Los Angeles Angels Probable Pitchers & Starting Lineup vs. Houston Astros, August 11

The Los Angeles Angels picked up a huge series win against the San Francisco Giants to get back to .500 on the season. At 58-58, the Angels trail in the AL West by 10.5 games and in the Wild Card by 6.5 games. It's unlikely, but they're not completely out of the playoff race. The opponent for this weekend is the Astros, a team the Halos have consistently struggled to beat. Houston is currently eight games ahead of the Angels, in second in the West, and in sole possession of the second Wild Card spot.

Probable starting pitchers

Reid Detmers takes the ball for the Angels tonight looking to bounce back from what was a horrific outing against the Mariners his last time out. He allowed seven runs in four innings, putting the Angels in a 4-0 hole before they stepped foot into the batters box. He's allowed eight runs in his 11 innings pitched against the Astros this season including four runs in five frames in his start in Houston. He'll look to improve his 4.78 ERA in his 21st start of the campaign.

The Astros will counter with new trade deadline acquisition Justin Verlander. The three-time Cy Young Award winner left Houston for New York this past offseason, but with the Mets selling at the trade deadline, they sent Verlander back to his old haunts where he will look to win another title with the Astros. Verlander struggled a bit to start the year, but he has a 1.64 ERA in his last eight starts. This includes his most recent start when he allowed two runs in seven innings in his first start this season as an Astro at Yankee Stadium.

Los Angeles Angels starting lineup

1. Luis Rengifo - SS
2. Shohei Ohtani - DH
3. Brandon Drury - 2B
4. Mike Moustakas - 3B
5. C.J. Cron - 1B
6. Mickey Moniak - CF
7. Hunter Renfroe - RF
8. Randal Grichuk - LF
9. Chad Wallach - C

Houston Astros starting lineup

1. Jose Altuve - 2B
2. Alex Bregman - 3B
3. Yordan Alvarez - LF
4. Kyle Tucker - RF
5. Yainer Diaz - DH
6. Mauricio Dubon - CF
7. Jon Singleton - 1B
8. Jeremy Pena - SS
9. Martin Maldonado - C

Which LA Angels player needs to bounce back today?

The Angels got a win they had to have, but only managed four runs on four hits on Wednesday. C.J. Cron failed to record one of those hits, and has just six hits in 31 at-bats in his return to the Angels. He has recorded a couple of clutch hits in his nine games, but doesn't even have an extra-base hit yet. The Angels acquired Cron to be a big bat in the middle of the lineup, hopefully he'll start to show that side of him in Houston.

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

Of the Angels hitters who have actually seen Verlander before, Brandon Drury is the only one with semi-good numbers. He has two hits in six at-bats against Verlander, and is coming off of a big series against the Giants. Hopefully he can continue to come through with big hits tonight against a really tough pitcher.