LA Angels Series Preview: Rangers @ Angels (9/24/18)

The Angels are finishing up the last home stand of the season with a series against the Texas Rangers to start the week. With how badly the Angels have lost the last two series, which include a sweep by the Astros and a 31 run pummeling by the Oakland A’s in only two days. We’re all tired, the Angels are tired, no one wants to talk about how unfortunate this season has been anyone. Let’s just hope for a strong finish to this long, arduous season.

Well the Angels were thoroughly pummeled by the Houston Astros for 27 runs over a three game sweep. Still not as bad as the 31 runs allowed over two games to the Oakland A’s. There’s another AL West team rolling into town with the Texas Rangers, all we can hope for at this point is them being a bit more forgiving than out recent go-arounds with the AL West.

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Like everything with the Angels, that may be dreaming too big.

Monday, 9/24; 7:07PM: Adrian Sampson (0-2. 4.09 ERA) vs Felix Pena (3-5, 4.20 ERA)

Tuesday, 9/25; 7:07PM: Yovani Gallardo (8-6, 6.59 ERA) vs Matt Shoemaker (2-2, 5.48 ERA)

Wednesday, 9/26; 7:07PM: Yohander Mendez (2-2, 6.04 ERA) vs Andrew Heaney (9-10, 4.21 ERA)

Maybe the Angels will be ale to turn the tide on the Rangers with this series? Seeing all those 6+ ERAs from the Rangers gives a lot of hope that maybe we can see the Angels turn in at least on 10 run game this series. I really want to see Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout go off to start this series, I just want to be reminded of the future magic that lies in wait with the power duo of Ohtani and Trout looking to command the Angels for at least the next two season.

The second night is prime for the Angels to shred the Rangers for some serious runs. Yovani Gallardo looks to be nearing the end of his career, and unfortunately for the talented pitcher things are ending on a sour note for him. His last three starts have all come as a loss and hitters have shredded him to a 7+ ERA in his last seven starts. Things don’t look very good for the Rangers in this set, even with the recently struggling Matt Shoemaker on the mound for the night.

Shoemaker allowed 5 runs in less than three innings pitched against the A’s and will absolutely need to break that bad juju for this start against the Rangers. We all want to see Shoemaker end the season on a strong note given his tumultuous season thus far (health wise), and given his relatively decent performance of 36.2 IP of 4.91 ERA pitching against the Rangers we may see a solid night from Shoemaker.

Yohander Mendez had a terribly rough go in his last outing against the Rays in which he allowed eight runs across 3.2 IP. The Angels sport a high powered offense featuring the likes of Trout and Ohtani, which will likely make things very difficult for Mendez in his start. Meanwhile, Andrew Heaney is looking to right his ship after a terrible outing against the Astros which saw him allow six runs over three innings. Despite Andrew Heaney being one of the more consistent and reliable guys on this Angels pitching staff he has seen a few implosive starts on the season. The cards are all on his side in this final night of the set, and though I want to say an implosion isn’t likely we all know things can go south for this team very fast.