the Angels to 2 hits and a run over 5 innings earlier in September. Cy Rookie struck again. Sampson is coming off a 5.2 innings 2 run game against the Rays.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Cy Rookie vs. Pena looking for a bounce-back start? I’m actually going with Pena on this one, against my better judgement.

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GAME 2

Matt Shoemaker(R) (5.48 ERA) v. Yovani Gallardo(R) (6.59 ERA)
Tuesday, September 25th @ 7:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

Shoemaker faced the Rangers on September 3rd after this return from the DL. In that game he held them scoreless for 5 innings on 2 hits. However, over his 3 starts since, Shoemaker has an 8.18 ERA.

Pitch Arsenal:

Over his past games, Gallardo has an 8.95 ERA. He’s faced the Angels twice over the past month, giving up 2 runs over 6 innings and 6 runs over 3 innings. In 6 career games at the Big A, Gallardo has a 6.75 ERA.

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Both pitchers have had a rough go as of late so you may have to toss a coin and hope the Angels bullpen can hold it together.

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GAME 3

Andrew Heaney(L) (4.21 ERA) v. Yohander Mendez(L) (6.24 ERA)
Wednesday, September 26th @ 7:07PM

Pitcher vs. Batters

Notable Stats

Summary:

Heaney was pretty solid the first part of the year but has a 5.77 ERA since August 1st. In two starts against the Rangers, he’s allowed 10 runs over 11.1 innings.

Pitch Arsenal:

Another young starter will be facing the Angels to close out this series. This will be his first start against the Halos, though he did face them in relief for an inning last year. Cy Young part 2 perhaps?

Pitch Arsenal:

Verdict: Hopefully Heaney can get back to his first half ways or at least close to them. He’s facing a dude who hasn’t had much success this year but we know how the Angels tend to (not) handle rookie pitchers.

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Overall Verdict: We should see some better Angels performances during this series, but perhaps you should temper your expectations a bit.

Current Standings