Los Angeles Angels vs. Seattle Mariners Series Preview (5/24-5/27)

By Brian Waller, AngelsWin.com Columnist

After dropping two out of three games to the San Diego Padres in a disappointing weekend series, the Halos rebounded nicely by winning two out of three games against the Oakland A’s earlier this week. Nobody can argue that C.J. Wilson isnt earning his money this season, he is everything he was advertised to be. Wilson was masterful on Tuesday against the A’s going 8.0 innings while striking out 7 and allowing only 1 hit. It was a big game for the Halos, one that snapped a 3-game losing streak. Albert Pujols also went deep in Tuesday’s game as he hit his 4th home run of the season. The biggest hit in the series however came from the bat of Alberto Callaspo who hit a 2-run double in extra innings to not only win the game for the Angels but win the series.

The team is .500 on their current road trip which is flat out disappointing in my opinion. This was/is an important stretch for the Halos because they were/are facing mediocre teams, teams they needed to beat! Fortunately they have 4 games remaining against the Seattle Mariners, a team that should not be overlooked but a team that is definitely not in the upper echelon in MLB. A sweep of the M’s would put the Halos only 1 game under .500 before the Bronx Bombers come to town and would renew faith in Angels’ fans everywhere that this team can compete with the “big boys” in 2012.

Angels/Mariners Preview:
The Angels have a few things working in their favor in this series with the Mariners. Their pitching staff, which has been excellent recently, will be facing a light hitting Mariners offense who is second to the last in the AL in average. Angels hurlers also will have the benefit of pitching in spacious Safeco.

To counter the above listed working in the Angels’ favor let’s take a look at what the Mariners have working for them…The Mariners are a very good fielding team, they lead the league in fielding percentage so don’t expect many errors from them this weekend. They Halos will also face “King” Felix on Saturday. Hernandez has not dominated the Angels by any means, he has 6-9 career record with a 3.67 ERA against the Halos, but still…let’s be real..its Felix Hernandez. The Mariners rotation is basically middle of the pack in terms of what they have accomplished this season, so perhaps this is a good time for the Halo bats to start hitting more consistently.

5/24 – Dan Haren (1-5, 4.37 ERA) vs. Jason Vargas (5-3, 3.34 ERA)

5/25 – Ervin Santana (2-6, 4.22 ERA) vs. Blake Beavan (2-4, 4.46 ERA)

5/26 – Jerome Williams (4-2, 3.74 ERA) vs. Felix Hernandez (4-3, 2.80 ERA)
5/27 – C.J. Wilson (5-4, 2.90 ERA) vs. Hector Noesi (2-5, 5.26 ERA)

5/24 – Cloudy with a high of 65 degrees
5/25 – Partly cloudy with a high of 70 degrees
5/26 – Sunny with a high of 72 degrees
5/27 – Few showers with a high of 62 degrees

5/24 – 7:10 p.m. / FSW
5/25 – 7:10 p.m. / FSW

5/26 – 4:15 p.m. / FOX
5/27 – 1:10 p.m. / FSW

Player(s) to Watch:

Mark Trumbo. He has been one of the few consistent bats for the Angels in 2012. If this team is going to make a push back up to .500 it looks like it will have to be Trumbo leading the way.

Avg.: .248 / 7th
OBP: .304 / 12th
SLG: .373 / 11th
OPS: .677 / 12th
Hits: 376 / 6th

HR: 37 / 10th

RBI’s: 154 / 13th

R: 162 / 13th

BB: 120 / 13th

SO: 308 / 9th

SB: 28 / 7th

W: 20 / 11th

ERA: 3.52 / 3rd

SV: 6 / 14th

SVO: 12 / 12th

IP: 398.1 / 8th

HR: 39 / 11th

BB: 136 / 8th

SO: 315 / 8th

Avg.: .237 / 5th

WHIP: 1.23 / 4th