After beginning the second half of the season against the National League East’s two heavyweights, the Los Angeles Angels will return home and look to rediscover their footing against the Seattle Mariners.
The Angels will play a four-game set against the Mariners, with the first game set for 6:38 P.M. Thursday. The series will mark the first of four for the Angels on an extended homestand, with the trade deadline right in between that span.
TEAM PREVIEW
Angels: Los Angeles (49-53) jumped off to a strong start out of the All Star break in taking the series on the road against the Philadelphia Phillies, but struggled mightily in Queens against the New York Mets shortly after.
In the first and second game of the series, the Angels blew two sizable leads and lacked a response. Bullpen woes have continued and the flaws are more present by the day – the Angels allowed five runs in the 7th and 8th innings of game one, blowing a three run lead.
On the plus side, reliever Jake Eder ate six innings in the series finale to salvage some of the bullpen as the Angels do not have an off-day in between series. However, he did allow five runs as the Angels were swept on their travel day.
As a result, the Angels fell four games back of .500 and sit five games back of a wild card spot. Their lone All-Star, Yusei Kikuchi, will start the series opener as the team looks to get back on track and make a statement to jumpstart the series.
With only a week to go until the trade deadline, Perry Minasian and the Angels have a short window to determine the best route for the team going forward – with the series against the Mariners holding a lot on the line in that regard.
Mariners: Seattle (54-48) goes into the series with a difference that the Angels may have on the trade deadline – they need to buy, and they need all the offense they can get.
The Mariners scraped only three runs in their three-game series loss at home to the Milwaukee Brewers this week. The team could use offensive bats at multiple positions right now as the deadline looms, having lacked production outside of star catcher Cal Raleigh and outfielder Julio Rodriguez.
Their biggest strongsuit, as it has been for multiple seasons, has been their starting pitching. They will give the Angels a run for their money in what may be the team’s biggest series to date this season. The Angels have gone 2-3 so far in the season series against Seattle.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
THURSDAY: (6:38 P.M.)
SEA: RHP Logan Evans (3-3, 3.81 ERA, 40 K’s)
LAA: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (4-6, 3.13 ERA, 123 K’s)
FRIDAY: (6:38 P.M.)
SEA: RHP Bryan Woo (8-5, 2.91 ERA, 115 K’s)
LAA: RHP José Soriano (7-7, 3.83 ERA, 103 K’s)
SATURDAY: (6:38 P.M.)
SEA: RHP George Kirby (4-5, 4.65 ERA, 59 K’s)
LAA: LHP Tyler Anderson (2-6, 4.43 ERA, 86 K’s)
SUNDAY: (1:07 P.M.)
SEA: RHP Logan Gilbert (3-3, 3.07 ERA, 98 K’s)
LAA: RHP Kyle Hendricks (5-7, 4.92 ERA, 67 K’s)