Angels at Twins
The visiting Los Angeles Angels will be desperately seeking a win when they meet the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday in the finale of their three-game series. The Angels invested millions in free-agent sluggers Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton in the last two off-seasons, but are off to a poor start for the second straight April. The Twins will be trying to win three in a row for the first time this season and sweep their first three-game home series since July.
The Angels lost three starting pitchers to free agency or trade in the off-season. The three replacements they brought in aren’t filling the voids. Joe Blanton, Jason Vargas and Tommy Hanson are a combined 1-6 with a 7.37 ERA, allowing 67 hits in 40 1/3 innings. The Angels dropped the first two games of this series against the Twins after neither Blanton nor Vargas could last past the fifth inning. Twins catcher Joe Mauer has feasted on Angels' pitching, collecting four hits and three RBIs in each game.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports West (Los Angeles), Fox Sports North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Tommy Hanson (1-1, 6.55 ERA) vs. Twins RH Vance Worley (0-2, 10.50)
Hanson takes the mound against Minnesota for the first time in his five-year career and will be looking for a bounce-back performance after allowing five runs and eight hits in five innings of a 5-0 loss Friday against the Houston Astros. Getting through the first inning unscathed would be a great start. He gave up three runs in the first inning against Houston, taking the home crowd out of the game. Hanson has historically been better during the first half of the season, but the Angels haven’t seen it so far.
Worley is also looking to stop the merry-go-round on the bases. He has the second-highest ERA among starters in the major leagues, getting touched for 14 earned runs in 12 innings. He had a decent Opening Day performance against the Detroit Tigers, kept the Twins in the game in his second start against the Baltimore Orioles, but faced 13 batters before he was lifted in the second inning of a 16-5 loss Friday against the Mets. Worley, who spent his first three seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, has never faced the Angels.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins OF Aaron Hicks has three walks and no strikeouts in the last two games after striking out 20 times in the first 10 games.
2. Mauer has collected four hits in back-to-back games one other time in his career - July 26-26 2006 against the Dodgers.
3. Angels 3B Luis Jimenez continues to make the most of his opportunity. Since getting called up from Triple-A Salt Lake to fill in for the injured Alberto Callaspo, he is 7-for-16 with three doubles.