The Angels have lost five straight and are running out of ways to spin it. The .500 Rangers aren't exactly rolling either, but at home against a team this banged up, they don't have to be great — just competent.
Bush’s Picks
LAATEX
LAATEX
OverUnder
Best BetRangers
Texas is the more complete team even in a mediocre stretch, and the Angels are actively bleeding games with a bullpen that's been a disaster during this losing streak. The price on the Rangers shouldn't be steep given how flawed both rosters are, which makes it a fair number to lean on rather than a must-fade favorite.
Angels
+Mike Trout targeting this series for his return
+Detmers still capable of missing bats when sharp
−Losers of 5 straight, worst record in the majors
−Bullpen ERA has climbed past 10 during the skid
−Neto mired in a brutal slump at the plate
Rangers
+Eovaldi coming off 9-strikeout outing in a win
+Sit at .500, stable enough to hold in AL West
−Seager back on IL for the 3rd time this year
−Offense ranks near bottom of MLB in runs per game
−Split last 5, including a shutout loss to Detroit
Reid Detmers (3-6, 4.13) gets the ball for an Angels team that's lost 5 in a row and dropped 10 of 11 not long before that. His last start against Boston was more of the same: 5 runs allowed over 5 innings in a loss. Nathan Eovaldi (9-7, 4.02) draws the assignment for Texas, and he's been the steadier arm lately — 9 strikeouts over 5 innings against Detroit in his last time out, allowing 3 runs in a win.
The lineups tell a rougher story than the ERAs. Zach Neto has been buried in a brutal stretch at the plate for LA, and the Angels bullpen has been lit up during the losing streak, which is how a team keeps losing games it's technically still in. Texas isn't healthy either — Corey Seager landed back on the injured list with lower-back inflammation, his 3rd IL stint of the season, thinning out a Rangers lineup that already ranks near the bottom of the league in runs scored.
Show fees
7:05 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
LAA Angels
TEX Rangers
There's a wrinkle worth watching for this series: Mike Trout has been ramping up from a hamstring strain and has targeted the Angels' trip to Texas as his return window, with a DH role the likely first step back. If he's in the lineup for Thursday's game, it's the first real jolt of talent the Angels have had in weeks — though one bat doesn't fix a bullpen ERA that's been north of 10 during the skid.
Los Angeles Angels
Jul 8?@ Rangers—
Jul 7?@ Rangers—
Texas Rangers
Jul 8?vs Angels—
Jul 7?vs Angels—
Recent form.
Texas has its own version of stuck-in-neutral, splitting its last 5 and getting shut out by Detroit earlier this week. The Rangers' pitching has generally kept them in games all year; it's the offense that keeps them hovering right at .500 instead of pulling away in a winnable division. Against an Angels team that's actively imploding, this is the kind of series a flawed contender is supposed to take advantage of.
Los Angeles Angels
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Texas Rangers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
None of this screams marquee baseball. It's a last-place team playing a treading-water team on Thursday, July 9. But there's a version of this game — Trout back in the box, Eovaldi carving through a lineup missing its shortstop — that's more watchable than the records suggest.
