Houston Astros (20-37) at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (25-32), 9:05 pm (CT)

Houston at Los Angeles of Anaheim , 9:05 PM CT

TV: CSN Houston
Radio: KBME 790 AM
Angels SBNation Blog: Halo Haven

Pitching Match

LHP Erik Bedard (0-2, 5.32 ERA / 1.61 WHIP) vs. RHP Joe Blanton (1-8 / 5.94 ERA / 1.77 WHIP)

Preview

With Jordan Lyles' win Sunday, the Astros collected their fifth straight victory. August 2010 was the last time the Astros had a five-game winning streak, how the tables have turned.

Quietly, Erik Bedard has had an excellent in his return to the rotation after his short stint in the bullpen. He has posted a 3.27 ERA since his return, giving up only two runs in each of his starts. While this most recent streak has been prolific, Bedard has struggled overall on the road in 2013. Bedard's worst three start have all come away from Minute Maid Park - six runs over a 1/3 of an inning at Oakland, five runs in three innings at Boston, and four runs over four innings in New York. The Angels leadoff and five-hole hitters, Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick are batting a collective .167 against Bedard. Josh Hamilton has a lifetime .294 against the Astros left-hander, with a homerun and two RBIs.

It would be a difficult task to find a pitcher having a rougher time then Erik Bedard had earlier this year. For this specific game, you don't have to go every far. Joe Blanton is having a tough year to say the least, his April ERA was 7.09 and 5.11 in May. Like Bedard, he appears to be turning it around. Blanton, in his last two starts has pitched 13 1/3 innings, allowing five runs. This included his first win of the season, holding the Royals to two runs over 6 1/3 innings. In his previous start this season against the Astros, Blanton was outdueled by Bud Norris. Taking the loss, Blanton was undone by the bottom of the Astros lineup. Chris Carter hit solo homerun, and Matt Dominguez, Marwin Gonzalez, and Jimmy Paredes strung together three doubles in one inning off the Angels right-hander.