On The Road Again! Angels Face Rays For 3 Game Set

 The Halos, coming off a home stand that saw them go 2-5 embark on a 7 game road trip starting tonight vs. Tampa Bay. The Angels open a 3 game set with the Rays, fresh off a disappointing loss to Oakland Wednesday where Vernon Wells almost single handedly cost the Angels a win.  With one out in the bottom of the ninth and the score tied 1-1  Wells failed to drive in the winning run from second base. Wells then compounded the failure an inning later by setting up the A’s for the win when he  badly misplayed a fly ball to left that resulted in a lead -off  “triple. The team squandered a a rare clutch hit from  Bobby Abreu that tied the score in the ninth and they will look to get the bats going in Tampa.

Lets take a look at the series at a glance.

 Angels ( 14-11) 2nd AL West

Rays ( 14-11) 2nd AL East

Pitching Match-ups

Game 1: Ervin Santana vs. David Price

Game 2:  Joel Pineiro  vs.  James Shields

Game 3:  Jered Weaver vs. TBD

Ray To Watch

Ben Zobrist  has been carrying the Rays offense. Halos fans close your eyes as Zobrist  has amassed a .916 OPS and 25 RBI’s in the Rays first 25 games. By stark contrast Torii Hunter and Vernon Wells have combined for just 17 RBI’s and an 1.101 OPS. Eyes still closed? Imagine where the Angels could be if Wells and Hunter hadn’t been so terrible all year?

Holy Halo

Howie Kendrick continues to be the Angels most productive hitter in 2011 coming in with a team leading .897 OPS and 6 home runs. The Florida native has also thrived at the Trop sporting a healthy  .419/.510/.674 slash line in just 43 at bats.