Game No. 38: Los Angeles Angels (19-18) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (17-19)

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Trout grew up about 42 miles from South Philadelphia in the small town of Millville, N.J., so it wasn’t a surprise when Vice Mayor Jim Quinn asked residents if they would venture to Trout’s first-ever game at Citizens Bank Park. After all, many make the annual trip to Baltimore when he visits.

Over 4,000 ticket requests later and Cumberland County will basically shut down Tuesday night.

Trout is in the midst of a 3-for-18 slump despite the Angels series win in Toronto over the weekend. He struck out seven times in the four-game set and didn’t steal a base. Still, the Halos took three of four from the Blue Jays and placed two games above .500 for the first time this season.

The Angels carry a five-game winning streak against the Phillies dating back to 2003, and their short two-game set is the first in Philadelphia since 2008.

Pitching Matchup– Matt Shoemaker (0-1, 4.05 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (3-3, 3.64 ERA)

Matt Shoemaker replaces struggling left-hander Hector Santiago in the Angels rotation, at least for one outing. All of Shoemaker’s appearances this year have been in relief, allowing three runs and five hits in six innings. He was tagged with a loss April 12 against the Mets after giving up a solo home run in the bottom the 13^th inning in 7-6 Angels loss.

Shoemaker was sent to Triple-A Salt Lake City soon after. He owns a 6.31 ERA and 1.68 WHIP in five starts at the minor league level and struck out 11 in his last outing.

Cliff Lee is winless over his past three outings and looks to move past last Wednesday’s late-inning meltdown. Lee was tagged for six runs and seven hits in a 10-0 loss to Toronto; five of the runs came in the seventh inning. The one-time Cy Young award winner holds a 11.12 ERA against American League opponents this season.

Lee is 7-4 with a 2.95 ERA in 12 starts against the Angels, though they haven’t faced each other since 2010. Only Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar have hits off Lee over the last five years.

Walk offs:

The teams have not met since the Angels swept a three-game series six years ago.
Albert Pujols is 2-for-12 with one RBI lifetime against Lee.
Last night’s loss snapped a seven-game winning streak against Toronto.

TV: 4:05 p.m. PT, Fox Sports West, CSN

Radio: KLAA 830, 1210 WPHT, 94 WIP