Game 148 Preview: Houston Astros vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Houston Astros (65-81) at Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (91-55), 8:05 p.m. (CST)

TV: CSN Houston, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Angels SBNation Blog: Halos Heaven

Pitching matchup

RHP Scott Feldman (8-10, 3.99 ERA, 1.33 WHIP) vs. RHP Jered Weaver (16-8, 3.58 ERA, 1.22 WHIP)

Preview

If the Astros loss past midnight, does anyone hear it? Most of Houston probably doesn't. Not everyone will find joy in watching the Angels chip away at a lead and go screaming by with seven runs. It's something the Angels have been good at this month, generating 20 more runs than any other team in baseball in September. They sit at 85, 23 runs more than the Giants in second place for the month.

Scott Feldman looks to slow this runaway freight train today in Anaheim. He is currently on a  four-game streak of quality starts, including two games against Oakland. In his last start, he went 8 1/3 innings against the Athletics and allowing just two runs. This season against the Angles, Feldman has a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings. Of his three outings, two have been stellar - 13 IP, 3 ER. But, the other follows the same blueprint for failure, four innings pitched, nine hits allowed on 94 pitchers.

Only Erick Aybar has hit Feldman consistently well in his career, batting .464 (13-28) with four extra-base hits. Albert Pujols and Mike Trout are both 2-for-11 in their careers against Feldman.

Jered Weaver leads the league with 16 wins. He isn't blowing people away, but like so many aging fireball pitchers before him learned to locate his pitchers. Weaver, like Feldman, comes into the game with four-straight quality starts. He picked up the win in his last start, giving up three runs over six against Cleveland. Against Houston, Weaver has given up eight earned runs over 20 2/3 innings. The Astros out-dueled Weaver in their last meeting, winning 4-1 as Weaver allowed only two earned runs over six.

Only four Astros hitters have over 10 at-bats against Weaver - Jose Altuve, Chris Carter, Matt Dominguez, and Jonathan Villar. Altuve, Carter, and Villar have just five hits among them against the veteran righty. Dominguez is 3-for-10 with a home run. Jason Castro is 3-for-9 with a home run.