Texas Rangers vs Los Angeles Angels Series Preview

For the second week in a row, Texas will start the week with a series against Los Angeles Angels. This time at home.

The first two games will be repeat matchups in Jordan Lyles and Shohei Ohtani on Monday, then Mike Foltynewicz and Jose Quintana on Tuesday.

While Lyles got the loss last week, the Rangers got to Ohtani by getting six walks in four innings. Ohtani has a 1.04 ERA and this will be his first road start of 2021. According to MLB.com, there is the possibility that Ohtani will bat and pitch in this game. Last week, he did not hit in the game he started because he just came off the IL for a blister.

Foltynewicz is still looking for his first win of the season, not that pitching wins matter but he’s had a few great outings that at least deserve it. However, last week he gave up three runs on seven hits and six strikeouts in six innings. Quintana came in last week with a 16.20 ERA and Texas helped him lower in to 9.00 after pitching five one-run innings. The Rangers won that game but neither starter pitched how Texas expected.

In Wednesday’s finale, which will not be a get-away game for the Angels and instead an evening game, Alex Cobb will make his fourth start of the season. His last start was against the Houston Astros and it wasn’t a good one. He went just 2.2 innings and gave up five runs, four earned, on six hits and three walks. He has a 6.28 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in 14.1 innings pitched.

Dane Dunning will pitch for the Rangers and after finally looking human in his last start, he’s looking to bounce back at home. After his former team broke his streak of 16 scoreless innings, his ERA now sits at 3.06.