We get
the pleasure of covering one of the most exciting series in baseball
right now as the L.A. Angels hotly pursue the Texas Rangers for the AL West division lead. Can L.A. continue their magnificent run, or will Texas put the breaks on the
skid?
First place on the line
For a long time, the Angels winning the AL West was a complete
afterthought. They were 12 plus games out of first and looked dead in the
water. Well, look where they are now? The Angels have turned on the hot switch, completely running down the Texas Rangers in the process. And, to be honest, Texas has not responded
well at all. The Angels have cut the lead to just 4 games, and these two ballclubs still face each other seven more times this year. Plenty of time for the
Angels to make their move. As if the Angels weren't strong enough already, they
just added All Star and CY Young winner Zack Greinke to their staff. Meanwhile, Texas has put their rock Colby Lewis on the DL for the year while watching
All Star Matt Harrison and Yu Darvish just unravel.
Does not get any better for Texas tonight
As if the Rangers did not have enough problems - losing 6 of
their last 10 games, superstar Josh Hamilton batting just .190 since July, and
both the Angels and Oakland right on their tails - they will face the most
dominant starting pitcher in the game right now, Jered Weaver. Over
their last 10 games against right handed pitching, the Rangers have been struggling
something awful. They have been averaging just 3.59 runs per nine innings while hitting just .245
as a team. The Angels hold the edge 6-4 on the year against Texas and could
certainly be in the division leaders heads right now.
Derek Holland
Holland takes the ball for the Rangers tonight in hopes of
shutting down Mike Trout, Albert Pujols and company. Good luck with that! Holland
has had a rough ride the last couple of months, giving up at least 5 earned
runs on 3 outings since May 19 and surrendering a total of 30 runs in 47 innings
pitched. In his last start against the Angels, he was lit up for 6 runs in a
defeat against the pitcher he will square off with today, Jered Weaver.
The Texas Rangers are a ticking time bomb, and we aren't going
to be there with our money backing them for the boom, but we sure as hell have money on the Angels as they blow up the division race. We get to back
one of the best starting pitchers at the price of -105 against a team that is
in a complete free fall and lacking tons of confidence. What more could you ask
for?
The Angels are our MLB Pick of
the Day.