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The Angels (49-37) ended their first half with a 3 game sweep over the New York Yankees (51-37), scoring 29 runs. The Athletics (37-49) just won 2 of 3 against the Tampa Bay Rays (48-41), winning their first series since June 21st. On opposite ends of the standings in the AL West, here’s what you can expect in the next couple of games:
Los Angeles Angels |
Oakland Athletics |
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| 49-37 1st AL West |
37-49 4th AL West |
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Line-up |
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| Player | 09 Stats | vs. ‘09 Angels | Notes |
| 3B Adam Kennedy | .291 29R 31RBI |
N/A | Former Angel filling in at 3rd |
| SS Orlando Cabrera | .239 14HR 45RBI |
4-16 2B 1R |
7 multi-hit games out of 10 in July |
| CF Scott Hairston | .295 11HR 31 RBI |
N/A | Recently picked up from SD |
| LF Matt Holliday | .276 8HR 43RBI |
3-13 HR 3RBI |
Power and average are down after leaving Colorado |
| DH Jack Cust | .232 14HR 44RBI |
5-13 2B 2RBI |
Not efficient, but effective (leads team in HR,R, RBI) |
| C Kurt Suzuki | .293 5HR 37RBI |
2-16 HR RBI |
10-game hit streak raises his average 14 points in July |
| 1B Jason Giambi | .192 11HR 40RBI |
4-14 2B 4K |
On steady decline, but still has some pop |
| RF Ryan Sweeney | .271 27R 22RBI |
6-18 2RBI 4K |
Great in the field (1E all year) |
| 2B Mark Ellis | .219 14R 18RBI |
5-13 3RBI |
Missed May and June with injury |
Probable Pitchers |
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| LHP Dallas Braden | 7-7, 3.12ERA | 12.0in, 6ER 9K | Young ace who hasn’t allowed more than 2 runs since May 26 |
| RHP Trevor Cahill | 5-8, 4.67ERA | 5.0in, 2ER 5BB | Rookie who shows potential, but is getting rocked (last 3 games: 12.2in, 16ER 8BB 6K) |
| RHP Vin Mazzaro | 2-5, 3.59ERA | N/A | Called up mid-season and has a 2:1 K-BB ratio |
| LHP Brett Anderson | 5-7, 4.64ERA | 4.2in, 5ER 0K | Rookie who got his first major league complete game shut out against Boston (9in, 2H 9K) |
Bullpen |
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| RHP Andrew Bailey | 1.92 ERA, 10SV | 2in, 3K | Only rookie in 2009 All-star game with 60K in 51in in 2009 |
It has to be frustrating to be an Oakland A’s fan right now. If you take Mark Ellis’ 7 season out of the line-up, no one has more than 3 years experience with the Athletics organization (not counting Jason Giambi’s former years before he went to the New York Yankees and was still a relevant and powerful threat). Their first 4 hitters are all off-season/mid-season acquisitions. Scroll down the line-up and you’ll see an equation of too young or too old that equals 6th fewest runs scored in all of baseball. Take a look at the pitching staff and you’ll see an extremely young group of kids. In fact, during the 4-game series, the Angels won’t face a starting pitcher who was born before 1983. The Angels have won 3 out of the 5 games they’ve played this season against the Athletics, and despite injuries to Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter, the Angels should take the series.
-Kevin H
