Angels at Rangers
The Los Angeles Angels ride a five-game winning streak into the middle contest of their three-game series against the host Texas Rangers on Saturday, and the two biggest reasons for their recent success can be found in the middle of the lineup. Los Angeles's Mike Trout and Albert Pujols each homered in Friday's 6-3 victory to extend their hitting streaks to 12 and eight games, respectively, while Pujols continues to climb Major League Baseball's career RBI list.
Pujols, who is batting .371 with a home run and 10 RBIs during his hitting streak, moved past Ken Griffey Jr. and into 14th all-time with 1,838 RBIs - one shy of Ted Williams for 13th. Trout, who has reached base safely in 24 of 25 games this season, is hitting .336 with 22 homers and 78 RBIs in 106 games versus the Rangers and is batting .372 with four blasts, seven RBIs and 11 runs during his hitting streak. Los Angeles's Jesse Chavez snapped a personal three-game slide in his last start and opposes Yu Darvish, who has won two of his last three outings - with a victory over Los Angeles among them. Angels' starting pitchers have surrendered fewer than three runs in 13 of their last 14 games, recording a 2.09 ERA during that span after Tyler Skaggs permitted a run in five innings Friday before leaving with tightness in his right side.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1
PITCHING MATCHUP: Angels RH Jesse Chavez (2-3, 4.13 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Yu Darvish (2-2, 3.03)
Chavez allowed one run, four hits and four walks while striking out seven in six innings of a 2-1 victory over Toronto on Monday. The 33-year-old Californian, who owns the lowest ERA among regular Los Angeles starters, has recorded two straight quality starts - including a 3-0 setback at Houston on April 17 in his only previous road outing this season. Chavez is 2-4 with a 6.00 ERA in 17 games (four starts) versus Texas after allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings of an 8-3 loss on April 12.
Darvish yielded two runs, five hits and one walk while striking out eight in Sunday's 5-2 victory over Kansas City. "I felt like I could go more," the 30-year-old native of Japan told reporters after pitching eight innings for the first time since 2014 prior to Tommy John surgery. "I wanted to show them I can go and be durable and could pitch." Trout is 12-for-39 with four home runs, seven walks and 13 strikeouts versus Darvish, who is 8-2 with a 3.48 ERA in 14 starts against Los Angeles after striking out 10 over seven scoreless innings of an 8-3 road victory on April 13.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rangers LF Delino DeShields is 4-for-7 with five runs scored and three walks in two games since being moved to the leadoff spot.
2. Los Angeles 3B Yunel Escobar is 3-for-34 over his last eight games after hitting a solo home run in five at-bats Friday, marking the second straight game in which he has recorded a hit.
3. Texas CF Carlos Gomez hit a sacrifice fly on Friday, snapping Texas's 49-game stretch without one. It equaled the longest drought since the statistic was re-introduced in 1954 previously set by the 1967 California Angels, according to baseball-reference.com.