LA Angels vs. Seattle Mariners series preview

May gets underway with the LA Angels heading north to Seattle for a three game series against the Mariners.

The LA Angels winners of five out of their last six games, have won their last two series (sweeping the A’s while taking 2 of 3 from the Rangers.) They  now head to the Emerald City to take on a struggling Mariners team.

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The Series so far this year: The Angels will look to continue their winning ways as they sit in second place in the AL west, three games behind the division leading Houston Astros. The Mariners, hit hard recently with injuries will come into Tuesday’s series opener sans ace starting pitcher Felix Hernandez and having dropped all three of their games against the Angels earlier this season in Anaheim (the Angels were 8-11 against the Mariners in 2016.)

Three Keys to a Halo Victory: Timely hitting. More importantly, Kole Calhoun continuing to warm up (10 H, 3 R in the last six games) and set the table in front of Trout and Pujols.

Continued strong Starting Pitching. The Angels lost Tyler Skaggs to a side injury. Prior to that, all but one of their regular starters was averaging 6 IP over the last 14 days. Only Ricky Nolasco came in just under the cut at 11.2 IP over two starts. Coupled with their collective 3.06 FIP and 84.3 LOB %, the starting pitchers continue to help buoy and offense still working to find its stride.

Sleeping giants awake. Albert Pujols has been a notoriously slow April player in his Angels career. However, he has warmed some over the last 7-10 days, inc. a three-run blast Friday night in Texas that secured the win for the LA Angels. Pujols may be a .265 AVG hitter now, but if he can continue to add 30 HR and 100 RBI he will still be enough of a threat behind Mike Trout to ensure that the latter sees some hittable pitches in run scoring situations.

The Match-Ups

Tuesday May 2nd – 7:10PM pst

Radio: 830 AM   TV: Fox Sports West

Matt Shoemaker (1-1) vs James Paxton (3-0)

Shoemaker returns to the scene of last year’s scariest moment for the Halos. On Sept. 4th, 2016 Shoemaker was struck on the head by a 105 mph batted ball from Kyle Seager. Shoemaker suffered a concussion and eventually required emergency surgery. For 2017, Shoemaker is trying to hit the stride he had the last two-thirds of 2016 when he took a 9.00-plus ERA at the start of May down to a sub-4.00ERA at the time of his season ending injury in a September. Paxton is off to a sparkling start to 2017. The Angels have had mixed results against against the LHP. Kole Calhoun has had the best results, hitting .304 in 23 AB. Pujols and Trout haven’t fared as well, hitting .200 and .100 against him. Pujols does have 2 HR and 5 RBI in that time.

Wednesday May 3rd – 7:10PM pst

Radio: 830 AM    TV: Fox Sports West

Ricky Nolasco (2-2) vs Hisashi Iwakuma (0-2)

Nolasco comes into the matchup having won his last two starts while giving up just 3 ER on 11 H in 11.2 IP. The Angels best hitters have struggled against Iwakuma with Pujols and Trout hitting below .200 and Andrelton Simmons below .100. Yunel Escobar has .400 against Iwakuma and Kalhoun has managed a .257 AVG while adding 2 HR.

Thursday May 4th – 7:10PM pst

Radio: 830 AM    TV: Fox Sports West

TBA vs Ariel Miranda (2-2)

Tyler Skaggs injury has left an opening in the rotation. Daniel Wright, who made a spot start last week was recalled from Triple-A. However, at this time, a decision has not been made on the starter. Miranda is a young pitcher who has only seen roughly half of the LA Angels batters thus far. Kalhoun and Escobar have done well, and Trout’s one hit did leave the yard and net him four RBI.

Next: Who is the man in left?

Light That Baby Up: Ultimately, the Angels need key hits with runners on. While two of the SP’s for the Mariners have had some measure of success against the Angels in the past, enough halos have done damage against them. With continued strong starting pitching, great relief work, and ever improving, timely hitting, the Angels can capitalize on the Mariners struggles and win the series (if not sweep it.)