Series Countdown: Brewers @ Angels

VS.

Counting down to the Angels’ series against the Brewers in which the Angels finally get to eat some home cooking.

Milwaukee Brewers (26-37) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (36-30)

Game 1 Starters: MIL – Randy Wolf (4-6, 5.31 ERA)  LAA – Joe Saunders (5-6, 4.35 ERA)

Game 1 Info: 7:05 PM PT TV-Fox Sports West; Radio-ESPN Radio, KLAA 830 AM, KWKW 1330 AM

Game 2 Starters: MIL – Dave Bush (1-5, 5.06 ERA)  LAA – Joel Pineiro (5-6, 4.77 ERA)

Game 2 Info: 7:05 PM PT TV-Fox Sports West; Radio-ESPN Radio, KLAA 830 AM, KWKW 1330 AM

Game 3 Starters: MIL – Chris Narveson (5-3, 5.46 ERA)  LAA – Scott Kazmir (6-5, 5.27 ERA)

Game 3 Info: 4:05 PM PT TV-Fox Sports West; Radio-ESPN Radio, KLAA 830 AM, KWKW 1330 AM

5. It has been so long since the Angels have played at home that the Rally Monkey has actually evolved into a homo sapien.  Thank you!  I’ll be here all week.  Be kind to your waitress.  But seriously, folks.  Even with their 14-game roadie ending as a big success, the Halos have to be glad to be home again.  Hopefully they aren’t too glad though because it would be a real shame if they let their energy and focus wane just because they are back at their own stadium.

4. The Angels haven’t played host to the Brewers since 2004, but I still remember that series fondly.  The whole thing got off to a great start when the teams shut each other for the first sixteen innings before Milwaukee finally scratched a run across to win the game in 17.  That game featured a great starting pitcher matchup (Ben Sheets and Kelvim Escobar) and some phenomenal relief work.  Judging by the probable pitchers for this series and the disaster that is the Angel bullpen, I don’t think we have to worry about another 1-0 marathon extra inning affair.

3. This may seem arbitrary, but the Angels have a chance to actually get their run differential back on the positive side for the first time since the first week of the season (or at least since really early in the season, I’m too busy to do math right now).  Run differential is always a solid indicator of how good a team really is and if the Angels are going to be taken seriously as a contender again, they need to actually score more runs than they allow.  Turns out that is pretty important in baseball.

2. I fear for the Angel bullpen this series.  Not only is their closer still Brian Fuentes, but Kevin Jepsen and Fernando Rodney are both coming off a bad series against the Dodgers.  The Brewers are one of the top homer-hitting teams in the majors and could very easily make the Angel relievers pay if they aren’t sharp.  Let’s all hope and pray that the Angel starters are able to go deep into the games.

1. I also fear for the Brewer starters this series.  All three probable starting pitchers have ERAs north of 5.00 which probably won’t bode well since the Halo hitting attack is really starting to get that whole frenzied attack thing going again.  Aybar is on fire.  Kendrick is on fire.  Hunter is on fire.  Matsui is on fire.  Rivera is on fire.  With all that going, the Brewer pitchers will be lucky not to burst into flames themselves.