Mini-Preview: Angels vs. Indians vs. the off day that wasn’t

This was supposed to be an off day for the Angels, but it isn’t because of rain. Rain is stupid, so now I have to write a stupid series preview for a one-game series and the Angels have to spend a day in Cleveland, of all places, instead of spending the day relaxing in some place nice like… well, not Cleveland.

MONDAY, 9/8: Jered Weaver vs. Danny Salazar
[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1Rf1WtlJ29gVXKgYj_LtVUeiPS7Mux_c46SOGNynjke8/pubchart” query=”oid=431771495&format=interactive” width=”621″ height=”315″ /] Weaver has already faced The Tribe twice this season and both outings were short and not so great, though only one resulted in a loss. Historically, however, he has a lot of success against just about everyone except Carlos Santana.

[googleapps domain=”docs” dir=”spreadsheets/d/1Rf1WtlJ29gVXKgYj_LtVUeiPS7Mux_c46SOGNynjke8/pubchart” query=”oid=1995163141&format=interactive” width=”619″ height=”312″ /] Salazar doesn’t have much of a history against the Angels, but he’s coming in hot after a really rough start to the season. Facing him after all those Twins soft-tossers is going to be a bit of a slap in the face.

OFFICIAL PREDICTION
The one-day stop has to be a nuisance and the Angels might be about to kick it into cruise control with the A’s falling off a cliff. Combine that with the Indians being the fringe playoff contender that refuses to die and I think Cleveland sneaks away with a win, simply because it means more to them.