Winners of five straight and nine of their last 10, the Angels have been swinging hot bats and finding a way to win every night. Expect that to continue tonight against Minnesota.
Coming out of the all-star break, the Angels were staring down a seven game road trip. While Oakland and Kansas City aren’t very good teams, making sure not to play down to your opponents level and not losing focus on the road is still always a test.
The Angels passed that test with flying colors, taking three of four in Oakland and sweeping the Kansas City Royals.
They return home winners of five straight and nine of their last 10. The most impressive thing has been how hot the bats have been despite not having two of their best hitters in the lineup. The Angels have scored eight or more runs in three straight games and four of their last five, scoring less than five runs only twice over the last ten games.
Jered Weaver takes the mound tonight and has not been himself of late. Since June 14th he has seen his ERA rise almost a run and a half from 2.08 to 3.48. By the numbers he has had a horrible July so far, in four starts he has a 7.36 ERA this month.
But despite his recent struggles, the Angels are still 9-2 in his last 11 starts. It is also worth noting that his two poor outings this month; seven earned in 5.1 innings against Texas and five earned in 3.2 innings against Oakland; both came on the road. At home he has had two quality starts and picked up the win against two tough offenses, surrendering three earned runs in six innings against the New York Yankees and three earned runs in seven innings against Texas.
This meshes with his splits on the season. While Weaver has an impressive 10-3 record with a 3.48 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 107 Ks overall, he has done considerably better at home this season, posting a stat line of 7-1, 2.25 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and 66 Ks in 72 innings pitched at Angel Stadium. His batting average against at home sits at a dazzling .196.
The Twins have been playing decent baseball of late, but nothing like the red-hot Angels. They have gone 3-3 so far on this road trip, picking up two of three in Texas and dropping two of three in Oakland. Scott Baker had a nice June in shaking off his early season struggles, but struggled to start the month of July giving up five earned runs in consecutive starts against the White Sox and Yankees. His last outing was very sharp, and eight inning one earned game in Texas.
I always take the "career against a team" stat with a grain of salt, but it is still worth taking a look at;
Jered Weaver career vs. Minnesota: Four starts, 2-1, 27.2 IP, 2.60 ERA, 0.98 WHIP
Scott Baker career vs. Los Angeles: Six starts, 0-4, 33.2 IP, 5.88 ERA, 1.57 WHIP
Expect Weaver’s home dominance and the Angels bats to stay hot tonight.
The Pick: Los Angeles Angels ML -145