Los Angeles Angels Probable Pitchers & Starting Lineup vs. Boston Red Sox, May 22

Los Angeles Angels Probable Pitchers & Starting Lineup vs. Boston Red Sox, May 22

Probable starting pitchers

The Los Angeles Angels open a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox tonight with Jaime Barria scheduled to make his first start of the season. Barria replaces Chase Silseth who struggled in place of Jose Suarez. The right-hander has a 1.96 ERA in 10 appearances in long relief, but starting pitching is a whole other animal. Barria takes on a tough Boston lineup although he did pitch two scoreless frames against them in Boston earlier this season.

The Red Sox counter with right-hander Tanner Houck. The 26-year-old has been dominant at the start of games, pitching to a 0.75 ERA in innings 1-3, but he has a 10.70 ERA from innings 4-6 and allowed two runs in the only seventh inning he's thrown this season. He faced the Angels earlier this season and allowed two runs in four innings of work. Houck struck out six that day but walked four.

Los Angeles Angels starting lineup

1. Mickey Moniak - LF
2. Mike Trout - CF
3. Shohei Ohtani - DH
4. Hunter Renfroe - RF
5. Jared Walsh - 1B
6. Brandon Drury - 2B
7. Matt Thaiss - C
8. Luis Rengifo - 3B
9. Zach Neto - SS

Boston Red Sox starting lineup

Lineup will be updated when posted!

Which LA Angels player needs to bounce back today?

Eight of the nine starters in yesterday's game had hits, but all eight had only one hit. One player who had a hit but also struck out three times was Hunter Renfroe. Hits are good, but he's a guy who often has runners on base in front of him. Putting the ball in play can be a crucial thing at times, so hopefully Renfroe can do that tonight. He had a two-run double against Houck in Boston, can Renfroe repeat that tonight?

Which LA Angels player will be the X-factor in today's game?

Houck has allowed five home runs, all five against left-handed hitters. Lefties have an .805 OPS against this right-hander, compared to righties who have a .583 OPS against him. A lefty with power in this Angels lineup is Jared Walsh. He picked up his first hit of the season in yesterday's victory, hopefully that will get him going. Walsh has a two-run homer in his only career at-bat against Houck. Is that a sign? I hope so.