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Houston Astros (56-45) vs. Los Angeles Angels (55-44), Jul 29, 2015 7:10 PM CDT
TV: Roots Sports SW, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Angels SB Nation Blog: Halos Heaven
Pitching Matchup
RHP Lance McCullers (4-3, 2.60 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) vs. RHP Garrett Richards (10-7, 3.25 ERA, 1.18 WHIP)
Preview
One day after the Astros trimmed Los Angeles' AL West lead to a virtual tie, now trailing by only percentage points, they will look continue their hot hitting ways and take the AL West lead outright. The Astros efforts could be aided once again by the absence of Mike Trout who is listed as day to day.
In the absence of Trout the Angels could choose to go a number of different routes thanks to a series of recent trades that brought in Shane Victorino, David DeJesus and David Murphy. While having veteran options to step in is a nice luxury, none of the newly acquired Angels will be able to provide even close to the level of production we have become accustomed to from Trout. Trout had been especially hot recently batting .397 with 10 home runs in his last 15 games.
Taking the mound for the Astros will be rookie Lance McCullers. Over his last three starts, McCullers has failed to go more than six innings and is 0-1 with a 3.94 ERA. In his lone start against the Angels, McCullers pitched a strong six innings giving up only one earned run.
Los Angeles vs. McCullers:
| Name | PA | AB | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA |
| Erick Aybar | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .667 |
| Kole Calhoun | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Jonny Giavotella | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Chris Iannetta | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Efren Navarro | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Albert Pujols | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Mike Trout | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Conor Gilaspie | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Shane Victorino | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Total | 25 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | .200 |
Opposing McCullers will be right-handed pitcher Garrett Richards. Richards has a 2.34 ERA in his last eight starts, while going 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA against the Astros this season. In his career, Richards has a 5-2 record and 3.50 ERA against the Astros in eleven games.
Houston vs. Richards:
| Name | PA | AB | H | RBI | BB | SO | BA |
| Jose Altuve | 28 | 25 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | .320 |
| Chris Carter | 23 | 20 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 6 | .300 |
| Jason Castro | 22 | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 6 | .227 |
| Marwin Gonzalez | 16 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | .125 |
| Colby Rasmus | 14 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .286 |
| Evan Gattis | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .250 |
| Jon Singleton | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .000 |
| Luis Valbuena | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .250 |
| Jake Marisnick | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .250 |
| Preston Tucker | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .000 |
| Total | 127 | 114 | 27 | 11 | 11 | 33 | .237 |
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