Series Preview: Rangers at Angels

Posted on August 7th, 2009 1:21pm by Ryan Jones
Filed under Links, Series preview

Even if they don’t own the ML’s best record, it’s hard to deny what the Angels have been saying for two months. They’re the best team in baseball. Los Angeles is 35-13 since June 12, a record made all the more unfathomable when you consider the club is 27th 26th in the majors in ERA. The normally pitching-heavy Angels have had to do it with an offense that has been without their big guns for a while. Losing Vlad Guerrero, Juan Rivera, and All-Star Torii Hunter took some pop out of a lineup already lacking power, but L.A. has parlayed a .289 team batting average into 5.71 runs per game, both ML-bests.

Erick Aybar hit .414 for the month of July. Bobby Abreu wasn’t far behind at .380.  Kendry Morales just took home AL Player of the Week honors, and Abreu one-upped him by claiming the Player of the Month title. Vlad is back (again) and Mike Napoli is embracing his role as a DH. Things are going so well in L.A. that Gary Matthews Jr. feels validated by the .668 OPS he’s posted since replacing Hunter in July. Maybe a tad premature.

But the Rangers will still have their hands full with a three-game series at Angel Stadium, and by Sunday night, Texas could be as close as 1.5 games and as far as 7.5 games from the AL West lead.

The Rangers will start the series by getting a crack at a guy they’ve had serious success against in the past. Joe Saunder’s career ERA is 6.52 against the Rangers and 4.08 against everybody else. He’s allowed 15 earned runs in nine innings versus Texas this year. Jered Weaver, Saturday’s starter, has fared much better against the Rangers, but has allowed at least three earned runs in each of his last nine starts and posted a 6.79 ERA during that span.

Sunday’s game could prove to biggest challenge, as the Rangers are due to face native Texan John Lackey. After a rocky comeback from the DL, Lackey has averaged 7.2 innings and owns a 1.86 ERA over his last five starts, and will be up against Rangers rookie Derek Holland. And while the Rangers won’t get the priveledge of seeing the struggling Ervin Santana, they might have to hope for a shot at Brian Fuentes, who has allowed seven earned runs in one inning over his last three appearances.

It’s not a must-sweep kind of series for the Rangers, but anything less than two of three would have to feel like a missed opportunity. And as long as Texas can stay close in the West, they have to hold onto the hope that the Angels will eventually fall back to Earth. Right?

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12 Comments to “Series Preview: Rangers at Angels”
  • Bobby in Bryan @ August 7th, 2009 at 1:37 pm

    Imagine what a good team batting average will do for you! It looks like the Angels really took off after the Rangers came to town just before the AS break. That good Rangers team may have been a wake-up call for the Angels. They realized that the Rangers were for real, and the Angels put the pedal to the metal. The Ranger hitters, however, seem to have let-downs after playing the top teams, and thus lose ground in the standings when they ought to at least be staying even. Let’s just hope that Michael Young’s approach to hitting will soon be adopted by more of his teammates!

  • rob m @ August 7th, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    I hope Feldman has his stuff tonight. He needs to set the tone for the series.

  • bertie @ August 7th, 2009 at 2:04 pm

    I agree, anything less than taking 2 of 3 will be a huge hit

  • Tom B @ August 7th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    This doesn’t look good but a little luck here and a little skill there and a break or two and who knows? We need two of three.

  • becca @ August 7th, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    i hope vlad isn’t really back to impaler form. he hit his first homerun since being back from the dl yesterday. i’m hoping this isn’t a trend. or at least isn’t a trend until after this series.

  • Jed E. @ August 7th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

    Take two of three and hope the yankees sweep Boston. The WC may be the way into the playoffs. Who would have thought that even a month ago?

  • Gunter @ August 7th, 2009 at 2:35 pm

    I think while important obviously, what really interests me about this series if the old adage that good pitching beats good hitting.

    As noted above, LAA has fallen to 27th in ERA whereas the Rangers are…well I can’t seem to find that, but I know its quite a bit better.

    The Angels are playing like the Rangers of past years and the Rangers like the Angels of past years. In the past that meant LAA kicked them in the crotch, but this year its been the Rangers taking the majority of games.

    I don’t think thats a coincidence, and I think it should bode well for the Rangers, assuming they can just muster 3 runs a game.

  • Travis @ August 7th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

    This just proves that hitting wins championships.

  • Ryan Jones @ August 7th, 2009 at 3:03 pm

    @ Gunter
    The Rangers are 11th in ERA, but I was wrong about the Angels. They’re actually 26th, not 27th.

  • Gunter @ August 7th, 2009 at 4:07 pm

    Where does 11th/26th compare to past years? I can’t seem to find team stats on mlb.com

    I dunno, my sense of the matchups between these two teams just seems like the reverse of the past 5 years or so.

    But thats just my eyeballs telling me that.

  • Chris Hartman @ August 7th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

    Rangers need to be 4 back or closer heading into September to have a legitimate shot. Obviously winning two of three or better gives us a better shot of achieving that goal.

  • The Beer Guy @ August 7th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

    I still think we have a better shot at the division than the wild card. Boston is too good a team to fall off too much, and TB is close to us, as well.

    Given that LA is 5 ahead in the loss column, we really need to sweep this series. 2 of 3 only gains us a game…