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LA Angels Series Preview: Flight of the Blue Jays

By Ryan Falla

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 13: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels follows through on his single in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on June 13, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - JUNE 13: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Angels follows through on his single in the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on June 13, 2019 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /
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It looks like the LA Angels are going to have to run the Blue Jays out of their own home after splitting a four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Given that the Rays are one of the best teams in baseball this is actually a pretty solid outcome as it leaves the LA Angels just 3.5 games behind the 2nd Wild Card spot heading into Toronto. The problem with the Rays series is how the Angels dropped a couple of very winnable games, especially the last game of the set thanks to incompetent officiating. Avoiding the same against the Jays will be critical in the Angels fight to maintain/overtake the 2nd Wild Card spot.

That last game against the Rays was less a heart-breaker and more of a heartburn inducer with the absolute incompetency of the officiating when it came to the final strike call to end the final game of the series.

These kind of things happen in baseball and there’s no point in wallowing in whats already past, what the Angels have ahead of them is a very sweepable series that can give them the push they need to really zone in on the 2nd wild-card spot. The Blue Jays have struggled immensely this season as they lie at 26-45 on the season and the four starters they’re throwing up against the Angels have not found success on the mound in a while.

On the other side we have the Angels sending the bright young prospect Jose Suarez out against the Blue Jays as well as the improving Andrew Heaney. Sure we have to see the inconsistent Tyler Skaggs take the mound in this series, but at the same time he did earn the win in his last start after a two month dry spell. Things have been looking up for the Halos over the last couple of weeks and on that note this series brings a lot of opportunity to continue that climb to the wild-card.

Oh, and before I forget, you know what else brings a lot of hope and potential to this series?

The return of Justin Upton.

Angels @ Blue Jays

(6/17) 4:07 PM PT @ FS-W: (Luis Garcia 1-1 4.68 ERA) vs Edwin Jackson (1-4, 10.22 ERA)

(6/18) 4:07 PM PT @ FS-W: Tyler Skaggs (5-6, 5.00 ERA) vs Marcus Stroman (4-8, 3.18 ERA)

(6/19) 4:07 PM PT @ FS-W: Andrew Heaney (0-1, 4.57 ERA) vs Aaron Sanchez (3-8, 5.04 ERA)

(6/20) 4:07 PM PT @ FS-W: Jose Suarez (2-1, 4.50 ERA) vs Clayton Richard (0-3, 7.52 ERA)

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