Weekend showdown with Rangers could all but seal division

September 18, 10:23 AMLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim ExaminerWilliam Martinez

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

All signs point to Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Despite reeling from yet another horrific East Coast swing, the Angels find themselves in position to virtually wrap up their third straight AL West crown when they square off against the Rangers in a pivotal weekend series in North Texas.

The Halos (87-59) enter the series with a 6.5-game lead over Texas in the division standings after averting a sweep in Boston with a 4-3 win on Thursday.

Howie Kendrick homered and hit a bloop single to bring in the go-ahead run in the ninth as the Angels rebounded from a controversial loss the night before.

That game, a 9-8 loss that featured a two questionable calls to Nick Green in the ninth inning, has since brought on even more debate thanks to quotes from the umpiring crew about what they called unprofessional behavior from the players and coaching staff.

Adding to things is the fact that at Fenway Park, the umpiring crew must use the same tunnel as the visiting team to access their locker room.

According to Gordon Edes' column on Yahoo! Sports, crew chief Rick Reed laid into the Halos on Thursday for behavior he termed “unprofessional and unbecoming of a Major League baseball team.”

However, Angels manager Mike Scioscia countered that assessment.

“That’s absolutely wrong,” Scioscia told reporters in Boston. “We had an emotional team, we respected their space, nobody followed them anywhere. It’s a common stairway. Nobody followed them as they peeled off. Nobody did anything. It was an emotional clubhouse. Whatever they heard, they heard."

“A lot of it was not even directed at them. It was guys venting.”

Despite the events of the week, the Angels still managed to gain a half-game in the standings on the suddenly punchless Rangers, who were swept at home by the Oakland Athletics, scoring just one run in the series.

Texas had welcomed back Michael Young to the lineup during the Oakland series, only to see him decide to take a little more time. Still, the Rangers are also hoping to get back Josh Hamilton for the series, though that is far from a given.

The Rangers also enter the series having won 9 of 12 contests between the two clubs this year.

Still, a look at the math makes things very simple. The Halos' magic number for winning the division is 11. A sweep by L.A. of Anaheim and the number would go all the way down to five.

Even winning two of three would hurt Texas immensely, dropping the number to seven and requiring them to make up six games in the loss column in their final 14 contests.

The pitching matchups for the series are Scott Kazmir (8-8, 5.32 ERA) vs. Tommy Hunter (8-3, 3.23) on Friday night, Jered Weaver (15-6, 3.85) against Scott Feldman (16-5, 3.65) on Saturday and John Lackey (10-8, 3.47) vs. Derek Holland (7-11, 6.01) on Sunday.

Since joining the Angels, Kazmir has been rock solid, putting up a 1.86 ERA in three starts despite and 0-1 record with the team.

The Rangers announced two time changes for the series, moving Saturday's game up by one hour to 4:05 pm Pacific and Sunday's game up by two hours (10:05 am Pacific) due to the Cowboys-Giants game later that evening.