This Friday the (52-72) Los Angeles Angels and the (67-55) Toronto Blue Jays will play game one of this three-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 7:07 PM EST inside the Rogers Centre. This is also the second time that these teams have faced off this season, as the Blue Jays swept the Angels the first time they met up.
The Los Angeles Angels are coming into this one after losing their previous series to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Angles lost the first three games, as they struggled at the plate. Los Angeles only scored five combined runs in the first three games of that series.
The Toronto Blue Jays are entering this one after battling with the Boston Red Sox. They won the first two games of that three-game series. The Blue Jays showed up on the mound and at the plate in both of those games, as they fought back and won in extras in game two.
This game was writte n/published before last night's results.
The Los Angeles Angel's poor play over the past month has hurt their playoff chances tremendously. They are currently 2-8 in their last 10 games played and they are also 15.0 games behind the Seattle Mariners for the third and final AL Wild Card spot. The Angels are also in fourth place in the AL East, as they are 27.5 games behind the Houston Astros for first place. At the plate, the Angels are scoring 3.80 runs per game and they are hitting .226 as a team. This is the 26th least amount of runs scored per game and the third lowest overall team batting average. They are struggling to consistently make contact with the ball, as they aren't reaching base safely enough. They have also struggled to drive in men when they are in scoring position, as they have stranded base runners all season. Luckily, they do have some power inside their lineup. The Angels are averaging 1.11 bombs per game, as this is the 13th highest average in the MLB. If they aren't stringing together hits, this is the easiest way for them to score. They are also very aggressive once they have reached base safely, as they have already taken 64 bases this season. Which is the 18th most this season.
According to MLB.com, the Angels will start Reid Detmers on the mound. He is currently 4-4 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP. Reaching base consistently has been a challenge for his opponents and he has also been decent on the road this season. He is 2-2 with a 4.29 ERA, as his ERA jumps up a .5 run when he is outside of his ballpark. In his last start, Detmers threw for 4.1 innings but gave up 10 hits and four earned runs to the Tigers. They hit him early and often, as he couldn't pitch deep into that game. The Angels bullpen has also had its struggles, but they have looked solid as of late. They are allowing the 18th least amount of runs per game, with 3.99. They can make it difficult for their opponents to score in the later innings of these games.