Rivalry Weekend, Part 2
The Angels and Dodgers are set to begin round two of the Freeway Series tonight in Los Angeles, and thus far, these two teams played two very different seasons.
Coming into tonight’s game at Dodger Stadium, the Angels are in first place in the American League West with a record of 48-31, including a current 5-1 road trip. The Dodgers are in second place of the National League West with a sub-.500 record of 36-42, including a record of 3-9 during Interleague Play this year . Don’t let the records fool you, however. Whenever these two teams get together, you can bet that each player will elevate his game and strive to pound his rivals into the ground.
The Angels are 2-1 against the Dodgers this year. During the series this weekend, they will look to match last year’s record of 5-1 against the Dodgers, by sweeping the other LA team in their hometown. By my estimation, there’s a very good chance of that happening. Why? It comes down to one thing – pitching.
The Angels have 3 very good starters coming against the Dodgers this weekend. Tonight, they will send out Joe Saunders, the surprisingly dominant lefty, who has compiled a record of 11-3 this year, along with a 3.03 ERA. Saunders is tied for the major league lead in wins and he is 5th in the AL in ERA.. On Saturday, Jered Weaver will be throwing for the Halos. Though Jered has not looked like his normal self this year, he has thrown some very good games, and is currently 7-7 with a 4.56 ERA. Sunday’s game might shape up to be the best game of the series. John Lackey, the Angels’ ace, will look to continue his stellar year, and he’ll be facing the ace of the Dodgers’ staff, Derek Lowe. Lackey has pitched brilliantly since returning from the DL on May 14th. Since that time, he has thrown his way into a 5-1 record with an astounding ERA of 1.65, to go along with a .933 WHIP.
Neither team has done a whole lot offensively this year. The Angels are currently 10th in the AL (18th overall) in batting average, at .259. The Dodgers are 7th in the NL (16th overall) in team batting average, at .260. The Angels do hold the edge in runs, hits, home runs and SLG, but the Dodgers have more doubles, triples, walks and less strikeouts than the Angels. The offenses seem to be equally bad, so we may see some low scoring games at Dodger Stadium over the weekend.
All in all, this series should be pretty good, though I think the scales will tip in favor of the Angels. I’m not calling a sweep, but if Halos hitters can continue tearing up National League pitching, it should be a very good weekend for Angels fans.
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