Los Angeles Angels Visit Houston Astros — Series Preview

The Houston Astros welcome the Los Angeles Angels for a four-game series starting tonight at 7:10 PM CT.

Tonight at 7:10 PM CT, Framber Valdez and the Houston Astros take on the invading California Los Angeles Ohtani’s of Anaheim. This is the second of four series between the two clubs. Houston took the first one, two-games-to-one from May 8 through 10. The two will play a pair of additional three-game series later in the season, July 14 through 16 in LA, and August 11 through 13 back at Minute Maid Park.

The last two the two faced off, on May 10, Houston won the finale, 5-4. Yordan Alvarez went deep and Cristian Javier struck out 11 in six innings for a victory.

These four games against the Angels count as the tail-end of a seven-game homestand. Houston lost two-of-three to the Minnesota Twins, culminating in an embarrassing 8-2 loss last night. At no time was the embarrassment clearer than after three innings, when Hunter Brown had a pitch-count of 72 and the Twins pitcher had racked up only 24. Of course they’re going to light him up, he’s running uphill!

Anyway, at least Houston got on the board. Yainer Diaz hit his second home run of the season, and Jake Meyers collected his fifth. I’d normally link a video of the action here but it’s not up yet while I write this, and frankly, I’m not here to relive that.

(video placeholder......not today)

The Angels started off their current seven-game road-trip by winning two of three against the Chicago White Sox. In yesterday’s contest, the Angels went deep five times, including a pair by Shohei Ohtani in a 12-5 victory.

All Time Head-to-Head

Houston owns a 114-76 record against the Angels in all-time competition, a .600 winning percentage. That’s their second-best record against any team.

Standings

Houston Astros: 32-23, .582, second in the AL West, 3.0 GB, currently in possession of the third wild-card spot, three games ahead of the next contender (the Angels), fifth in the AL, tied for eighth in MLB, on pace for 94-68, last 10: WWLLWWWLWL, playoff odds: 93.3 percent (B/R), 83.6 (F/G)

Los Angeles Angels: 30-27, .526, third in the AL West, 6.0 GB, currently three WCGB, sixth in the AL, 10th in MLB, on pace for 85-77, last 10: WWWWLLLWLW, playoff odds: 5.9 percent (B/R), 24.8 percent (F/G)

Team leaders

AVG
Mauricio Dubón .290
Gio Urshela .307

OBP
Mike Trout .369
Yordan Alvarez .392

SLG
Yordan Alvarez .580
Shohei Ohtani .538

OPS
Mike Trout .891
Yordan Alvarez .972

HR
Yordan Alvarez 14
Shohei Ohtani 15

RBI
Shohei Ohtani 38
Yordan Alvarez 48

BB
Yordan Alvarez & Alex Bregman 28
Shohei Ohtani & Mike Trout 24

SB
Shohei Ohtani 7
Kyle Tucker 7

ERA
Shohei Ohtani 2.91
Framber Valdez 2.38

WHIP
Cristian Javier 0.99
Shohei Ohtani 0.95

SO
Shohei Ohtani 90
Framber Valdez 77

Injury report

Still don’t have anything clear on Michael Brantley, and Lance McCullers Jr. has suffered additional setbacks to his additional setback. We’re already girded to miss Luis Garcia until sometime hopefully in the early part of next season, but at least Jose Urquidy seems to be mending. He’s expected to be back sometime in mid-July.

Gametime & Starting Pitchers
Today, 7:10 PM CT — Reid Detmers (0-4, 4.93) vs. Ronel Blanco (0-0, 4.50)
Tomorrow, 7:10 PM CT — Shohei Ohtani (5-1, 2.91) vs. Framber Valdez (5-4, 2.38)
Saturday, 3:10 PM CT — Patrick Sandoval (3-4, 3.42) vs. Cristian Javier (6-1, 2.97)
Sunday 1:10 PM CT — Griffin Canning (4-2, 4.89) vs. JP France (1-1, 4.00)

Who’s hot (highest WPA vs. Twins)
Jose Altuve .464
Alex Bregman .170
Brandon Bielak .157
Chas McCormick .132
Jose Abreu .123

Who’s not (lowest WPA vs. Twins)
Kyle Tucker -.174
JP France -.176
Ryan Pressly -.210
Jake Meyers -.218
Bryan Abreu -.309