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Los Angeles at Houston, 7:10 pm (CT)
TV: CSN Houston
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Angels SBNation Blog: Halos Heaven
Pitching Match
RHP Bud Norris (5-7 / 3.60 ERA / 1.42 WHIP) vs. RHP Jerome Williams (5-3 / 3.36 ERA / 1.18 WHIP)
Preview
When we last left the Angels, the Astros hightailed it out of Anaheim with a three game sweep of the halos. The sweep brought the Astros record against the Angels to a healthy 6-3 in 2013, leaving Angels fans to question what lies ahead. Since that series, the Angels have played .500 baseball, getting swept by the Pirates and sweeping the Tigers in their last two series. The Angels appears to be warming up with return of summer, former Astro farmhand J.B. Shuck is leading the charge. Over the Angels last 7 games, Shuck is batting .476 with 10 hits and 6 RBIs.
On the mound today for the Astros is Bud Norris. Norris has owned the Angels thus far in 2013, he has 3 wins in as many starts with a 0.43 ERA. To compound those numbers, Norris has 2.67 ERA in 9 starts at home. In his last 7 starts, he has a 1-3 record and 2.80 ERA. In his last start against the Angels, Norris pitched 6 innings of scoreless baseball and had 6 strike outs. Mike Trout is the only Angel with an regular success, 3 of his 4 hits against Norris have been doubles. Josh Hamilton has also taken Norris deep for a solo homerun.
Jerome Williams has once again stepped into the Angels rotation to fill the void left after an injury. This time its for Jason Vargas, who is out 3-4 weeks after a blood clot was removed his left armpit. This will be Williams' second consecutive start since returning from the bullpen. Williams gave up 4 earned runs over 6 innings against the Pirates in his last start. On June 1, Williams faced Astros in Anaheim. He gave up 2 runs over 7 innings and collected 6 strikeouts. The lone two runs came off a Chris Carter two-run homer. Carlos Pena also collected a double against Williams.