Interleague, So Far

(Photo Credit: Yardbarker.com)

As the Los Angeles Angels make their first-ever trip to Wrigley Field in Chicago (where I happen to be living now), they’re at the halfway point of their interleague schedule, and it gives us a chance to take a look at how they’ve fared so far against their foes from the NL Central and NL West.

Unfortunately, interleague play hasn’t been as big of a help to the Angels as we might have hoped going into it, with the team only able to compile a 5-4 record through their first nine games. While they were able to sweep the cross-town Dodgers on their own turf, they were nearly swept by both the Cardinals and Brewers in their respective series, taking only two of those six games.

The scores of the games have also turned out almost as even as the win-loss record, with the Angels only being outscored 50-48 over the nine games. Much of the damage they did came in 10-1 and 10-7 victories over the Dodgers and Cardinals, respectively, while a large portion of the runs they gave up were in a 12-2 shellacking at the hands of the Brewers. A 7-1 loss the next night to that same Milwaukee club didn’t help, either.

Looking forward, it will be the Dodgers’ turn to make the trip up the 5 Freeway to visit the Angels, and then Colorado will come down off the mountain to visit the Angels. Hopefully the Angels will be able to take this time to get some guys healthy and some others playing better, because a visit from Texas begins right after they finish their final interleague game against Colorado, and if they remain close enough the Angels could take over the lead in the AL West again with a strong showing against the Rangers.