Apr 7, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) bats during the fourth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Good news! After opening the season against the Reds, Rangers and A’s—three teams that all made the playoffs last season and are off to good starts in 2013, the Angels finally get a break in the schedule as the Houston Astros roll into town for a three-game weekend set at the Big A.

The first game gets underway tonight at 7:05pm on all the usual broadcast outlets. The pitching matchup will feature Tommy Hanson for the Angels against Bud Norris—who was hilariously the Opening Day starter for the Astros. Hanson looked okay in his first start for the Halos on the weekend when he went six innings, walking none and striking out four. He gave up three runs on six hits.

Norris, meanwhile, has looked good in his first two starts, allowing only four earned runs in 11 1/3 innings while striking out nine.

For Saturday’s game, the Angels will send out Garrett Richards for his first start of the 2013 season. He’ll replace Jered Weaver for now and although his stuff plays well out of the bullpen, he’s yet to show any real consistency as a starter. Saturday will be a big test for him. He’ll go up against an Astros lineup that is striking out at an historic pace so far this year so that should help. He’ll go up against Lucas Harrell.

On Sunday, it’ll be C.J. Wilson, making his third start of the year against Mr. Perfect, Philip Humber.

The Angels infield depth will be tested in this series as both Erick Aybar and Alberto Callaspo will be out for at least tonight’s game with heel and calf injuries respectively. As of yet, neither has been placed on the DL and it doesn’t look they’ll need to be so the Angels might be forced into another move.

If they leave the roster as is, Andrew Romine will be starting at short and Brendan Harris at third with no one on the roster to back up anywhere on the infield. They may be able to get away with that for one game, but it’s hard to see them going longer than that with that situation.

September 16, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Los Angeles Angels infielders Mark Trumbo (44) , Alberto Callaspo (6) , Howie Kendrick (47) and Erick Aybar (2) talk during a pitching change in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Alas, that is not the case. The Rangers are a virtual lock for the postseason, coming into the series at 87-59 with a three game lead over the A’s in the AL West. They are still playing for the division, so they wont be coming in looking to get some young kids into the games, they’re here to play ball. Conversely, the Angels are fighting for their postseason lives. With a record of 80-67 and trail the Orioles in the Wild Card standings by two and half games (The O’s start a series tonight with Mariners while the Angels have an off day so that number will change).

Pitching Match-ups:

Tuesday night pits Jered Weaver against Ryan Dempster in the opener of the series. After getting torched by the Angels in his American League debut, and then again by the Yankees two starts later, Dempster has been what he was expected to be after the Rangers traded for him at the deadline going 5-0 in his last five starts with a 1.91 ERA. Weaver is coming off his first start since being skipped in the rotation to deal with Bicep tendinitis. Weaver went seven scoreless innings in that start against the Athletics, giving up two hits and striking out nine.

Wednesday night brings C.J. Wilson to the mound to square off against Derek Holland. Wilson was not very effective in his last start giving up four runs (three earned) and only lasting five innings. In the six starts prior, Wilson has only breached the 100 pitch mark twice, and has failed to get past the fifth in all but two of those starts. This strategy seems to be working though as the Angels have won each of his last five starts. Holland comes in with a 3-0 mark carrying a 2.98 ERA in his last seven starts where only once did he not get past the sixth inning. For the balance of the season he has been so-so, but right now he is a pitcher in the zone.

Thursday night has Zack Greinke going head to head with Yu Darvish. Poor Zack was the victim of some serious bad luck in his last start. He went 8 1/3 innings then watched from the bench as four pitches later the Royals were walking off with the win. Tough. Luck. Greinke for his career has been very good in September (21-10, 2.96 ERA, 85 OPS+ against) and the Angels are hoping he continues that trend. He hasn’t lost a start since August 19th, and hasn’t given up more than two runs in a start since then either. Yu Darvish got touched for seven runs the last time he faced the Halos. Since then he has pitched into the seventh inning in each start, while only once registering less than eight strikeouts.

Even though this series doesn’t have the playoff implications it was supposed to have, both teams are still chasing playoff spots, and should stage quite the series.

Get your thunderstix out, paint your face and the town red, or load up on heartburn medicine like I did, because this series is going to be fun. Or nerve wracking. Or both. NURSE?

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