The Angels and Athletics head into their third head to head series of the season, the first two of which were played at the Coliseum in Oakland that sees the A’s holding a 4-3 series this season. Look for plenty of homerun power from players like Mike Trout (14), Albert Pujols (11), Tommy La Stella (12), Khris Davis (12) and Matt Chapman (16).
The pithing matchup features two arms in Frankie Montas of the A’s and Griffin Canning of the Angels. Montas has been the best pitcher for the A’s this season with a solid line of 8 hits, 2.5 walks and 9 strikeouts per nine innings plus a 1.203 WHIP. Montas has been the backbone of the A’s starting staff and a big reason why they are still hanging around .500. The rookie right-hander Canning has not thrown a ton of innings in his first big league season, but has proven to be effective when used. He has a record of 2-1 with a 3.06 ERA and 34 strikeouts over 32.1 innings of work. Canning will hope to establish himself as a staple in the Angels rotation with another solid outing against the A’s
The AL West has proven to be a tight race to this point in the season and with the Angels (29-31) and the Athletics (29-30) with nearly identical records, the winner of this series will find themselves in third pace in the division behind two good teams in the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers.
Thomas Gaudio Baseball Journalism 