Winning sure is fun, isn’t it. The Angels now boast a 7-1-1 record over their last nine series, the last two of them being sweeps over the Rangers and Rockies, giving them a five game winning streak and a tidy 9-1 record over their last 10 games. Astros, objects are not always closer than they appear in your rearview mirror. Sometimes, they are just close. And at 1.5 games behind the Astros in the AL West, and first in the Wild Card standings, the Angels have seemingly found their groove as they head into the final series before the All-Star Break against the Seattle Mariners.
The offense has finally started to click. At least, it seems that way. They have also been playing in two notoriously hitter-friendly ballparks in Coors Field and Globe Life Park. They dropped a whopping 43 runs over a four game stretch pushing their run differential, as Garrett noted the other day, from -2 to +23. Luckily, the pitching didn’t stop being dominant because they needed solid pitching in last night’s late-inning victory over the Rockies. It is almost as if this team is actually good, they just needed to get their act together.
Game 1: Garrett Richards vs. Felix Hernandez
Oh man, thank goodness I have a stockpile of Tums. Garrett Richards is back to being Garrett Richards, and it’s a good thing too. This matchup has all the makings of a pitcher’s duel as Richards comes into the game sporting a nifty 2.53 ERA over his last three starts. He has also been particularly good against the Mariners, giving up only three runs to them this season in 14.1 innings pitched. The strikeouts aren’t coming as they were last season, but he still boasts a respectable 7.09 K/9 for the season. And he’s going to need it with King Felix opposing him.
Over his last three starts, Felix Hernandez has been saddled with two losses, but neither of which are his fault. His ERA over that span sits at 2.75, and he’s struck out a batter per inning in each start. For the season, he has held the Angels to two runs over 20 innings while striking out 26. This isn’t the same Felix that the Angels used to handle easily, this is the Felix Hernandez that the rest of the league sees regularly.
Game 2: Hector Santiago vs. Mike Montgomery
Over his last three starts, Hector Santiago has pitched 20 innings…and he’s allowed two runs. One of those starts was a seven inning, one run, six strikeout performance against the Mariners on June 28th. He received a bit of a snub in the All-Star voting, and is even being snubbed by people writing about players who were snubbed. As far as I am concerned, he has been the Angels best pitcher this season. And he’ll look to put on an exclamation point on what has been a terrific first half of baseball before he gets a nice break during the All-Star Game festivities.
On the other side, Mike Montgomery has been every bit Hector’s equal over the same stretch. He’s 3-0 over his last three starts with a 0.38 ERA. Two of those three starts were complete game shutouts. In the other start, he went 5.2 innings against the A’s allowing only one run. Jeez, man. If there was anything this Angels offense didn’t need to run into right now, it’s solid starting pitching. But maybe this will be a good litmus test for whether the offense has finally found it’s stroke or not.
Game 3: C.J. Wilson vs. Hisashi Iwakuma
Runs allowed by C.J. Wilson over his last three starts:
7
1
3
I want to believe that C.J. is going to close out the first half strong, but, yeah. I don’t know. It is in his favor that over 15 innings and two starts against the Mariners this season, he has allowed only two runs and walked only one hitter. So, silver linings, I suppose. But, in reality, yeah, I don’t know about that guy.
But, GOOD NEWS! Hisashi Iwakuma has been just as bad. Over his last three starts, Iwakuma has a 7.63 ERA, and ERA that is actually higher than C.J. Wilson’s (6.46) over the same stretch. Maybe the Angels aren’t as screwed as I thought they would be.
Game 4: Andrew Heaney vs. Taijuan Walker
And then we go back to pitchers duels. Maybe I need to get more Tums for this series. Andrew Heaney has been fantastic in his first three starts as an Angel, even pitching exceptionally well at Coors Field in his last start. All that Salt Lake City practice seems to have not gone for naught. His future is still undecided though with Jered Weaver due back after the All-Star Break. But if Heaney puts on another strong showing, the Angels will have tough time justifying sending him back to the minors when his presence on the major league team is already paying dividends.
Walker, on the other hand, has no such demotion to worry about, and he’s pitching free and easy while going 2-0 with a 2.84 ERA in his last three starts. And in his lone outing against the Angels this season, he held them to one run over seven innings. I guess the opposition can’t always be a pushover, can it.
It has been a trying first half of baseball for Angels fans, but at least the team looks to be heading into the break with some momentum. All that stands between them and finishing strong is an underachieving, fourth place Mariners team that is currently seven games under .500. What could possibly go wrong?
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